Posts by Andrew Stevenson
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So how do you know it's a "good quality" CFL?
The ones supported by the EC have to meet very high standards, see CFL Programme
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Isn't there some great little NZ company producing really good ones, bulbs that have a much higher "brightness output"?
http://www.energymad.com/nz/
Interestingly the two other people who worked with me at the EC are now working for Energymad selling these CFLs around the world... -
Leaving aside the issue of internet censorship, what are the chances of this actually working?
Working meaning all 'bad' sites blocked, all 'good' sites not blocked and a well managed process around the whole thing that allows for updates and doesn't annoy people.
Is the best thing we can hope for that the good citizens of Australia will become so batfuck crazy after the filter affects their use of the internet so much it will be removed? Then this will be a learing experience for other governments, like prohibition in the USA.
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are there some kind of warranty periods on the squiggly bulbs? I thought part of the "sell" was their extended lifetime but I had one that can't be more than a few months old stop working the other day and come out with a slightly blackened base. Can I take that back for a replacement?
There was a 2 year warrenty deal on the bulbs subsidied by the EC, you may have more luck contacting the supplier then trying to get the replacement from your local supermarket if you don't have a reciept.
Just don't stick an incandescant back in that socket, get a good CFL. -
Just to throw a little more information into the mix
I worked at the Electricity Commission on the CFL project promoting and subsidising high quality bulbs, we got about six million out into peoples homes, saved a whole lot of $ and energy and sparked off some market development and competition in the lighting suppliers.
CFLs are cheaper at producing power, through savings in replacing incandescant bulb usage, then building new power stations by a factor of about 7
We were not in favour of a full ban on incandescant bulbs.
We thought a market based solution with high quality products demonstrating benfits was better then forcing people into behavioural changes. We had some evidence from the UK that home owners were removing dedicated CFL fittings and putting standard light fittings in becasue they didn't like being forced into having dedicated CFLs.
There are issues with power quality when you increase the penetration rates of CFLs (they are non linear loads that cause power factor issues and harmonic problems - which can mean extra problems elsewhere in the supply system and yoour appliances). The quality of the bulbs has a major impact, banning bulbs would allow a flood of the cheaper CFLs in that excacerbate these issues.
The proposal to ban the incandescant bulb actually started in Australia when the previous environment minister (Howard Governement) recognised he had an election to win and started to make up policies without checking what the effects would be first. As the officials scrambled around to make good the ministers promise, it was recognised that under the CER agreements any ban in Australia would have impact in the NZ market too. So David Parker was pretty much forced to launch the idea here. When I left the EC the officials here were still trying to work through the details of how to not to ban the incandescant bulbs in stoves, fridges, halogens, heat lamps (both for people and animal raising) etc etc. Is not quite as simple as you might thing.
Still fully agree with concept of putting in CFLs (I did go around putting them in my families homes), but they are not a panacea.
@ dc_red - we did consider take back and heat replacement, still out weighted by the savings under the most pessimistic cases.
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You can just see the line of thinking developing in the 'mind' of the committee that created this.
We have a list of suspect sites
We must protect the public from suspect sites
Ergo, we cannot show the public the list of suspect sites 'cos the great unwashed will want to look at them -
Stayed in a backpackers in London (Bayswater I think) where the shower had been converted from half a small wardrobe making it approx 30 cm wide. It was not possible to turn around in this space.
You had to put shampoo on your hands and raise them above head height then sidle in, wash and rinse hair, sidle out, lower hands, sidle in, shower one side of your body, sidle out, turn around, sidle in and shower the other side. -
There are two benefits for ties
One is that when you take the tie off the working day is ended. Do I need to doing work related emails at 10pm, hell no!
The other is, without ties how could all those accountants express themselves?
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one should be vain and well attired.
In a corset?
I was going to try for a pun or three, but its been a long day and my tie has choked the flow of blood to my brain.
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Yes, I did wonder if that were the case, but I thought maybe I was the only person that far in the gutter.
No all of us are in the gutter too, but were too afraid to point it out in public...