[lit-ideas] Re: Phasing out the incandescent lightbulb

We bought some of those curly 8,000 hour bulbs over the weekend.  I was a 
little worried that they wouldn't be instant on either, but they are.  The 13 
watt bulbs don't really give the equivalent of 60 watts, so next time I'll buy 
the higher wattage.  I actually found a very good use for the bulbs, which is 
to supplement the light onto my big ficus tree in the living room.  The low 
wattage bulbs are a cold light (they also come in "daylight") so they should be 
safe and I can use them on a pole light with three lights on it.  The pole 
light disappears behind the tree.  Maybe I won't have to take the tree outside 
this summer.  Moving it is like moving the Titanic.  Well, okay, not that bad, 
but it's big.  But using the lights wouldn't be very environmental, would it?  
Plus I kind of like the "summer look" without the tree.  Forget it.  Out it 
goes, on vacation for 4-5 months when it gets warm enough. I can see it waving 
its little leaves in anticipation.  I have to go tell it to calm down.





-----Original Message-----
>From: David Ritchie <ritchierd@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Sent: Mar 27, 2007 1:32 PM
>To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Phasing out the incandescent lightbulb
>
>Light bulbs, don't talk to me of light bulbs.  Yesterday evening I 
>needed something from the garage.  I went to switch on the light, found 
>that it would not work, removed the bulb, went to the closet where 
>bulbs are kept, found my way impeded by a bag of goods one daughter has 
>been "going to" clean up for some considerable time.  I lifted the bag 
>onto the top of the closet and was attacked by a rock tumbler, a 
>machine that polishes rocks by simple use of grit.  It was the grit 
>that spilled all over the floor.  Out came the vacuum cleaner and, 
>would you know it, the bag was full.  And the door that leads to the 
>bag was somehow jammed.  But all problems have solutions and in no time 
>at all I had a new bag in, the mess cleaned up and was ready to replace 
>the light bulb.  I found that we had only one sixty watt bulb 
>remaining.  In it went.  No luck.  The bulb was a dud.  Just to check, 
>I pulled a bulb from the table lamp beside our computer.  Yes...the 
>garage light works...some of the time.
>
>Would this be a good moment, I wondered, to replace the nasty old 
>incadescent bulb in the table lamp, with a wonderful new and whizzy 
>fluorescent?  We have plenty of these in stock.  Well, in spite of 
>reservations about the number of times this lamp gets switched on and 
>off and questions about how much this would shorten the life of a 
>fluorescent bulb, this I did.  And it didn't work.  My guess is that 
>the design is not right for the ballast.
>
>So here I am, on a grey Oregon day, typing in the dark, cursing all 
>bulbs and getting ready to go burn fossil fuel in order to buy a sixty 
>watt heat-chucking burner of fossil fuel...that works.
>
>David Ritchie,
>Portland, Oregon
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------
>To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
>digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html

------------------------------------------------------------------
To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html

Other related posts: