Govt bans incandescent bulbs?, replace them with heatballs.

[powderman]

Selwyn Duke December 31, 2011
 Upset about Big Brother's ban on incandescent bulbs? Buy a heatball!
  By Selwyn Duke

This is just too good.

Many of you know that in a few days the federal ban on conventional incandescent light bulbs will go into effect. And while House Republicans included a provision in a recent spending bill that will block funding for the ban's enforcement, it's said that it will have little effect; manufacturers have prepared for the new standards and will no doubt abide by the law. So does this mean we'll be forced to buy more expensive LED (light emitting diode) or CFL (compact fluorescent light) bulbs, the latter being those squiggly things said to be loaded with mercury? Not if we follow the lead of German businessman Siegfried Rotthaeuser.

After the European Union banned conventional incandescent bulbs, Rotthaeuser's entrepreneurial spirit was sparked. He started selling another product: heatballs.

What's a heatball? According to this Teutonic Knight of Freedom and Light, it is a "small heating device" that compensates for the loss of heat a home experiences when conventional light bulbs are swapped for more energy efficient ones. Here is an image of this novel new product.

 At his English-version website, Rotthaeuser points out the convenience of his invention, writing, "A HEATBALL® is not a light bulb, but fits into the same socket!"

He then touts the new product as "The most original invention since the electric light bulb!" and explains, "Although a heatball is technically very similar to a light bulb, it is a heater rather than a source of light." Elaborating, he also states, "By using heatballs, the heating effort of a normal house is effectively assisted. A heatball is a source of heat. Or do you use your toaster as a desk lamp?"

A businessman with a conscience, however, Rotthaeuser also believes in truth in advertising. He thus is forthcoming about a certain unintended byproduct of his heating element, writing, "During its use as a heater, HEATBALLS have an unavoidable emission of light in the visible spectrum." Pity that. But if heatballs are anything at all like incandescent light bulbs, they should be very efficient little space heaters, indeed.

So maybe you believe that the ban on conventional incandescent bulbs is far afield from the government's rightful scope; perhaps you fret about how such a regulation is blatantly unconstitutional when instituted by the feds. If so, I can't help you. But if you have a tropical plant or pet hamster that needs a space heater — or if you simply want to save on oil or gas used for heating during the winter — buy some HEATBALLS®.

And, hey, something just occurred to me. With heatballs' unintended byproduct of light, you just might be able to forego buying those LED and CFL bulbs.

© Selwyn Duke

[BBF]

Instinctively I'm thinking the Vaterland  has very little sense of ha ha ha on this.

[Sourdough]

I have a good supply of the old incandescent bulbs. 

[ceadersavage2]

To bad thier are people with no brains running this country

[BBF]

Outlawing the cheaper product is pretty smart in my book. Ethics be damned, the bottom line is what counts.

[garbhead]

As usual Powderman gripes about "the government" when it was George W who signed the bill into law, where one would expect Clinton, Gore or Obama to do , old W was the one, but its still Obama's fault somehow.

[epanzella]

As usual Powderman gripes about "the government" when it was George W who signed the bill into law, where one would expect Clinton, Gore or Obama to do , old W was the one, but its still Obama's fault somehow.

Gee, I completely missed the part where anyone blamed Obama.

[garbhead]

Gee, I don't recall me saying that anyone here blamed Obama...

[Dixie Dude]

No, it is just Obama's fault for letting the law go into effect.  He is supposed to "change" what Bush did, like close Gitmo, not sign the terroist act to hold American Citizens without due process, no more bank bailouts (he even went further and bailed out European banks), etc. 

[powderman]

No, it is just Obama's fault for letting the law go into effect.  He is supposed to "change" what Bush did, like close Gitmo, not sign the terroist act to hold American Citizens without due process, no more bank bailouts (he even went further and bailed out European banks), etc.

 
DIXIE DUDE. YEP, among other things.
Garbhead. I presented the article as written without any personal comments. read into it as you see fit. POWDERMAN. 

[srussell]

whats new it been bush,s fault for 3 years. are so some say

[lakota]

The idiot Bush may have signed it into law but it took an entire cast of democrat halfwits in congress to place it on his desk.

