Price Of Lightbulbs

Or indeed cope with the fact that replacing every lighbulb in Britain will achieve bugger all? It's yet another green figleaf for people who are mathematically challenged.

I got faced with one of the stupid buggers today at the Co-Op. I bought my goods and asked for a carrier bag. "We don't do those anymore, the Co-Op has decided that it will not take part in the destruction of the environment." So I asked how I was supposed to take the goods home. "We can sell you our Eco-bag for £2.50." I examined the bag label, it was made in China and had been flown half-way around the globe. I asked in what way this was environmentally friendly. Stupid bugger scratched his head and said he hadn't thought about that.

Loads of shops here in Melbourne sell them for about $1 (50p). South Australia is outlawing single use plastic carriers from May and already has returnable deposits on cans and drink bottles to keep them out of landfill.

Wow, that will save the planet.

I assume you work.You have paid for the subsidy with your taxes.

Again, your taxes, not profit deducted from your supplier

All the more reason not to force them on us

I have to pay 15p for each low energy lamp I purchace at the wholesalers. It is called the WEEE charge. Soon they may be charging 5p for a carrier bag as well.

Adam

So it's yet another 'stealth' tax.

Well I suppose it may work in the same way as non means-tested benefits, in that it is ultimately cheaper to give the benefit to all than have the expense of a means testing infrastructure. Perhas I should offer the CFLs on Freecycle.

Well, that sounds like another tax. Deposits get returned as an incentive to 'do he right thing' - unless the WEEE charge is returned to you, I don't see it as the same thing at all.

As for carrier bags, I carry a few in my coat at all times, so I rarely, if ever pay a bag fee. It is a bit like living in the Soviet Union, 'though - there, everyone would carry a string carrier bag on the off-chance they would come across something worth buying. Funnily enough, my mother did the same in the UK the 70s. I don't think there is anything stopping you buying a pack of bags at wholesale prices and carrying a few when you go shopping - all that is needed is a bit of planning.

Cheers,

Sid

There is electronics in CFLs. If you buy g23 (IIRC) based tubes there is no electronics and should be no WEEE charge. They are also better if you have space for a ballast and the tube.

I have converted a number of lights to use 4-pin tubes with separate control gear, such as...

The combination of the Philips matchbox ballasts (Blue - instant-start) and the GE 2D tubes which give good illumination from cold can be quite desirable in places where instant start and good initial light levels are desirable. I've use them in a bathroom too, and frequent switching doesn't seem to have given short tube life.

wholesalers.

I am buying one of those on Monday. It let you know I am charged the WEEE.

Adam

The message from %steve%@malloc.co.uk (Steve Firth) contains these words:

On this matter I agree with you. But your mistake was to pay for the goods without securing the carrier bag.

Next time, stack up your trolley. Taken it to the checkout. Unload it on to the belt. Let the idiot ring it all through the till. Ask for carrier bags. THEN refuse to pay and walk away.

Repeat at another aisle.

Repeat at another Co-op.

You aren't answering my point. You said that "It's not impossible to make the geometry of a 4:3 CRT as good as any LCD". It is that statement that I dispute.

The colour of LCD vs CRT is a matter of taste and dispute; I do not intend to discuss it.

Andy

It's also something a CRT can never cure.

Fairynuff.

I do find, however, that the possibilities of mis adjusting color balance on modern screens AND video software vastly exceeds what you could do with old CRT sets.

I spent a merry half hour waiting while my wife finished shoe shopping or something, adjusting the LCD TV sets on display so that the cheap ones had the nice subtle graded color balance that the expensive plasma ones had.

For example.

What's wrong with LCD tvs ? I was comparing a Samsung 46" LCD tv vs a comparable Panasonic Plasma screen in a shop and for me the Samsung blew it away. The Panasonic won a Consumer Association shootout too.

David

Which s*it is best is not the issue.

Derek

That's utter nonsense. I've worked as a software engineer since 1982 and have had several dozens of CRT monitors from as many different manufaturers.. *All* the LCD monitors I've had would have beaten

If I was asked on the phone by a future employer whether I wanted an LCD or CRT monitor without having the chance to spec it myself I would choose the LCD in a heartbeat. Same goes if I was allowed to choose it on a fixed budget.

Last CRT monitor I bought cost =A3200 about 10 years ago. It's 15 " displays 1024x768 at best and 76 Hz (IIRC). My most recent LCD display cost me =A3277 last year, it's a 26" diagonal, displays

I don't know what planet you're from Dave but you sure ain't from rould here.

David

It is only necessary to establish that there is a risk that severe effects will ensue in order for it to be worth avoiding. The reason for this is that the effects are likely to be so severe as to make any costs incurred avoiding them to pale in comparison,

All of these are very well established. In particular CO2 is very well known to cause global warming and the mechanisms and the size of the effects are very well understood.

No, any way of reducing CO2 will reduce global warming and all avenues including energy reduction should be pursued,

A 0.1% energy saving will save 0.1% of energy. The advantage of changing lightbulbs is there is no downside whatsoever and so obviously it is a good thing to do.

You must be one of the colour blind males mentioned elsewhere.

To quote yourself:-

'I don't know what planet you're from Dave but you sure ain't from rould here.'

mangled snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com coughed up some electrons that declared:

With the greatest of respect...

Bollocks!

It would be, assuming the replacement is acceptable.

The only decent CFL I have used recently is:

I'll see how long they last, but they are the first ones I've used where the light is actually anywhere near the brightness alluded to on the box. Might as well watch a neon bulb as use Tesco's x-for-a-pound jobbies (I tried them, last week).

Cheers

Tim