Well, that's that. My last 100W incandescent bulb just burnt out. Thanks to numpty E.U. regs my choices are now "dim", or "prison light."
OH WAIT NO, I can just move another floor lamp into the living room and add a couple extra 60W incandescents! Luckily I can still get those. Because burning 4x60W is so much more environmentally friendly than 2x100W. I'm glad they can still do simple math over there in Brussels.
For berkeley's sake...
Is it illegal for us to fedex you some? And would US bulbs even work in Germany?
Jay wrote: Well, that's that. My last 100W incandescent bulb just burnt out. Thanks to numpty E.U. regs my choices are now "dim", or "prison light." OH WAIT NO, I can just move another floor lamp into the living room and add a couple extra 60W incandescents! Luckily I can still get those. Because burning 4x60W is so much more environmentally friendly than 2x100W. I'm glad they can still do simple math over there in Brussels. For berkeley's sake...
An array of super-white LEDs and a mirror work really well. Barring that - a brazier full of lamp oil?
Just do what Edison did. Experiment with running electricity through a wide variety of materials and see which ones put off light...er..."incandesce!"
mndsm wrote: Is it illegal for us to fedex you some? And would US bulbs even work in Germany?
Germany - like the rest of the EU - uses 240V, not 110/120, unfortunately.
Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:Jay wrote: Well, that's that. My last 100W incandescent bulb just burnt out. Thanks to numpty E.U. regs my choices are now "dim", or "prison light." OH WAIT NO, I can just move another floor lamp into the living room and add a couple extra 60W incandescents! Luckily I can still get those. Because burning 4x60W is so much more environmentally friendly than 2x100W. I'm glad they can still do simple math over there in Brussels. For berkeley's sake...An array of super-white LEDs and a mirror work really well. Barring that - a brazier full of WHALE oil?
FTFY
BoxheadTim wrote:mndsm wrote: Is it illegal for us to fedex you some? And would US bulbs even work in Germany?Germany - like the rest of the EU - uses 240V, not 110/120, unfortunately.
Hmmm, two US bulbs in series?
It is like trying to stop selling eggs by the dozen or trying to stop the selling of beer in imperial pints. If the politicians have time to do stuff like this, they clearly have too much time on their hands.
Question - What is the replacement for those directional flood lights I have in my ceiling?
1988RedT2 wrote: Just do what Edison did. Experiment with running electricity through a wide variety of materials and see which ones put off light...er..."incandesce!"
The only material I have on hand is 'wife'.
bravenrace wrote: Question - What is the replacement for those directional flood lights I have in my ceiling?
Usually Halogen bulbs, and a lot of them don't run on mains voltage, so check before buying replacements. IIRC you can get LED replacements for some of those, too.
I just read a story about a German firm that's marketing >60w bulbs as 'heaters.' Maybe look into that?
triumph7 wrote: Hmmm, two US bulbs in series?
You guys do know that we're going to be in the same boat soon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase-out_of_incandescent_light_bulbs#United_States
bravenrace wrote: Question - What is the replacement for those directional flood lights I have in my ceiling?
Those are called PARs if they are a regular incandescent medium-base bulb. You can easily get inexpensive screw-in CFL replacements for those - most cheap restaurants have them by the hundreds, which is unfortunate, because even modern fluorescent light makes food look really unappetizing.
They do make high output LED versions of the PARs, but they are really expensive. Like $120-150 each expensive, because they are for museum-quality pure white light. They put out a lot of gorgeous illumination, but they're going to be way too expensive for a couple years yet.
Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:
The only material I have on hand is 'wife'.
Just don't ask if she can spare some blubber, and things will likely be fine.
I'm hooked on the CFL bulbs. They provide nice light, they don't put out so much heat, and I am no longer constantly replacing light bulbs throughout my house.
What CFLs have you found with decent light? I hate the things.
And I hate that they're not dimmable. I think every light should be on a dimmer.
You know, to set the mood.
CFLs are great for one week when you're patting yourself on the back for saving the planet. Then they start doing that thing where they barely glow for the first 5 minutes. Then after 6 months the color of light they put out can best be described as "bile"
Thanks, I'll take LEDs.
I have found that CFLs very quite a lot between brands. The cheap ones seem to take forever to light up but the better known brands seem to work quite well.
We did 90% of our house and after the first couple of days I really didn't notice anymore.
Otto Maddox wrote: instant start and dimmable
at least its only 30 times more expensive than a nice non-mercury ridden incandescent.
In reply to WilberM3:
Well, i just put in the first thing that came up. The cost is so negligible that I am not going to do a spreadsheet on it, but I would say CFLs cost about four times as much and last four times as long. Plus you save on electricity.
Edit - Wow! I was way off. I buy my bulbs at Sam's. Normal GE soft light bulbs are $1.22 each. CFL GE soft light bulbs are $1.64. So CFLs are a huge money saver. I had not realized.
The only think I like CFLs for is my grow lights for (legal 
) plants. I usually get the ones marked "Daylight" 100W equiv. ~ 6500K. Plants seem to like 'em! 
I have tomatoes, basil and some random pepper plants growing in the terrariums right now! The really high quality ones can get expensive ~ $20 per bulb!
Maybe you can hide some in the tanks of "full flush" toilets and smuggle them in from Canada! ;-)
Listen to this. You'll feel better.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0HHptroBTY
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