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This article also doesn't mention the current U.S. law which says it is now illegal to sell incandescent bulbs across state lines. The law should have been writ

This article also doesn't mention the current U.S. law which says it is now illegal to sell incandescent bulbs across state lines. The law should have been written to mandate efficiency, not implementation. Now there must be a legal fight to allow incandescent bulbs again (for the U.S., at least).

dalke 10y ago
Why should a UK newspaper cover domestic US laws? And in the US, the law described at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Independence_and_Security_Act_of_2007#B._Lighting_Energy_Efficiency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Independence_and_Securi... suggests that the ban is not on technology choice but on efficiency, such that a more efficient incandescent bulb would be fine.
- slowmovintarget 10y ago
  From the legislation: (C) Candelabra incandescent lamps and intermediate base incandescent lamps.-- ``(i) Candelabra base incandescent lamps.--A candelabra base incandescent lamp shall not exceed 60 rated watts. ``(ii) Intermediate base incandescent lamps.-- An intermediate base incandescent lamp shall not exceed 40 rated watts. Anything over 60 watts was to become unavailable by 2012, with a schedule to retire the 40 and 60 watt bulbs. Ironically, this meant that to get the same lighting levels, you were permitted to buy more 40w bulbs, but not a single 100w bulb. As to the "why cover US law?" question, I thought it relevant because the discovery was made by a US team at MIT and for there to be a "return" of incandescent bulbs would require both US and UK/European markets to be opened back up. Even if only as an irony juxtaposed with the location of the discovery, it was related. Now the law as stated would seemingly permit incandescent bulbs of equivalent brightness to old 100w bulbs, but only if they are 27w or less. Or, you know, you could just buy a gaggle of 27 watt bulbs.
  - dalke 10y ago
    What is your point about a candelabra incandescent lamp? That concerns only lamps which use a "candelabra screw base as described in ANSI C81.61–2006, Specifications for Electric Bases, common designations E11 and E12." Moreover, that is from a section which specifically allows them to be incandescent, so long as they don't exceed a given power limit. You also seem to have missed the part where it says: > The rulemaking— (I) shall not be limited to incandescent lamp technologies; and (II) shall include consideration of a minimum efficacy standard of 45 lumens per watt. or the "Backstop requirement": > If the Secretary fails to complete a rulemaking in accordance with clauses (i) through (iv) or if the final rule does not produce savings that are greater than or equal to the savings from a minimum efficacy standard of 45 lumens per watt, effective beginning January 1, 2020, the Secretary shall prohibit the sale of any general service lamp that emits less than 300 percent of the average lumens per watt emitted by a 100-watt incandescent general service lamp that is commercially available on the date of enactment of this clause. This allows incandescent bulbs so long as they are significantly more efficient than those sold before 2007. As to why UK newspapers writers are supposed to understand the details of domestic US law, and why UK newspaper readers are supposed to care, in order to get an extra moment of irony - well, that seems like a lot of work for very little gain. Especially when the EU has very similar laws, so UK readers may default to think that the US is already in the same boat, so there's little to no irony available.
linkregister 10y ago
They seem to be many on sale here: www.amazon.com/b/ref=sr_aj?node=328865011&ajr=0 Maybe the order would fail at checkout if the relevant warehouse is outside of your state. (I once had an order for smoke detectors fail since they were illegal in California)
ars 10y ago
> current U.S. law which says it is now illegal to sell incandescent bulbs across state lines That's not true. They sell "high efficiency" incandescents in stores (they are basically halogen in a different shape).
jsight 10y ago
That is exactly how the current US law works. See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Independence_and_Security_Act_of_2007#B._Lighting_Energy_Efficiency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Independence_and_Securi...

dalke 10y ago

Why should a UK newspaper cover domestic US laws? And in the US, the law described at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Independence_and_Security_Act_of_2007#B._Lighting_Energy_Efficiency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Independence_and_Securi... suggests that the ban is not on technology choice but on efficiency, such that a more efficient incandescent bulb would be fine.

slowmovintarget 10y ago
From the legislation: (C) Candelabra incandescent lamps and intermediate base incandescent lamps.-- ``(i) Candelabra base incandescent lamps.--A candelabra base incandescent lamp shall not exceed 60 rated watts. ``(ii) Intermediate base incandescent lamps.-- An intermediate base incandescent lamp shall not exceed 40 rated watts. Anything over 60 watts was to become unavailable by 2012, with a schedule to retire the 40 and 60 watt bulbs. Ironically, this meant that to get the same lighting levels, you were permitted to buy more 40w bulbs, but not a single 100w bulb. As to the "why cover US law?" question, I thought it relevant because the discovery was made by a US team at MIT and for there to be a "return" of incandescent bulbs would require both US and UK/European markets to be opened back up. Even if only as an irony juxtaposed with the location of the discovery, it was related. Now the law as stated would seemingly permit incandescent bulbs of equivalent brightness to old 100w bulbs, but only if they are 27w or less. Or, you know, you could just buy a gaggle of 27 watt bulbs.
- dalke 10y ago
  What is your point about a candelabra incandescent lamp? That concerns only lamps which use a "candelabra screw base as described in ANSI C81.61–2006, Specifications for Electric Bases, common designations E11 and E12." Moreover, that is from a section which specifically allows them to be incandescent, so long as they don't exceed a given power limit. You also seem to have missed the part where it says: > The rulemaking— (I) shall not be limited to incandescent lamp technologies; and (II) shall include consideration of a minimum efficacy standard of 45 lumens per watt. or the "Backstop requirement": > If the Secretary fails to complete a rulemaking in accordance with clauses (i) through (iv) or if the final rule does not produce savings that are greater than or equal to the savings from a minimum efficacy standard of 45 lumens per watt, effective beginning January 1, 2020, the Secretary shall prohibit the sale of any general service lamp that emits less than 300 percent of the average lumens per watt emitted by a 100-watt incandescent general service lamp that is commercially available on the date of enactment of this clause. This allows incandescent bulbs so long as they are significantly more efficient than those sold before 2007. As to why UK newspapers writers are supposed to understand the details of domestic US law, and why UK newspaper readers are supposed to care, in order to get an extra moment of irony - well, that seems like a lot of work for very little gain. Especially when the EU has very similar laws, so UK readers may default to think that the US is already in the same boat, so there's little to no irony available.

linkregister 10y ago

They seem to be many on sale here: www.amazon.com/b/ref=sr_aj?node=328865011&ajr=0 Maybe the order would fail at checkout if the relevant warehouse is outside of your state. (I once had an order for smoke detectors fail since they were illegal in California)

ars 10y ago

> current U.S. law which says it is now illegal to sell incandescent bulbs across state lines That's not true. They sell "high efficiency" incandescents in stores (they are basically halogen in a different shape).

jsight 10y ago

That is exactly how the current US law works. See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Independence_and_Security_Act_of_2007#B._Lighting_Energy_Efficiency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Independence_and_Securi...