Last US incandescent bulb manufacturing plant shuts down.

[Anti Federalist]

Light bulb factory closes; End of era for U.S. means more jobs overseas

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/07/AR2010090706933.html?hpid=topnews

WINCHESTER, VA. - The last major GE factory making ordinary incandescent light bulbs in the United States is closing this month, marking a small, sad exit for a product and company that can trace their roots to Thomas Alva Edison's innovations in the 1870s.

During the recession, political and business leaders have held out the promise that American advances, particularly in green technology, might stem the decades-long decline in U.S. manufacturing jobs. But as the lighting industry shows, even when the government pushes companies toward environmental innovations and Americans come up with them, the manufacture of the next generation technology can still end up overseas.

What made the plant here vulnerable is, in part, a 2007 energy conservation measure passed by Congress that set standards essentially banning ordinary incandescents by 2014. The law will force millions of American households to switch to more efficient bulbs.

The resulting savings in energy and greenhouse-gas emissions are expected to be immense. But the move also had unintended consequences.

Rather than setting off a boom in the U.S. manufacture of replacement lights, the leading replacement lights are compact fluorescents, or CFLs, which are made almost entirely overseas, mostly in China.

[GunnyFreedom]

NCConstitutionalist (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/community/mypost/index.html?newspaperUserId=NCConstitutionalist&plckUserId=NCConstitutionalist) wrote:
Thank heavens! I was starting to get worried that there was not enough mercury saturating our environment. Now that these old-fashioned non-polluting incandescent bulbs are gone, we'll be swimming in mercury within a decade! /sarc

PS -- Thomas Edison stole the fully-functional incandescent lightbulb from Nicola Tesla, and then invented the yarn about his thousands of hours trying to get it to work. Folks need to learn some history...

[Lucille]

I hope it's not too late to hoard them, so I can sell them on the black market once they're off the shelves completely.

Environmentalists: Mercury is awesome (http://www.gelighting.com/na/home_lighting/ask_us/downloads/cfl_cleanup_and_disposal.pdf)! (pdf)

Related: World's oldest lightbulb still burning bright after 109 years (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1243138/Still-glowing-strong-109-years-worlds-oldest-lightbulb.html)

[tangent4ronpaul]

Yeah compact florescents! I just love "green" lightbilbs that give you eye strain and require you call a HAZMAT team in case you drop one! Ain't green technology great! :rolleyes:

We really need a BARF emoticon on this forum....

-t

[Acala]

I wonder how much the used incandescent bulb making equipment would cost?

[angelatc]

I hate the fluorescent, but the light bulb manufacturers suck too. YOu kiddies might not realize it, but light bulbs used to last a lot longer than they do now. Years, sometimes.

All they have to do is make the filament a scant longer and thicker, but of course that makes it harder to sell light bulbs.

[angelatc]

I wonder how much the used incandescent bulb making equipment would cost?

I'm with you, but in 2014 it will be illegal to sell them. Maybe you could rent it for a few years...

[tangent4ronpaul]

I'm with you, but in 2014 it will be illegal to sell them. Maybe you could rent it for a few years...

Just re-brand them and get a trademark for whatever phrase Congress said will be legal to sell :)

-t

[Pericles]

Love that "free trade" - seriously that equipment would be a good investment when bought from the liquidators.

[Acala]

I'm with you, but in 2014 it will be illegal to sell them. Maybe you could rent it for a few years...

That stupid law is one that the Arizona legislature is considering nullifying. So I'm thinking it might be nice to make Arizona-only lightbulbs.

[phill4paul]

That stupid law is one that the Arizona legislature is considering nullifying. So I'm thinking it might be nice to make Arizona-only lightbulbs.

Perhaps, the factory could burn them for a few seconds and sell them over the internet to all America as "used" lightbulbs? :D

[FreeTraveler]

That stupid law is one that the Arizona legislature is considering nullifying. So I'm thinking it might be nice to make Arizona-only lightbulbs.
Know any 10th amendment supporters in the state legislature? There's a chance to get rich and stick a thumb in Uncle Sam's eye. How cool is that? :p

[Acala]

Know any 10th amendment supporters in the state legislature? There's a chance to get rich and stick a thumb in Uncle Sam's eye. How cool is that? :p

This has actually been proposed by an Arizona legislator. I don't know the status.

