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Ontario To Ban The Sale Of Incandescent Bulbs - NefCanuck - 04-19-2007

McGuinty Government to Ban Inefficient Light Bulbs by 2012

TORONTO — Ontario is banning the sale of inefficient light bulbs by 2012 and launching five province-wide conservation initiatives as part of the government's commitment to build a conservation culture, Energy Minister Dwight Duncan and Environment Minister Laurel Broten announced today.

"It's lights out for old, inefficient bulbs in Ontario," Duncan said. "By making this one small change, we can all make an enormous difference in the way we use electricity."

New efficient lighting such as compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) use around 75 per cent less electricity than standard old fashioned incandescent bulbs. Replacing all 87 million incandescent bulbs in Ontario households with CFLs would save six million megawatt hours annually — enough to power 600,000 homes.

"Together, Ontarians can – and will – do their part to fight climate change starting with something as simple as changing a light bulb," said Broten. "This is an important day for Ontario's environment – this action alone represents a huge step forward in reducing greenhouse gas emissions – it's the equivalent of taking 250,000 cars off the road."

The Ministry of Energy will meet with industry, US regulators, and federal and provincial governments to develop new performance standards for lamps and to draft regulations to ban the sale of inefficient lighting by 2012 where alternatives exist in the market. In addition, as of today, the government will only purchase energy efficient light bulbs for its own buildings.

"We support the government's initiative to improve the efficiency of all lighting," said Elyse Allan, President and CEO of GE Canada which has a lamp manufacturing plant in Oakville. "By encouraging the use of high efficiency lighting, at home and at work, all of us will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions."

"Friends of the Earth congratulates the McGuinty government on their important decision to ban inefficient lighting," said Beatrice Olivastri, CEO, Friends of the Earth Canada. "A regulation for the ban plus their commitment to immediately cease provincial government's purchases of out-dated bulbs is a recipe for success - good for energy conservation and good for fighting climate change."

Today also marks the launch of five innovative energy conservation programs for summer 2007 that will give Ontarians the tools they need to save energy, money, and the environment:

Every Kilowatt Counts — a coupon and incentive brochure being mailed to every household in Ontario. The program provides coupons for CFL bulbs, ceiling fans, timers and other energy-saving devices.

Cool Savings Rebate Program — provides rebates for central air conditioner tune-ups and for the installation of energy-efficient central air conditioning systems and programmable thermostats.

Great Refrigerator Roundup — will help take old, inefficient fridges out of service. Every 1,000 refrigerators retired will save enough electricity to power more than 130 homes.

Summer Savings — offers residential and small business consumers an incentive for reducing power use: cutting use by 10 per cent during a set period gives consumers an additional 10 per cent rebate on their electricity bills.

Peaksaver — a voluntary program that allows local distribution companies to remotely cycle down central air conditioners, water heaters and pool pumps when the electricity system is stretched.

"These five programs show that conserving electricity can be easy," said Peter Love, Ontario's Chief Energy Conservation Officer. "Consumers begin saving money immediately, both on the products they purchase and by reducing electricity costs."

Since 2003, the province has made available up to $2 billion for energy efficiency and conservation programs. The summer 2007 conservation programs are just the latest conservation initiatives introduced by the McGuinty government. Others include:

A commitment to reduce Ontario's projected peak electricity demand by five per cent, and the government's own electricity use by 10 per cent, by the end of 2007.
Increasing the range of products covered by Ontario's Energy Efficiency Act to save Ontarians money and encourage energy conservation.

Legislating improvements to the Ontario Building Code to give it the toughest energy-efficiency standards of any building code in the country.

Providing over $14 million to support low Income conservation programs including projects with the Social Services Housing Corporation, the Energy Efficiency Assistance for Social Housing Program and the Affordable Housing Energy Efficiency Program

Supporting a wide range of incentive programs including the Every Kilowatt Counts Program that distributed over 2.8 million CFLs in 2006.

Providing $1.5 million to Project Porchlight to deliver compact florescent light bulbs to communities across Ontario.

"Taken together, these programs represent the largest coordinated effort Ontario has ever made to conserve electricity," said Duncan. "We're working with Ontarians to build a culture of conservation that will help ensure our province has the power it needs to grow and prosper now and long into the future."

What this means to you: Saving electricity costs us all money <_<

NefCanuck

Ontario To Ban The Sale Of Incandescent Bulbs - D-Dub - 04-19-2007

not really I have fluorescent bulbs in my house that I haven't changed in 3 years......beats having incandescent ones that have to be changed every 6 months.

Ontario To Ban The Sale Of Incandescent Bulbs - OAC_Sparky - 04-19-2007

Not as good news as you think, when you consider that every flourescent lamp contains liquid mercury and phosphorous that will eventually end up in our landfills.