[The Hermit]

lakota     +1   

[magooch]

I'm not so sure about what any law says, or who wrote it and signed it, but imagine the criticism any Republican would have come under if they were to stand in the way of a "green" idea.  Anyway, I don't believe all incandescent bulbs were outlawed; all I heard about was standard 100 watt bulbs.
 
Nonetheless, it should never be the government's business to decide which benign products should be legal, or not.  Yes there are exceptions, but light bulbs are not one of them.

[epanzella]

Gee, I don't recall me saying that anyone here blamed Obama...

"but its still Obama's fault somehow."
^^^^^ Didn't you write that?^^^^
Which is why I responded with;
"Gee, I completely missed the part where anyone blamed Obama."

[BBF]

I don't have any financial interest where you buy what, you can still get any wattage bulb up here.

[Graybeard]

I haven't bought or installed an incandescent bulb in several years. I do have a few still burning but when they go out they will be replaced with compact flourescent bulbs. Most light fixtures in our home already have them.

The only place I still want incandescent is in the living room where I have three tiny little 7 watt bulbs. The big screen TV gives off far more illumination to the room when on. If we are reading we have lamps with CF bulbs in them we use for lighting and the tiny incandescent bulbs are just to provide enough light to see when it is dark out.

I have no plans to stock up before they are gone other than the little 7 watt bulbs. I really don't want brighter lights or larger bulbs in that one fixture as they glare in my eyes badly and are a nuisance.

[jhm]

     I had to quit using the standard lightbulbs in the automatic garage doors the lights come on automaticly when you activate mthe doors and the bulbs just would not stand up to the initial vibration of the doors opening or clossing, and yes I have tried the ceiling fan bulbs, the heavy duty bulbs to no correction, since going to the twisty bulbs without a filiment have not replaced one yet.   Now I still dont like the government telling me what I have to use I like being able to make that decision MYSELF.   Jim

[lakota]

I dont know about you guys but another problem I have with flourescent lights is headaches. They give me splitting headaches they make my eyes hurt and sometimes they make me dizzy. The effect is much worse when I am around the standard flourescent fixtures but the CFL's affect me to some degree too.

[dukkillr]

I HATE ANYTHING NEW!  I HATE MOST EVERYTHING ANYWAY!!!!!  AND THOSE DAMN KIDS AND THAT BALL!!!!!
 
grumble grumble grumble....

[JustaShooter]

+1 dukkillr

Like GB, I started replacing my incandescent bulbs years ago when they first came out (or, became reasonably priced, something like 5 years ago or so).  I did the math, and if they last anywhere as long as they said, I'd be well ahead in electricity savings vs the cost.

The only incandescent bulbs I have left are 6 low watt (7 watt? 10 watt? I forget) bulbs in a couple of bedside lamps and one 3-position bulb in a floor lamp (wife likes the 150 watt setting for some things  , who am I to argue?) .  I've also only replaced two compact fluorescent bulbs in that time.  Both were from the very first package I bought, and both were in the past 6 months.

For sure, they are getting better.  One of the early bulbs is in a cooler part of the house, and it flickers for a minute while it warms up.  But the newer ones don't miss a beat, even in colder areas.

I can't wait for the LED bulbs to come down in price - those ought to last just about forever, and should be even lower power for the same light output!

Just a Shooter

[curteric]

I use CFL's around the house. They work well, just need to warm up. I tried a new LED in my motion sensor porch light last night. It wouldn't work at 20 Deg F I also know that CFL's won't work there also

[epanzella]

I have CFL's outside on a photo eye. This is the first season for them but they've worked down to 14 degrees so far, they just take a little longer to reach full brightness. I use them in all the locations in my house that tend to stay lit for extended periods. CFL's are not at their best when cycled often. In my pantry, laundry and bathrooms I use incandescents as they go on and off a hundred times a day.

[DDZ]

The fact is If you like incandescent bulbs  you should be able to buy them, use them, and pay the little bit more in electric costs if that is what you want to do. I personally like the light that a incandescent gives compared to a fluorescent. Government has no business telling us what kind of light bulbs we can use and what we can't use.   

[powderman]

When I worked at wm any cfls broken or cracked were not allowed in the trash, they had to go into spcl hazmay bags then buckets. High concentrations of I believe they said was mercury and a hazard to health. We have mostly the squigglys at home too. POWDERMAN.