[erowe1]

Sad news.

But at least the part about more jobs overseas is good.

[BetaMale]

I swear to God this story was ripped directly from Atlas Shrugged...

[Promontorium]

It's sad. But Edison was a douchebag, and Tesla might finally get some recognition.

[tangent4ronpaul]

I remember seeing instructions on making a light bulb as a science experiment. Got me thinking... what about a kit? - that's not a lightbulb, it's a science experiment.

In the instructions, a jar with lid, some inert gas and a filament (nicrome wire, iirc) wer assembles and power applied via a couple of leads.

So how about a standard lightbilb base, a regularly shaped but detachable bulb (heavier glass) w/ a way to fill with inert gas and extra filament. You'd have a PERMANENT lightbulb! and could also sell refil supplies!

Lets see Congress try to ban science experiments! :D

Market it however, maybe even infomercials about teaching your kid science and I bet you'd get lots of multiple orders for kits from single addresses :)

-t

[MRK]

Related: World's oldest lightbulb still burning bright after 109 years (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1243138/Still-glowing-strong-109-years-worlds-oldest-lightbulb.html)

WOW.

That makes me feel incredibly stupid. Anyone know where I can pick up a real lightbulb like this?

[oyarde]

WOW.

That makes me feel incredibly stupid. Anyone know where I can pick up a real lightbulb like this?

I wonder how much electricity it uses ?

[Old Ducker]

I'm currently in the process of setting up manufacturing (as well as distribution) for my company. The product will be sourced in Taiwan. Wish were different but that's the way it is.

[Dr.3D]

~snip

Related: World's oldest lightbulb still burning bright after 109 years (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1243138/Still-glowing-strong-109-years-worlds-oldest-lightbulb.html)

That bulb has been running on reduced voltage to make it last that long.
If you buy a light bulb designed to run on 220v, you can make it last nearly as long as well. It just won't burn very brightly.

[madengr]

Winchester, VA is where I grew up. Not that the writing wasn't on the wall for incandescents. It was a neat factory though. Took a tour of it for high school electronics class 20 years ago. Highly automated bulb assembly. Even had a giant, robotic warehouse. Can't see how they had two hundred people there considering how automated it was. There were 18 parallel lines. The only think a worker did was to cut open a box and dump in the bulb glass.

So the real question is, since I'm sure CFL production is just as automated, why was the place not re-tooled for CFL? Goes to show the demand for dirt cheap labor even when little manual labor is even involved. Keeping that place humming required highly skilled technicians. Guess there is no need for skilled labor either.

What the fuck! After viewing the slideshow of CFL assembly in China, it's all manual labor! So Chinese slave labor trumps an automated factory in the US. Sheesh!

[speciallyblend]

Join Save the incandescent bulb NOW 2010, sponsered by your local meth producers;) sarcasm*

Bring on the LED, the future is bright:)

[Anti Federalist]

Winchester, VA is where I grew up. Not that the writing wasn't on the wall for incandescents. It was a neat factory though. Took a tour of it for high school electronics class 20 years ago. Highly automated bulb assembly. Even had a giant, robotic warehouse. Can't see how they had two hundred people there considering how automated it was. There were 18 parallel lines. The only think a worker did was to cut open a box and dump in the bulb glass.

So the real question is, since I'm sure CFL production is just as automated, why was the place not re-tooled for CFL? Goes to show the demand for dirt cheap labor even when little manual labor is even involved. Keeping that place humming required highly skilled technicians. Guess there is no need for skilled labor either.

What the fuck! After viewing the slideshow of CFL assembly in China, it's all manual labor! So Chinese slave labor trumps an automated factory in the US. Sheesh!

Thread winner!

Let the free trade globalists hoot and holler all they want.

That is how the prison economy system works.

Even an automated, integrated, international, government contractor, business can't compete with that.

But don't worry, we'll be putting our massive (largest in the world) prison population to work sooner or later.

Try competing with that.

[Vessol]

You know what, I bought some of those energy saving lightbulbs recently.

They sure save energy! The one I put in my lamp died within 2 days! $@&#!