Ontario To Ban The Sale Of Incandescent Bulbs - hardk0re - 04-19-2007

i've thrown out more of these "efficient" bulbs than the incandecant bulbs. Esp the cheap ones they burn out much faster than good quality incandecent.



Ontario To Ban The Sale Of Incandescent Bulbs - NOS2Go4Me - 04-19-2007

I haven't had to toss one yet... some are well over 3 years old.

Ontario To Ban The Sale Of Incandescent Bulbs - paolo - 04-19-2007

too bad not every make of CFL works with dimmers, or do we need to replace our dimmers with more modern dimmers?

Ontario To Ban The Sale Of Incandescent Bulbs - OAC_Sparky - 04-19-2007

paolo,Apr 18 2007, 05:51 PM Wrote:too bad not every make of CFL works with dimmers, or do we need to replace our dimmers with more modern dimmers?
[right][snapback]235382[/snapback][/right]
It's not a good idea to run flourescents on a dimmer unless it's specificly stated that the ballast is dimmable.

Ontario To Ban The Sale Of Incandescent Bulbs - Blackzx3 - 04-19-2007

OAC_Sparky,Apr 18 2007, 06:00 PM Wrote:
paolo,Apr 18 2007, 05:51 PM Wrote:too bad not every make of CFL works with dimmers, or do we need to replace our dimmers with more modern dimmers?
[right][snapback]235382[/snapback][/right]
It's not a good idea to run flourescents on a dimmer unless it's specificly stated that the ballast is dimmable.
[right][snapback]235385[/snapback][/right]

my mom did that one and its like the twilight zone LOL makes you go dizzy

Ontario To Ban The Sale Of Incandescent Bulbs - paolo - 04-19-2007

OAC_Sparky,Apr 18 2007, 07:00 PM Wrote:
paolo,Apr 18 2007, 05:51 PM Wrote:too bad not every make of CFL works with dimmers, or do we need to replace our dimmers with more modern dimmers?
[right][snapback]235382[/snapback][/right]
It's not a good idea to run flourescents on a dimmer unless it's specificly stated that the ballast is dimmable.
[right][snapback]235385[/snapback][/right]

then they need to ensure that all cfls are dimmable by the deadline.. otherwise some government building will have dozens of lightbulbs smashed onto.

Ontario To Ban The Sale Of Incandescent Bulbs - OAC_Sparky - 04-19-2007

paolo,Apr 18 2007, 06:35 PM Wrote:then they need to ensure that all cfls are dimmable by the deadline.. otherwise some government building will have dozens of lightbulbs smashed onto.
[right][snapback]235393[/snapback][/right]
The problem with dimmable flourescents is that the efficiency savings are lost once you run it under the 100%. Opposite of incadescents.

You need to maintain a minumum power level to maintain the electron flow and gas ionization. It's this threshold power that consumes 70% of the total power used for the lamp.

The problem with making laws like this is that the idiots in charge have no idea of the science involved.

Everyone here knows how flourescents work, right? Unlike incadescents, flourescents lamps are considered hazardous waste. Everyone will think they're great until the waste collection stops taking them in the garbage and start making you return them to a hazardous waste depot, probably for a fee.

Ontario To Ban The Sale Of Incandescent Bulbs - ANTHONYD - 04-19-2007

It's about time.

I took a weekend and about about 200bucks and replaced EVERY bulb in my home with the energy saver bulbs. We noticed a 20 dollar dip in our bill right off the bat!

Ontario To Ban The Sale Of Incandescent Bulbs - NefCanuck - 04-19-2007

I'm glad some of you noticed the big assed hole in this announcement. Mainly what is going to happen to the CFL bulbs when they die? For example I know that locally I can take any dead CFL bulbs to the hazardous waste disposal site in Mississauga (Haven't killed a CFL bulb yet and most of mine are circa 2003 now) but what about more remote areas of the province where disposing of them is more involved?

I'll bet a years car insurance bills that those people will simply dump the dead CFL's in the trash... Typical government non-thought through plan <_<

NefCanuck

Ontario To Ban The Sale Of Incandescent Bulbs - OAC_Sparky - 04-19-2007

ANTHONYD,Apr 18 2007, 07:13 PM Wrote:It's about time.

I took a weekend and about about 200bucks and replaced EVERY bulb in my home with the energy saver bulbs. We noticed a 20 dollar dip in our bill right off the bat!
[right][snapback]235401[/snapback][/right]
You must leave your lights on a lot, seeing that tops you'll get is a 1/2 savings on just lights, meaning that if you saved $20 you are assuming that normally you spend $40. My average monthly hydro bill is under $80 with two kids. Chances are more likely that your savings are seasonal -- more daylight and the furnace isn't running as much.

The other downside is that you went out and spent $200, which means that you'll need a minimum 10 months to break even from buying them. But reality is that it will take even longer, because you'll find that you'll still need to replace the high-usage ones, at a higher cost.

