Bright ideas

Welcome to a new segment to the blog. Ignoring the Family Guy copyrights for the moment, this section - What really grinds my gears - is the true impetus behind his blog. For those of you who know me, I tend to get really work up over the mundane and pedantic. Does this mean I am actually flustered? Most of the time, no. It is just my overly exuberant personality on overdrive. With this in mind, let the rant begin.




LIGHT BULBS

Can someone please explain to me why the people at General Electric are still wasting their time manufacturing incandescent light bulbs? I mean, come on. The compact fluorescent light bulb was brought to market in the 1980s, but with increased marketing and improved technology, has only really made an impact since the mid to late 1990s. The very appearance of the compact fluorescent light bulb should have signaled the end of Edison's invention. The compact fluorescent light bulb has somehow managed to live on despite its gross inefficiency and lack of sex appeal (honestly, you know I'm right on that one too).

Just to be completely clear, when I say compact fluorescent light bulbs, I'm referring to these lights bulbs:



The energy saving light bulb, as some of you may know it, creates energy in the form of an electrical current from the ballast that flows through the gas, causing it to emit ultraviolet light. The ultraviolet light then excites a white phosphor coating on the inside of the tube, which then emits visible light. Compared to the incandescent light bulb (ILB), the compact bulb (CFL) performs as follows:

CFL = 8000 hours
ILB = 500-2000 hours

Furthermore, in terms of power, here is another comparison:

CFL = 15 Watts
ILB = 60 Watts

So in terms of both lifespan and power, the CFL is about 4 times for efficient. How does this translate to cost? We will assume 8 cents per hour for electrical rates. This number is meaningless, since it would a constant in either equation. Moreover, in the equation below, it would take 1 CFL to make 8000 hours, whereas you would need at least 4 ILBs. So -

ILB = 75 W x 8000 HR x [$0.08/ (1000 W * hr)] = $48.00

CFL = 20 W x 8000 HR x [$0.08/(1000 W * hr)] = $12.80

So are you one of the freakin' eejits who is still buying ILBs? You may be phasing them out, which is great. But this is really what grinds my gears. WHY DO MANUFACTURERS STILL MAKE THESE PIECES OF SHIT? You know why? Because they can make more money from the. Incandescent bulbs are currently cheaper to buy. So, morons with one-dimensional brains only see the price in front of them. They don't see the fact that buying 6 light bulbs at 99 cents is more expensive than buying one at $2.99. They also don't see the savings in their electrical bills when they are standing in line at the store. All they see is the fact that the ILB is cheaper than the funny looking spiral ones. What a bunch of absolute duds. The light is not on upstairs, if you'll pardon the pun.

Of course, this is why legislators should ban the manufacturing of ILBs. I'm not joking. Make it illegal to buy these things, and people will switch over pretty darn fast. Not only that, manufacturers will be able to sell the CFL bulbs at cheaper prices by achieving economies of scale and by limiting the market to superior products. What a bright idea!