[erowe1]

Thread winner!

Let the free trade globalists hoot and holler all they want.

That is how the prison economy system works.

Even an automated, integrated, international, government contractor, business can't compete with that.

But don't worry, we'll be putting our massive (largest in the world) prison population to work sooner or later.

Try competing with that.

So your argument is that it's bad to do it in China because in China it provides people with jobs and in America it doesn't?

[Anti Federalist]

So your argument is that it's bad to do it in China because in China it provides people with jobs and in America it doesn't?

I could care less about jobs in China, when people here cannot find a job or make a decent middle class living.

China is a closed, prison economy. Any notion of free trade with China is bunk.

You cannot compete with prison labor.

[Old Ducker]

I could care less about jobs in China, when people here cannot find a job or make a decent middle class living.

China is a closed, prison economy. Any notion of free trade with China is bunk.

You cannot compete with prison labor.

According to what I'm hearing, it's a lot easier to start a business in China than it is in the US. The one thing we still have going for us is relatively efficient administration regarding incorporation and permits. It took me all of 10 minutes to register my company with the state once all the legal stuff was taken care of. In many countries that can take months, if not years (not to mention greasing a lot of palms).

[Pericles]

Winchester, VA is where I grew up. Not that the writing wasn't on the wall for incandescents. It was a neat factory though. Took a tour of it for high school electronics class 20 years ago. Highly automated bulb assembly. Even had a giant, robotic warehouse. Can't see how they had two hundred people there considering how automated it was. There were 18 parallel lines. The only think a worker did was to cut open a box and dump in the bulb glass.

So the real question is, since I'm sure CFL production is just as automated, why was the place not re-tooled for CFL? Goes to show the demand for dirt cheap labor even when little manual labor is even involved. Keeping that place humming required highly skilled technicians. Guess there is no need for skilled labor either.

What the fuck! After viewing the slideshow of CFL assembly in China, it's all manual labor! So Chinese slave labor trumps an automated factory in the US. Sheesh!

It required some capital to design and manufacture those machines as opposed to much lower investment in cheap labor and cheaper less sophisticated machines. It is not possible to compete with slave wages.

[Old Ducker]

It required some capital to design and manufacture those machines as opposed to much lower investment in cheap labor and cheaper less sophisticated machines. It is not possible to compete with slave wages.

That is product dependent. Cheap labor usually means poorly trained, not to mention unmotivated (unless the alternative is starvation) employees. Automation provides the company control over quality that no manual assembly method can provide, plus a lot less management hassles.

Something else to keep in mind is that the notion of slave wages is relative. A decade or two ago there was a big brouhaha over the paltry wages paid to shoe assemblers at Nike plants in Vietnam. Turned out those wages were better than what physicians there earned, which actually created distortions...why go to the hassle of years of schooling to become a physician?

[LibertyEagle]

I hate the fluorescent, but the light bulb manufacturers suck too. YOu kiddies might not realize it, but light bulbs used to last a lot longer than they do now. Years, sometimes.

All they have to do is make the filament a scant longer and thicker, but of course that makes it harder to sell light bulbs.

My understanding is that it is the wattage; not the filament. At least that is what I have been told by electricians who work at the store where I buy my bulbs. I buy mine from a lightbulb shop. I pay more, but those suckers last for years.

So, you can still get the good ones.

[LibertyEagle]

Sad news.

But at least the part about more jobs overseas is good.

Why?

[Philhelm]

Remember: breaking light bulbs is good for the economy.

[HOLLYWOOD]

I hope it's not too late to hoard them, so I can sell them on the black market once they're off the shelves completely.

Environmentalists: Mercury is awesome (http://www.gelighting.com/na/home_lighting/ask_us/downloads/cfl_cleanup_and_disposal.pdf)! (pdf)

Related: World's oldest lightbulb still burning bright after 109 years (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1243138/Still-glowing-strong-109-years-worlds-oldest-lightbulb.html)

WTF?



