[IRCA] Compact fluorescents

["Dan Strassberg" <dan.strassberg@xxxxxxx>]

Anyone willing to place money on an outright ban on the sale (let alone use)
of incandescent bulbs in the US had better be ready, willing, and able to
lose his money! IT WON'T HAPPEN. It would be political suicide for any
legislator who voted for it. I can, however, easily imagine a high tax on
incandescents, such that they would cost more to purchase initially than do
CFLs. (Note, though, that to keep the companies that sell incandescents from
using lobbying to prevent the passage of the tax, all major suppliers of
incandescents would also have to supply CFLs. That way, the companies would
lose no revenue--and presumably lose no profit--from the imposition of the
tax.) Since incandescents typically last only about 10% as long as CFLs and
use four to five times as much energy, the tax would make incandescents
completely economically unattractive except in a few specialized cases.
Sales to DXers would be one of those cases--but not the only one.

I have lamps in the house whose shades clamp over the spherical portion of
incandescent bulbs. Such shades are not uncommon. The clamps don't work on
CFLs. Replacing each lamp (or even just the shade--if there were a suitable
shade--but I know of no shades designed to clamp onto CFLs) would cost
upwards of $100 per lamp. Fortunately, the lamps don't get much use, so it
would take decades for me to recoup the cost of the extra energy they
use--let alone the cost of replacement lamps. If the new tax were enacted, I
would gladly (OK, maybe not THAT gladly) pay $10.00 each ($9.00 of which
would be for the new tax) for replacement incandescent bulbs.

--
Dan Strassberg, dan.strassberg@xxxxxxx
eFax 707-215-6367




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