Australia to phase out household light bulbs by 2009

MegaFuz

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    This is a summary of a video I saw on CNN.com earlier today.

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    That's right. The continent of Australia plans to phase out regular household light bulbs by year 2009, in favor of less energy hungry fluorescent lights. It is estimated that about 4,000,000 tons less carbon will be put into the atmosphere than is being put into it today. Regular light bulbs waste about 95% of the electricity that is put into them, causing more heat to be produced than actual light.

    While fluorescent globes are more expensive to buy up front, they will save the consumer a great deal of money in the long run. Electric bills will be cut by $10 a year per light. (If you have 30 light bulbs in your house, you'd save $300) While some lighting retailers are worried about fluorescent bulbs fitting into certain fixtures, the government believes the plan will be a win for both household budgets and the environment.

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    I thought this was pretty interesting. It definitely sounds like a good idea to me, as long as it doesn't cause too many complications with bulbs fitting into fixtures.
     
    hehehe, the funniest thing here is that a non-Australian resident made this thread ;D

    I wonder why you used the word "continent" instead of "country" or "nation"? And I think it was by 2010. Oh well ;D

    Anywho, while I think that this is a really good idea, one of their largest obstacles will be the initial price up front for the bulbs. Like, the only fluorescent light bulbs we have in my household are ones we got for free ;D

    Oh yeah, and they're kinda ugly too. Hopefully the designs can be changed.

    I don't really think that issues with light bulb fittings is that much of a concern. Like, even today there are a couple of different fittings, and I don't think that causes any major problems.
     
    I think by continent he also means islands that belong to the continent such as New Zeland.

    Anyway, this is actually a pretty good idea. I wish they would do something of the sort here is the US.
     
    No, it's just Australia.

    You see, we've had a whole spat of environmental reports recently related to global warming and the like, since our just recently appointed "Australian of the year" is knowledgeable in the field of global warming. This has increased awareness of the issue in the general public, and so the government is using that to regain voters and support.

    I'd comment on why we still haven't signed the Kyoto Protocol if we're so concerned about the well being of this planet, but that's a different matter altogether.

    And a source: https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081&sid=aUcqVPVTgK0M&refer=australia
     
    I used the word continent because that's the word CNN used in their report. And I'm positive that the year was 2009. I replayed the video 3 different times to type up the summary, and it was definitely 2009. I think the main concern was with chandelier type fixtures, where the outer glass orb is shorter than the fluorescent bulb itself.

    I'd link to the video if I could, but it won't allow me to. If you go to CNN.com right now the video should be in the list of latest news. Feel free to check it out. ;D
     
    Well hopefully this will prompt other nations to follow the Australian example.
     
    Yep...and it's already begun... ;) Well, not so, but those regular light bulbs have been replaced with ones that save more energy, but it's nice to know someone knows more about my own country than I do! :P I wonder when they'll introduce LEDs as household lighting...
     
    I think that LEDs capable of producing sufficient light to fill a room are incredibly expensive (Check out LED Lenser), so i wouldn't expect them any time soon.
     
    Well I would expect LEDs to become the household lighting by 2020, but yeah it would cost so much, but on the bright side it's energy-efficient and lasts longer.
     
    This is such a great idea. Now if we can only get the rest of the world to follow, that would be great.
     
    I have my doubts about the scheme however- will it be that our household bulbs of today are banned or just taken off the market?
     
    ..now if only they didn't hurt my eyes with excess flicker *whine*
     
    The so called "energy effecient" light bulbs are garbage. It takes forever for them to power up to their brightest setting, and they aren't even that bright.
     
    Their is just one problem with the ban. Certain products can use only a traditional bulb like an Easy Bake Oven to cook the food. In my house for example, has two dome lamp that can only accept the tradional bulb and if you try to use the other type it will cause a problem. Don't get me wrong, all my house's other fixtures use fluorescent bulbs to save electricity.
     
    Corrosion said:
    I have my doubts about the scheme however- will it be that our household bulbs of today are banned or just taken off the market?
    Click to expand...

    Well, by "phased out" I would guess that that would mean they will gradually take them off of the market, slowly reducing the number of older bulbs in households. 2009 or 2010 is their target for getting them completely off of the market.

    Red1530 said:
    Their is just one problem with the ban. Certain products can use only a traditional bulb like an Easy Bake Oven to cook the food. In my house for example, has two dome lamp that can only accept the tradional bulb and if you try to use the other type it will cause a problem. Don't get me wrong, all my house's other fixtures use fluorescent bulbs to save electricity.
    Click to expand...

    Yeah, that is a big concern right now with the whole situation. Certain fixtures will not accept the fluorescent bulbs. =\
     
    2-3 years is definetely optimistic, and as i'm not a person who is knowledgable about the Australian system but i cant see it as a manageble process in the given time- Household lightbulbs are ubiquitous in their presence in an everyday home (I'm in a small room at the moment and i have 5 bulbs in total in here alone) but i dont know the effectiveness of the government down below, so i dont really have a great voice to speak out with.
     
    Red1530 said:
    Their is just one problem with the ban. Certain products can use only a traditional bulb like an Easy Bake Oven to cook the food. In my house for example, has two dome lamp that can only accept the tradional bulb and if you try to use the other type it will cause a problem. Don't get me wrong, all my house's other fixtures use fluorescent bulbs to save electricity.
    Click to expand...

    Chances are those products will become useless and they'll be taken off of the market as well. I mean, there's no reason to sell products that don't work. Either that, or they'll adapt to using the new bulbs. We can only hope for the latter.

    I'm all for things that'll help save energy. ^^; Hopefully this will work, but we'll see. Something can always go astray. (Can you tell I'm a little pessimistic?)
     
    Wow, that's pretty awesome. All of that carbon...it's pretty scary to think about what too much carbon can do to the enviorment. It's great Australia is starting this. Probably due to the corrosion in the ozone layer being most prominent over Australia, but that's just me XD. The next nationwide think America's probably going to do is the banning of transfats.
     
    How is it I live in this country and have to find out stuff about Australia's lighting situation from Americans?

    :/ No opinion, as long as it's actually good for the environment and it's subsidised, not everyone can afford like... that many lightbulbs really upfront, but maybe it works out with the lighting fees... Hmm.
     
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