2009: The UK Government announced it was phasing out the traditional filament lightbulb banning sales in favour of environmentally-friendly halogen models.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1243138/Still-glowing-strong-109-years-worlds-oldest-lightbulb.html#ixzz0z0LMDMGT (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1243138/Still-glowing-strong-109-years-worlds-oldest-lightbulb.html#ixzz0z0LMDMGT)

Halogens are still filament power consuming incandescent

http://www.ronsaari.com/stockImages/newJersey/ThomasAlvaEdisonMemorialTower.jpg http://blog.modernmechanix.com/mags/ModernMechanix/2-1938/edison_memorial_bulb.jpg

[Austrian Econ Disciple]

Light bulb factory closes; End of era for U.S. means more jobs overseas

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/07/AR2010090706933.html?hpid=topnews

WINCHESTER, VA. - The last major GE factory making ordinary incandescent light bulbs in the United States is closing this month, marking a small, sad exit for a product and company that can trace their roots to Thomas Alva Edison's innovations in the 1870s.

During the recession, political and business leaders have held out the promise that American advances, particularly in green technology, might stem the decades-long decline in U.S. manufacturing jobs. But as the lighting industry shows, even when the government pushes companies toward environmental innovations and Americans come up with them, the manufacture of the next generation technology can still end up overseas.

What made the plant here vulnerable is, in part, a 2007 energy conservation measure passed by Congress that set standards essentially banning ordinary incandescents by 2014. The law will force millions of American households to switch to more efficient bulbs.

The resulting savings in energy and greenhouse-gas emissions are expected to be immense. But the move also had unintended consequences.

Rather than setting off a boom in the U.S. manufacture of replacement lights, the leading replacement lights are compact fluorescents, or CFLs, which are made almost entirely overseas, mostly in China.

Those damn foreigners. Erect Tariff walls I demand! Free-Trade is the Globalist One-World Government agenda don't you know?! Our Government has no role in the shedding of the American Economy, it is those damn foreigners! Rah-rah.

[crazyfacedjenkins]

I wonder how much electricity it uses ?

4 Watts

[free1]

Those LED ones that have the same color light will get cheaper and it won't be a issue anymore. Drawing less than the CFLs too.

So buy enough now to wait for those to become cheaper.

[tangent4ronpaul]

That bulb has been running on reduced voltage to make it last that long.
If you buy a light bulb designed to run on 220v, you can make it last nearly as long as well. It just won't burn very brightly.

If you'd bothered to read the whole article, you would have seen that they INCREASED the voltage from 110 to 120!


During it's first 75 years it was connected directly to the 110 Volt city power, (subject to the power outages) , and not to the back-up generator for fear of a power surge. In 1976 it was moved with a full police and fire truck escort, under the watch of Captain Kirby Slate, to its present site in 1976 at Fire Station 6, Livermore, California. It was then hooked to a seperate power source at 120V according to Frank Maul, Retired City Electrician, with no interuptions since.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1243138/Still-glowing-strong-109-years-worlds-oldest-lightbulb.html#ixzz0z2kXCk00

-t

[erowe1]

Why?

You're asking how having more jobs overseas is good?

Because it's good for those people to have jobs. Jobs are good, right?

[tangent4ronpaul]

Thread winner!

Let the free trade globalists hoot and holler all they want.

That is how the prison economy system works.

Even an automated, integrated, international, government contractor, business can't compete with that.

But don't worry, we'll be putting our massive (largest in the world) prison population to work sooner or later.

Try competing with that.

You are a little late on that one. They already are! the youtube doesn't really get into it other than a one line mention, but these places are US sweat shops - paying pennies an hour then making the prisoners buy stuff like meals, TP, toothpaste, cigs, etc. They try to find reasons to extend sentences too - minor violations.

YouTube - Privatized Prisons and Prison Labor IS Slavery (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xt6gPZO8XRw)

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8289


Human rights organizations, as well as political and social ones, are condemning what they are calling a new form of inhumane exploitation in the United States, where they say a prison population of up to 2 million - mostly Black and Hispanic - are working for various industries for a pittance. For the tycoons who have invested in the prison industry, it has been like finding a pot of gold. They don't have to worry about strikes or paying unemployment insurance, vacations or comp time. All of their workers are full-time, and never arrive late or are absent because of family problems; moreover, if they don't like the pay of 25 cents an hour and refuse to work, they are locked up in isolation cells.

