The Times explores the world of dysfunctional flourescent bulbs that are neither saving energy nor giving the greens a good name.
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centralcal, it's 8:30 your local time, whenever that is.
Leave A Light On
You guys are way ahead of me - I just found out about this! I wondered what Clarice and Jane were talking about so I googled it.
I just turned on every light in the house, even the closets and the laundry room. My husband's out of town so there's no one to stop me. :)
Posted by: Porchlight | March 28, 2009 at 09:19 PM
I don't think I have ever had every light on at the same time. Since my house sits on a hill it it really quite beautiful tonight and I have a whole new appreciation of being free.
Forgot to wish CathyF a Happy Birthday. Would like to add my thanks for her Girl Scout cookie duty. Truly one of the most unappreciated and grueling jobs... well that and sleeping in a tent gawd forbid. :)
P.S. (don't tell PD but his big day is tomorrow if I recall)
Posted by: Ann | March 28, 2009 at 09:21 PM
Also central, thanks to your kids' movie choice I now have "It's a Hard-Knock Life" in my head. ;)
Enjoy the short folks!
Posted by: Porchlight | March 28, 2009 at 09:21 PM
I saw LED screw-ins today at the hardware store for the first time.
Out with CFL's! In with LED screw in bulbs!
And they are expensive too! It's a paradigm shift! Run for your lives!
I use CFL's in the basement, because the incandescents are always burning out down there. Haven't had one (CFL) burn out yet.
And I have a flourescent trouble light I use in the garage, exactly the reasoning the Pofarmer used.
Posted by: E. Nigma | March 28, 2009 at 10:49 PM
You gotta get an LED trouble light, you'll throw the flourescent one away. I had lot's of trouble with flourescents. I got a rechargeable LED one from Car Quest. If you'll turn it on and off if you leave it for a while, the thing will last all day on a charge. I really, really, really like LED lights. I've been feedin with an LED caplight all winter on one set of AAA batteries. They're awesome. Oh, and they don't need to be "mandated". The advantages of them are pretty obvious.
Posted by: Pofarmer | March 28, 2009 at 11:11 PM
I assume that the whole "turn out your lights for an hour" is merely a dress rehearsal for learning to live with rolling blackouts once President Teleprompter finishes running America's "non-renewable" energy suppliers into the ground.
The wife and I were heading out a little before 8:00 - I turned on every light in the house before we left. I told my daughter to tell that to her science teacher at school tomorrow.
Posted by: Disillusionist | March 29, 2009 at 12:04 AM
And the other thing that I like them for is their funky shapes. I live in a 100-yr-old house, and some of the shapes are much more authentic then a modern incandescent bulb.
Po' another great place for CFL's is in stairway light fixtures. Where you need to get up on a really tall ladder (1.5 stories) on an uneven surface (the steps.) My husband put our very first cfl in the light fixture above the stairs in our old house in 1992. When we moved out in 1998 it was still working. I also like them because I'm lazy and hate having to remember to buy bulbs, and change them when they burn out.Posted by: cathyf | March 29, 2009 at 01:17 AM
THe term renewable energy is wonderful,it implies that the O Man can get the wind to blow and the sun to shine.
Perhaps he should change his name to Akhenaton
Posted by: PeterUK | March 29, 2009 at 10:09 AM
As is the term "smart", PeterUK. The "smart meter" they are going to install in our house- for free!- to helpfully "let us know" when to turn off our electricity.
I received a similar offer from my utility company just the other day. At no cost to me, they would install a "money saving switch" on my thermostat, then I could just sit back and enjoy the savings. There were a few options I could choose, depending on many contiguous hours I allowed them to keep my electricity off when they needed it (up to 6), and how many total hours per month (up to unlimited).
The offer was so generous, I declined. I hate to take advantage of things.
Posted by: MayBee | March 29, 2009 at 12:13 PM
Maybee,
There will be one death from hypothermia.The utility companies lawyers will do a quick calculation of what a class action will casy and trash the whole thing.
Posted by: PeterUK | March 29, 2009 at 01:30 PM
Anyone care to wager a guess as to the number of hard-science classes rolled into those educations? They're victims!
I can't speak for the wife, but I went to school with the unnamed husband, and I bet he took more hard science courses in his first semester than you've taken in your life.
But keep on mocking them because it makes you feel better about yourself
Posted by: Frayed Knot | March 30, 2009 at 09:13 AM