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Australia's switch to fluorescents could curbs its yearly greenhouse emissions by 5 million tons

Whereas Raleigh, NC is looking to rid the city of traditional incandescent light bulbs for street lights, pedestrian walkways and traffic lights, Australia is making a move ot completely do away with incandescents. Australia will instead fully transition to compact fluorescent lighting.

According to Australian Environment Minister Malcom Turnbull, all incandescent light bulbs will be phased out by the end of 2009. "You simply won’t be able to buy incandescent light bulbs, because they won’t meet the energy standard," said Turnbull.

"These more efficient lights use around 20 percent of the electricity to produce the same amount of light," Turnbull continued. "While they may be more expensive to buy upfront, they can pay for themselves in lower power bills within a year."

Research has shown that if Australia makes a full switch to florescent lighting, the country will cut its annual production of greenhouse gasses from 565 million tons to 561 million tons. 4 million tons may not seem like a lot in the grand scheme of things, but household power bills could be cut by up to an astonishing 66 percent according to Turnbull.

Similar measures have been brought to the floor in California and New Jersey, but so far nothing has been set in motion with regards to making a switch to fluorescent lighting.

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great
By mjz on 2/21/2007 9:52:25 AM , Rating: 3
any savings, even 1 dollar is great. Not only are you saving, your helping the environment. Its a WIN WIN situation. this should be done in all developing countries




RE: great
By masher2 (blog) on 2/21/2007 10:00:52 AM , Rating: 1
What about all the people whose eyes react badly to fluorescent lighting? A few hours of fluorescents and my wife's eyes are red and running. We'd use more energy driving her to the pharmacy and the doctor than we'd save on lighting...not to mention lost time from work and a total disruption of her standard of living.

Why not pass a law requiring people to set their thermostat on 80 in the summer, and 65 in the winter? Or one that limits them to red meat once per week? Or requires government approval before using gas on "unneeded trips". Where does it stop?

If there was any real benefit to forcing people to do this, one could argue the point. But there isn't...and this will have zero effect.


RE: great
By rtrski on 2/21/2007 10:49:23 AM , Rating: 3
Fluorescent isn't the only cheaper option. LEDs exist too.

I'd be interested to hear the medical basis of a 'fluorescent lighting allergy'.... Not intending to sound mocking. Just curious. The spectrum is definitely different - is it excessive UV or something that bothers her?


RE: great
By masher2 (blog) on 2/21/2007 10:58:36 AM , Rating: 2
I can only assume it's the flicker rate. They don't affect me in the least.


RE: great
By BPB on 2/21/2007 11:18:31 AM , Rating: 2
My wife also can't stand the newer bulbs. I have purchased many with the happy hope we'd save money and do good. But she will not allow me to place them in areas where she will be effected (ie: the living room). I can use them in my office, maybe the basement, but that's about it. They really do trouble her eyes. I am going to try using the ones with a wrap around them to give them a more yellowish tone. Maybe that will help.

On another note, I wonder how this will effect people with digital cameras. Many cameras don't care for this type of light unless adjusted.


RE: great
By Wolfpup on 2/21/2007 12:41:28 PM , Rating: 3
I've been wondering about health/eye effects too.

Another (possible?)issue-I was going to buy a pack a few months back, and on the packaging read that they contain mercury. How are you supposed to get rid of them then?

And do the environmental effects of just dumping mercury into landfills counter the energy savings?

I honestly have no idea. In THEORY this is a really cool move, but there may be some issues...

Hopefully LEDs won't have the same problems and will be available soon.


RE: great
By kevinkreiser on 2/21/2007 1:01:38 PM , Rating: 2
I've also been wondering if these things affect peoples eyes. I would love to use them because of the benefits, but I'm very sensitive to fluorescent lighting and I start to feel sick and irritated after a few hours in it. So can anyone confirm whether or not these are like the traditional fluorescent lights?


RE: great
By ninjit on 2/21/2007 1:30:49 PM , Rating: 3
I think it's more of a problem with stimulating the brain at certain frequencies (kinda like epilepsy), rather than it actually affecting the eye directly.

I get the same problem with regular fluorescent tubes, the flickering bothers the hell out of me, but CFLs for the most part have been fine, I've only come across a couple that have had noticeable flicker for me.

Maybe they manufacturers should have a flicker rating on their bulbs. I assume better phosphor coatings with a more gradual emission rate would help reduce the effects of flicker.


RE: great
By dever on 2/21/2007 2:08:57 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Its a WIN WIN situation!

Warning, Spongebob Squarepants has entered the forum.

Maybe they should outlaw selling candles first. They produce much more pollutants than most other forms of lighting. If they don't people would waste tons of money on candles and may get burned. Just to make sure everyone is in compliance, after they ban candles, they'll need to make sure to ban selling matches, lighters, stoves, fire crackers, volcanic eruptions, home and car heaters, flint, fireplaces, campfires at boyscount outings, Sony batteries, magnifying glasses, electricity and sticks sold in pairs.

Those politicians are so clever. After they pass that, would they have time to father my wife's next baby?