-t

[Dr.3D]

If you'd bothered to read the whole article, you would have seen that they INCREASED the voltage from 110 to 120!



-t

Of course, but at what voltage was the bulb designed to be used?
If it is a 220v bulb, it would be running at a reduced voltage if it was running at 110v or even 120v.

[tangent4ronpaul]

Of course, but at what voltage was the bulb designed to be used?
If it is a 220v bulb, it would be running at a reduced voltage if it was running at 110v or even 120v.

It's a small bulb - look at the pics. Every bulb I've ever seen that runs at 220V (theatrical and stadium lighting) has been much larger.

-t

[lucius]

So, our social-planners, who wish to implement another aspect of soft-kill eugenics within our society have succeeded--make no about doubt that! This hazard of introducing mercury within our homes is well understood. If you have a modicum of doubt, just research what the EPA considers quasi 'not sufficient but adequate' in the event/disposal of just one of these bulbs breaking in your house--the amount of mercury, small as it may be, would now designate your living-room into a Superfund site if you had the empirical means to effectively measure it... :( ... :mad:

I am sad with this news, and in general with about everything you ever post AF...that type awareness is a curse surrounded by all these sleeping idiots/cointel/etc..'May we live in interesting times...'


Light bulb factory closes; End of era for U.S. means more jobs overseas

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/07/AR2010090706933.html?hpid=topnews

WINCHESTER, VA. - The last major GE factory making ordinary incandescent light bulbs in the United States is closing this month, marking a small, sad exit for a product and company that can trace their roots to Thomas Alva Edison's innovations in the 1870s.

During the recession, political and business leaders have held out the promise that American advances, particularly in green technology, might stem the decades-long decline in U.S. manufacturing jobs. But as the lighting industry shows, even when the government pushes companies toward environmental innovations and Americans come up with them, the manufacture of the next generation technology can still end up overseas.

What made the plant here vulnerable is, in part, a 2007 energy conservation measure passed by Congress that set standards essentially banning ordinary incandescents by 2014. The law will force millions of American households to switch to more efficient bulbs.

The resulting savings in energy and greenhouse-gas emissions are expected to be immense. But the move also had unintended consequences.

Rather than setting off a boom in the U.S. manufacture of replacement lights, the leading replacement lights are compact fluorescents, or CFLs, which are made almost entirely overseas, mostly in China.

[Dr.3D]

It's a small bulb - look at the pics. Every bulb I've ever seen that runs at 220V (theatrical and stadium lighting) has been much larger.

-t

Here, look at this one.
http://www.lightbulbemporium.com/satco_s4079_100a19_f_220v.asp

When I worked at the movie theater, we used the very small 50w light bulbs that were designed for 220v, in the exit signs. They burned very dimly and lasted what seemed like forever.

[tangent4ronpaul]

Here, look at this one.
http://www.lightbulbemporium.com/satco_s4079_100a19_f_220v.asp

When I worked at the movie theater, we used the very small 50w light bulbs that were designed for 220v, in the exit signs. They burned very dimly and lasted what seemed like forever.

I stand corrected!

-t

[Isaac Bickerstaff]

Yeah compact florescents! I just love "green" lightbilbs that give you eye strain and require you call a HAZMAT team in case you drop one! Ain't green technology great! :rolleyes:

We really need a BARF emoticon on this forum....

-t

Just in case you haven't seen it yet, ;@~
:D

[Warrior_of_Freedom]

Wut? I don't believe this at all. I'll wait and see if there are no more incandescent light bulb plants.

[Fox McCloud]

the thing is, there are a lot of fixtures that just don't plain work with florescent bulbs; for example dimmer switch lights; there are florescents that supposedly work with them (I bought one once), but they certainly don't work with all of them; there's also a few locations where incandescent is just better, at least, IMHO.

It should be up to consumers to decide what type of bulbs they want to use; I've switched over everything I can to florescent because of the money I save on my electricity bill (I still use incandescents where they're more applicable though; I have nothing against them)--the state doesn't need some top-down "one size fits all" attitude with this regard; consumers will vote with their feet and wallet.