I'm not anti-flourescent -- I've got them in my garage, and basement. The rest of the house are all on dimmers, mostly halogen, and everything possible are on timers and motion sensors.

Ontario To Ban The Sale Of Incandescent Bulbs - Flofocus - 04-19-2007

NefCanuck,Apr 18 2007, 04:18 PM Wrote:McGuinty Government[right][snapback]235356[/snapback][/right]

Stopped reading right about here.


Ontario To Ban The Sale Of Incandescent Bulbs - NefCanuck - 04-19-2007

Flofocus,Apr 18 2007, 07:51 PM Wrote:
NefCanuck,Apr 18 2007, 04:18 PM Wrote:McGuinty Government[right][snapback]235356[/snapback][/right]

Stopped reading right about here.
[right][snapback]235423[/snapback][/right]

I would have said "McSquinty" or "Fiberal" government... but I voted for them :ph34r:

NefCanuck

Ontario To Ban The Sale Of Incandescent Bulbs - darkpuppet - 04-19-2007

OAC_Sparky,Apr 18 2007, 08:03 PM Wrote:
paolo,Apr 18 2007, 06:35 PM Wrote:then they need to ensure that all cfls are dimmable by the deadline.. otherwise some government building will have dozens of lightbulbs smashed onto.
[right][snapback]235393[/snapback][/right]
The problem with dimmable flourescents is that the efficiency savings are lost once you run it under the 100%. Opposite of incadescents.

You need to maintain a minumum power level to maintain the electron flow and gas ionization. It's this threshold power that consumes 70% of the total power used for the lamp.

The problem with making laws like this is that the idiots in charge have no idea of the science involved.

Everyone here knows how flourescents work, right? Unlike incadescents, flourescents lamps are considered hazardous waste. Everyone will think they're great until the waste collection stops taking them in the garbage and start making you return them to a hazardous waste depot, probably for a fee.
[right][snapback]235396[/snapback][/right]

yeah.. I keep saying that the hazradous waist from these things is gonna be a bitch.... I guess only time will tell.

And you're correct about the dimming... however, CFL bulbs with a quick start ballast, (not pre-warmers or kickstarters) should work in dimmers, and there are some spiral bulbs that will indeed work with dimmers (down to about 20% of the original brightness).

I remember seeing something on the discovery channel about dimmable flourescent lighting in office buildings. And the technology is out there that can keep the filaments at working temps, while reducing the current to dim the light... my flourescent desk lamp at work does this... tho the dimmer is a 3-position dial with very audible detents.

I wish the government would have put the effort towards LED lighting, which is, in my opinion, the more compelling technology. A district in Raleigh (I think I posted something about this some time ago) made the swap to LED... power savings of CFL, but more weather-proof, durrable, and longer lasting.

My biggest beefs with CFLs...

- They contain hazardous materials and should not be disposed of in regular garbage, yet nobody is told this.
- They cost a lot more to buy initially.
- They have a half life. That extended lifespan of CFL is measured down to as low as 30% of the bulb's original brightness.
- They don't stay as bright as day one --Depending on the phosphours of the CFL, I measured with a lightmeter a near 10% drop in output in the first 3 months from a 45 watt CFL. The initial drop-off tends to be steep, tapering off over time (all of my bulbs over 6 months need about 5 minutes to get up to their maximum brightness).
- Most CFLs won't operate below -15C -- I expect a darker than usual winter this year!

I dunno.. I just don't think they put enough thought into this..

Ontario To Ban The Sale Of Incandescent Bulbs - Focus man. Focus. - 04-19-2007

I bought my compact flouresent bulbs at IKEA and I have never burned on out yet. They are over 4 years old and I turn them off and on every time I enter and leave a room.

Ontario To Ban The Sale Of Incandescent Bulbs - FocusGuy7476 - 04-19-2007

Steve, I'm all for the use of LED as a replacement for conventional light bulbs. You pretty much wouldn't have to buy another light bulb again.

Ontario To Ban The Sale Of Incandescent Bulbs - Frost__2001 - 04-19-2007

Focus man, Focus.,Apr 18 2007, 11:22 PM Wrote:I bought my compact flouresent bulbs at IKEA and I have never burned on out yet.  They are over 4 years old and I turn them off and on every time I enter and leave a room.
[right][snapback]235445[/snapback][/right]

Ditto, and Ikea take all old regular and CFL bulbs for recycling same with dead batteries.

One Good Thing about Ikea is they have the most choices when it comes to CFLs, I got some that have a plastic cover on them that make them look like regular bulbs, and they are safe for use in the bathroom as no moisture can settle on the base of the CFL. and there are CFL bulbs out there for the Dimmer switchs it's just they cost the most and you really have to go out and really look for them and read the labels.

Ontario To Ban The Sale Of Incandescent Bulbs - oldeguy - 04-20-2007

So when can we replace the inefficient light bulbs in Government?