RE: great
By hubajube on 2/21/2007 6:45:35 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Just to make sure everyone is in compliance, after they ban candles, they'll need to make sure to ban selling matches, lighters, stoves, fire crackers, volcanic eruptions, home and car heaters, flint, fireplaces, campfires at boyscount outings, Sony batteries, magnifying glasses, electricity and sticks sold in pairs.
LMFAO!!!! "I don't care who you are, that there is funny!"


RE: great
By tgc2100 on 2/21/2007 5:20:44 PM , Rating: 3
It is a matter of refresh rate, and brightness. I myself suffer from photophobia. Yes, that's what it's called. It's not a matter of being "affraid" of the lights either. I'm allergic to bright lights, fluorescent lights, and slower refresh rates on CRTs. A lot of people don't know that most headaches in the office are caused from the CRT monitors being set at 75 or below. Being in IT I go around and change people's monitors and they are so amazed at the differences. The same is with the lighting. Countries like Germany are doing away with fluorescent lights just because of the health factor.

PS. Been a long time reader of these news postings and I learn a lot from reading people's opinions as well. Today I just had to sign up just so I could put my two cents in about the lighting since it is a big problem that a lot of people are unaware of. A more common issue with the lights and medical reasons would be pointing out people that have Lupus.


RE: great
By glennpratt on 2/21/2007 3:44:33 PM , Rating: 2
Try covers/closed fixtures and try multiple bulbs, perhaps the flicker can overlap. Just some guesses here.


RE: great
By jconan on 2/21/2007 9:43:13 PM , Rating: 3
Some manufacturers have different light qualities varying from soft white, bright white to day light (as bright as day). You could also add a polarizer to reduce glare like 3M's polarizing task light and use soft white fluorescent light bulbs. I agree most fluorescent bulbs are very glaring.

As for the flickering most new compact fluorescent light bulbs use electronic ballasts rather than magnetic ballasts so there shouldn't be any flickering noticeable in the 40kHz to 120 kHz range unless you are using a magnetic ballast with your fluorescent lights. Are you using a 50hz or 60hz?


RE: great
By Chernobyl68 on 2/21/2007 6:08:06 PM , Rating: 2
anybody know what australia's power distribution freq. is? 60 or 50 hz?


RE: great
By Ajax9000 on 2/21/2007 7:31:41 PM , Rating: 2
50Hz, 240V


RE: great
By lemonadesoda on 2/21/2007 4:44:19 PM , Rating: 2
I'm unfortunately one of those people that suffer from the flickering light condition. It's not a form of "epilepsy", but an irritation that is distracting and tiring. The problem became more obvious when I was a teenager... and I still have it 20 years later.

1./ I could not watch TV. It flickered too much.
2./ I cannot work under fluorescent lights. I was good for about an hour... and then would be tired, irritated and productivity hit the floor.
3./ However, stobe lighting (disco) did not cause a problem (much lower frequency like 10-20Hz)
4./ Apparently cats and dogs also have a higher sensitivity to flicker than the human "average". This is a key point... that on average the human eye is not supposed to see a flicker or 50Hz or faster. Some people are above the average, some below. I must be 2 sigma above the average.
5./ Sublimial messaging on TV (screen flickers) lasts for only 1/50 of a second and is, apparently, supposed to work! So a bit of a contradiction from the scientists here compared with point 4

SOLUTION

As other posters have mentioned... Experience shows that incandescent doesn't cause this problem... so people who are sensitive to the flicker INSIST on old fashioned light blubs.

In Scandanavian countries, and Switzerland... this is a recognised problem and identified as one of the "sick building" syndromes. They have a solution: i) office desks cannot be more than a maximum distance from a window, and ii) frequency doublers in fluorescent lighting so that the flicker is now 100Hz not 50Hz. I've been in offices with these doublers. They really work! Coupled with a "real light" tube, and twice the frequency, they are much better.

I was working in Singapore in an office with incandescents only. I was REALLY STRUGGLING. I bought two desk lights with regular bulbs for my desk. Problem solved.

For TV... well now I have a nice big TFT flatscreen. No flicker. Can watch for hours!


RE: great
By Captain Orgazmo on 2/21/2007 6:29:51 PM , Rating: 2
Fluorescent lighting causes many people problems. I personally have to backlight my computer desk with an incandescent lamp because I would get terrible eyestrain with a fluorescent. LEDs are the future: a 3W star luxeon LED will produce the equivalent light of a 60W incan. or 13W fluor. However one of those LEDs costs about $30-$50 US.


RE: great
By masher2 (blog) on 2/21/2007 6:48:27 PM , Rating: 3
> "LEDs are the future: a 3W star luxeon LED will produce the equivalent light of a 60W incan. or 13W fluorescent..."

No. LED lighting is currently more efficient than incandescent, but less efficient than fluoresecent. White LEDs are currently running ~40-60 lumens/watt, whereas a good fluorescent can hit 100 lumens/watt.

Sodium lights can break 200 lumens/watt...but their light quality is absolutely abysmal.


RE: great
By masher2 (blog) on 2/21/2007 6:52:38 PM , Rating: 2
Oops, just fact-checked myself...my figures were a bit too low for LEDs. Some units are reaching 75 lumens/watt now, which is still worse than a standard fluorescent bulb, but better than a compact fluorescent.