What next? Banning florescent bulbs because they're an environmental hazard and forcing everyone to buy LED lamps? By the time they become widely available at a bit lower prices, it honestly wouldn't surprise me (side note, I'll be glad when they do become cheap, bright, and widely available, as they will use less electricity and last for years and years if not decades).

[Noob]

Just start using candles, oil lamps, lanterns and flash lights.

https://www.vermontlanterns.com/

[libertarian4321]

RE: Mercury- A CFL will cause LESS mercury emissions to the environment over it's lifetime if you live in an area that uses coal to produce electricity (coal is the biggest source of electricity in the USA, by far) because burning coal releases mercury to the environment.

BTW, the amount of mercury in a cfl is tiny. You also have mercury (much more of it) in the regular fluorescent tubes that light up most buildings and many homes.

Regarding the plant- if this plant was making money, why shut it down now? Why not wait until 2014 and milk every bit of profit out of it? Most likely, this plant was NOT profitable even today. The 2014 ban probably had nothing to do with it.

BTW, the leading CFL manufacturer, an American company from Ohio, is planning to build it's first plant in the USA in the near future.

I almost never use incandescents. I've been using mostly cfl's for at least the last 3 years.

[pcosmar]

Just start using candles, oil lamps, lanterns and flash lights.

https://www.vermontlanterns.com/

Do you know of any cheap whale oil?

[specsaregood]

Regarding the plant- if this plant was making money, why shut it down now? Why not wait until 2014 and milk every bit of profit out of it? Most likely, this plant was NOT profitable even today. The 2014 ban probably had nothing to do with it.

That's a pretty limited imagination. Perhaps the plant was in need of infrastructure updates/remodeling, or the equipment needed to be serviced. There could be a whole host of reasons which would require investments that couldn't be paid off in the short timeframe between now and 2014. Which would not preclude it being profitable as of now.

[idirtify]

Ahh, the blooming of a “light-bulb cartel”.:)

[HOLLYWOOD]

Ahh, the blooming of a “light-bulb cartel”.:)

http://local.citizenseye.com/islamabad/2010/06/21/islamabad-to-have-led-street-lights-cda/

Sad part... the American Taxpayers are probably forking the bill with the $10's of Billions in AID to Pakistan. All while ours consumes and crumbles...
Islamabad to have LED Street Lights
http://local.citizenseye.com/islamabad/files/2010/06/Islamabad-LED-Street-Lights-CDA-300x225.jpg

To cut cost, Islamabad’s civic body, Capital Development Authority, is planning to install LED street lights in Islamabad. These lights will be a new thing in Islamabad and will help CDA control electricity bills it pays to Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO).
According to reports, CDA pays around 1 billion Rupees to IESCO for street lights’ electricity charges which is a huge amount. As power tariff has increased in last few months, it has become crucial for city’s civic body to manage smooth working of street lights throughout Islamabad. Right now, LED street lights is the idea CDA has come up with.
CDA sources have indicated that once decision for LED street lights is taken, project will be completed on EPCM (Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Management) basis in 24 to 40 months.

[Matt Collins]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hojEjXnuYxA&feature=player_embedded

[Acala]

Just start using candles, oil lamps, lanterns and flash lights.

https://www.vermontlanterns.com/

Most people are just not going to be very happy with regular oil lamps and candles. They are very dim compared to what we have become accustomed to. They are bright enough to keep you from tripping over the furniture in the dark, but I would hate to try and read by one for any length of time.

But THIS is a different story:

http://www.aladdinlamps.com/

An aladdin lamp burns so brightly it hurts your eyes to look directly at it. They really need a shade to be comfortable.

You can buy antiques or new ones and mantles are readily available.

The aladdin lamp rules the world of non-electric lighting.

[Acala]

Do you know of any cheap whale oil?

Jojoba oil is chemically almost identical to whale oil. It is actually freaky how close they are.

[Pericles]

Dixie Gun Works sells a synthetic whale oil, which works really well on firearms, but it isn't cheap.

[tangent4ronpaul]

Most people are just not going to be very happy with regular oil lamps and candles. They are very dim compared to what we have become accustomed to. They are bright enough to keep you from tripping over the furniture in the dark, but I would hate to try and read by one for any length of time.


a trick is to fill a wine glass with water and use it to focus the light from an oil lamp or candle for reading.

