Skip to content

Give me the old-fashion lightbulb

I am not a fan of the new energy saving, or CFL, lightbulbs.

I am not a fan of the new energy saving, or CFL, lightbulbs.

I tried to be “green” and found them wanting. OK, I tried them, and under their pale luminescence my skin looked a grayish-green. Neither do I like LED, halogen, mercury vapour, fluorescent, sodium vapour or neon lights. The sunshine, a little moonshine, and some “Edison” are good enough for me.

The manufacturers of the new-fangled lightbulbs like to advertise a bunch of alleged advantages. What is there not to like about a lightbulb that promises to last up to ten times longer? What is their not to like about using less energy?

Sometimes a new notion is not a great notion. As an historical aside it was a sad day for me when carmakers got rid of the small triangle shaped front vent window in the mistaken belief it was a great idea. Getting rid of it reduced production costs, but at a human comfort cost. I could open it a crack in driving rains and still not get a drop of rain inside. Or I could turn it 120 degrees on a hot day and be cooled by the winds without needing air-conditioning. And while I am on the topic, the manual roll down window crank was a good idea too. You didn’t need to have the motor running to open a window. But I digress from my topic.

These new lightbulbs are supposed to be so good for us that the government has set a date for the discontinuation of the conventional incandescent bulb that has been the mainstay for over 100 years. Soon you will no longer be able to find for sale in any store an ordinary 60-watt lightbulb.

The old incandescent light bulb, the icon of a brilliant idea is dead.

For decades its likeness has been sketched above the heads of people pondering some great notion. Edison designed that bulb which has been with us since electricity became commonly available. Will the new icon symbol for a brilliant idea become the double helix spiral corkscrew of the CFL bulb? My grievances with the new bulbs are many.

Firstly, they may last longer, but they are also more expensive. If it lasts five times longer but costs five times as much, then what have you gained. Before you consider this a moot point, read the fine-print on CFL bulbs about disposal. Secondly, they save some energy; but the portion of my electrical power bill due to lighting is a very small portion. And while the old bulbs gave off heat, that was not necessarily a bad thing. There are places where I have used these bulbs because of the heat they emit. Just about everything else in your house consumes more electricity than the lighting.

We now live in a wired world with so many electrical powered devices. The electric hot water heater, the toaster, the oven, the stove, your blockheater, your TV and the stock waterer make up 90% of energy consumption.

Thirdly, the new bulbs contain Mercury, and special care and attention is needed in changing them and disposing of them.

If you break one of these new bulbs you are advised to evacuate the house, air it out and get special help in the clean-up.

And although the new bulbs are supposed to give the same radiance, I find them a pitiful substitute for the old regular incandescent bulb. The new bulbs are slow to come to full brilliance, and then only give an incomplete spectrum of light that appears to bathe everything in a deathly somber glow. Surely, one day I will trip over something that lies on the floor hidden, some lurking danger, within the penumbra of its dimly lit radiance.

I much prefer the instantaneous brilliant light of an incandescent bulb as soon as the switch is flipped. I am seriously considering the purchasing a lifetime supply of the old bulbs before their manufacture is outlawed.

As I age, I find I need better lighting than a younger man.

I can then be assured of sunshiny bright good light to read, work and play by and even get some heat produced as a benefit.

And I am reluctant to be bothered with the hassles of disposal. Nope, … no dirty prolonged clean-ups for me when one breaks… and no long energy sucking trips to a hazardous waste disposal site to get rid of their carcinogenic elements. How many of these bulbs will be properly disposed of is anybody’s guess.

My guess is maybe five per-cent which is in agreement with the percentage of plastic that gets re-cycled.

The incandescent light bulb was a good idea 100 years ago, and still is.

Paul Hemingson is a freelance writer who lives near Spruce View. His column appears every other week in LIFE. Contact him at paulhemi@telusplanet.net or www.paulhemingson.ca.