[tangent4ronpaul]

Jojoba oil is chemically almost identical to whale oil. It is actually freaky how close they are.

anyone know where to get jojoba oil inexpensively? Found it in a beauty supply shop once, but small bottles and kinda pricey.

[doodle]

Do they have shelf life or safe to buy some extra packs for future?

[ARealConservative]

LED's are on the verge of getting bright enough and cheap enough to dominate the market without government regulations.

cfl's suck in the cold, they take too long to get bright.

[Dr.3D]

Do they have shelf life or safe to buy some extra packs for future?

Well, I believe they should last as long as they don't get broken. I have several hundred on the shelf in the basement, should be enough to last the rest of my life.

[GunnyFreedom]

LED's are on the verge of getting bright enough and cheap enough to dominate the market without government regulations.

cfl's suck in the cold, they take too long to get bright.

Since I can't afford to do it all at once, I bought one LED "bulb" for $40 that was supposed to be a "60w Replacement." It lights closer to 75w, and the quality of the light is better even than incandescent. It's weird though, when it's off it's covered in hard yellow opaque plastic. That not only dims the LED light emitted I am certain, but also changes the color. I can assume if not for the yellow opaque looking shield the light would be even twice as bright, but would probably have a garish blue hue.

In any case, having bought the one LED bulb for my office space at home, I am ridiculously pleased with it, and will be overjoyed when the prices come down enough to retrofit the whole house with these things.

[Anti Federalist]

Most people are just not going to be very happy with regular oil lamps and candles. They are very dim compared to what we have become accustomed to. They are bright enough to keep you from tripping over the furniture in the dark, but I would hate to try and read by one for any length of time.

But THIS is a different story:

http://www.aladdinlamps.com/

An aladdin lamp burns so brightly it hurts your eyes to look directly at it. They really need a shade to be comfortable.

You can buy antiques or new ones and mantles are readily available.

The aladdin lamp rules the world of non-electric lighting.

Aladdin lamps rock. They equal the brightness of a 60 watt bulb. They also throw off about 3500-4000 BTU of heat, kind of a drawback down south but definitely a plus up by me. I've got two myself.

One little drawback...the mantles are radioactive.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_mantle

[Anti Federalist]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4qVqD-MI0U&feature=related

[doodle]

Well, I believe they should last as long as they don't get broken. I have several hundred on the shelf in the basement, should be enough to last the rest of my life.

Ok cool. I think our local hardware store still has bunch of these bulbs on shelves, will pick up a bunch.

[Chester Copperpot]

NCConstitutionalist (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/community/mypost/index.html?newspaperUserId=NCConstitutionalist&plckUserId=NCConstitutionalist) wrote:
Thank heavens! I was starting to get worried that there was not enough mercury saturating our environment. Now that these old-fashioned non-polluting incandescent bulbs are gone, we'll be swimming in mercury within a decade! /sarc

PS -- Thomas Edison stole the fully-functional incandescent lightbulb from Nicola Tesla, and then invented the yarn about his thousands of hours trying to get it to work. Folks need to learn some history...

DO you have a link for that Tesla information?

Tesla did work for Edison for a period of time, so maybe it happened while under his employ?

[tangent4ronpaul]

Drool!

http://www.1000bulbs.com/category/100-watt-standard-shape-light-bulbs/

The ones that say "NOT FOR SALE INTO CALIFORNIA" must be some good bulbs! I mean if nanny state central banned them on their own, they have to be better than average.

These look really good:
Stock Code: IN-0100A1910KFR
100 Watt - Frosted - A19 Light Bulb - 130 Volt - 10,000 Life Hours - 1000Bulbs.com 81553

* Brand : 1000Bulbs.com
* Part No. : 81553
* Wattage : 100 Watt
* Voltage : 130 Volt
* Base Type : Medium (E26)
* Bulb Color : Frosted

* Bulb Shape : A19
* Bulb Type : Incandescent
* Diameter : 2-3/8 in.
* Length (M.O.L.) : 4-1/2 in.
* Life Hours : 10,000
* Case Quantity : 120

74 cents each...

-t