Incandescent bulb bans

Mike Kovacs · Apr 23, 2007

In Australia, they are banning the sale of incandescent bulbs by 2010. Here in Ontario (Canada), they are looking at something similar.

Is anyone concerned about availability of their enlarger bulbs? Our laws are yet to be written but has the Australian government put in exceptions for specialized equipment?

I'm a little concerned about this. (lets not get into the pros & cons of these bulbs from a non-photography perspective)

PS I suppose safe lights could be a problem too.

canuhead · Apr 23, 2007

If the ban takes effect then I'm sure there will be a run on bulbs so any benefit to the enviroment might take awhile to realize.

My enlargers use halogen bulbs so I'm hoping I'll have some breathing room. If not, stocking up. As sure as night follows day, there are going to be exemptions. Whether photography benefits is up in the air. I wouldn't sweat it...yet.

Andy K · Apr 23, 2007

As all energy saving bulbs use mercury vapour I fail to see any environmental benefit in switching to them.

Specialist bulbs may still be available, I can't see car manufacturers ever using energy saving bulbs in their headlamps etc.

Monophoto · Apr 23, 2007

Mike -

I suppose there is an element of concern. If in fact society takes global warming seriously, then something has to be done about energy consumption as one part of the solution to inefficient energy production, and switching from incandescent bulbs to compact fluorescents (and white LEDs) will be part of that solution. Whether that happens quickly or not is purely a political question.

Once you get into the realm of politics, the issue of whether specialist applications get taken into consideration when actions are taken for the public good depends on whether those specialist applications have enough political clout to be heard, and eventuality accepted as valid exceptions. That's where the problem comes in - I would fully expect that some specialist applications for incandescent technology would be grandfathered, but there is a serious question of whether conventional photography would be able to get that kind of attention. Face it - those of us who support APUG are a diminishing minority, and the vast majority of the photographic community really wouldn't care.

Sad to say, the answer probably is that the best that we can do is some prudent stockpiling. In my 30+ years of owning a darkroom, I think I've only burned out three bulbs in my enlarger. I have a few spare bulbs, and while there is no talk of an outright ban on incandescent bulbs here in New York, as a practical matter it's already damn hard to find a replacement #211 bulb.

Of course, the compact fluorescent black lights in the UV box I use for Pt/Pd printing are already politically correct.

And I wouldn't worry about safelights - CFLs would work just fine in them.

reellis67 · Apr 23, 2007

Although I have not reviewed the laws, I find it difficult to believe that the ban would be outright including ever incandescent bulb of any type with no exceptions. Specialty bulbs make up the smallest fraction of light bulbs used today, so it seems more likely to me that any 'ban' would cover household type bulbs specifically rather than act as a blanket restriction. And, even if it was a blanket, I would expect that there would be allowances for special applications and all you would need to do would be to file some paperwork.

- Randy

bdial · Apr 23, 2007

What worries me is that even if there are exceptions, etc. Getting the bulbs by extra-special order from the one or two existing suppliers could be very expensive.
OTH, my Durst color head uses an MR-16 style bulb, and I've already converted to a 12 v 100 w bulb for it by changing out the guts of it's power supply. Going one more step to an LED MR-16 shouldn't be much problem, though I think the light output of the LED based bulbs may be little lower.

Ross Chambers · Apr 23, 2007

My supplier in Sydney tells me that Philips darkroom safelights (the 240V bulbs) have been discontinued by the manufacturer. Does anybody have confirmation of this?

Regards - Ross

Stan160 · Apr 24, 2007

I don't have specific information about safelight lamps, but Philips closed the factory which produced Photocrescenta and other specialist incandescent lamps in 2006 - and discontinued many of these products. This is information direct from Philips in the UK.

Woolliscroft · Apr 24, 2007

I am actually more worried about the darkroom white light than the enlarger bulbs. Energy savers can take ages to come up to full power.

David.

Steve Roberts · Apr 24, 2007

Mike Kovacs said:
In Australia, they are banning the sale of incandescent bulbs by 2010. Here in Ontario (Canada), they are looking at something similar.

Is anyone concerned about availability of their enlarger bulbs? Our laws are yet to be written but has the Australian government put in exceptions for specialized equipment?

I'm a little concerned about this. (lets not get into the pros & cons of these bulbs from a non-photography perspective)

PS I suppose safe lights could be a problem too.

Mike,
Hard as I find it not to rant about the politics of all this, as you request, I'll do my best!
Banning the sale of incandescent bulbs (as has been mooted in the UK) is a bit of a sweeping statement and one that could never be realised. Banning incandescent bulbs "for general room lighting" - perhaps - but my understanding is that these wonderful new energy-saving bulbs will only operate on an alternating current supply. They will also not function with dimmer units and are unsuited to spotlight applications as well as high-intensity security illumination, so for many purposes (including automotive use) incandescent bulbs will continue to be manufactured.
That in itself doesn't guarantee a safe future for enlarger bulbs, but does establish the principle that this "ban" must have its exceptions.

Steve

bjorke · Apr 24, 2007

There would be a lot of dark refridgerators and ovens if that were so. Or is this actually the "guaranteed contractor and electrical appliance manufacturer perpetual income act of 2007"?

Taurus 8 · Apr 24, 2007

I have tinnitus (constant ringing in the ear) which I've learnt to ignore. But, fluorescent bulbs (long tubes and some compact ones too) drive me mad as it aggravates this. I for one don't want these compact fluorescents replacing incandescents any time soon.

I can't be the only one with this condition...

[cynic mode=ON]
And, thanks for letting us know there's Mercury in them...nice "green" solution. Compact fluorescent bulbs seem like a wonderful vehicle for politicians to seem like they're actually addressing a problem. But, as usual, the addressing just solves one problem and creates 2 new ones.
[cynic mode=off]

jford · Apr 25, 2007

Mercury is not the only toxic chemical involved in the lifecycle of a lamp, compact fluoro or incandescent. If you add up the amount of gunk produced by a coal fired power station over the life time of a standard incandescent lamp versus a compact fluoro as well as considering the fact that the production process of a compact fluoro is more energy intensive and uses more nasties than an incandescent, the compact fluoro still comes out ahead in terms of overall environmental impact. The compact fluoro really only loses if it is run off renewable energy with minimal environmental impact.

Part of the problem is that here in Victoria we have abundant supplies of brown coal (at least 500 years worth at forecast rates of consumption) which burns very dirty. Problem is it's cheap and reliable unlike wind and water.

Some of our power comes from hydro in Victoria. Water falls down a hill and you get clean energy. Problem is there's a drought so they have to pump the water back up the hill using coal fired power. So the second time the water comes down the hill it isn't really renewable energy, is it?

The Australian legislation is yet to be seen in it's entirety however it will probably involve banning common usage lamps that have a luminous efficacy of less than about 20 lumens per watt. (Halogen lamps, MR16 etc, won't be banned). There will be exemptions and they'll probably involve specialty lamps. As said above, you won't see compacts in fridges or ovens any time soon. Oven lamps are great for using when coating cyanotype or such like processes where a small incandescant light is needed.

Don't panic yet.

John.

Andy K · Apr 25, 2007

Even if there were enough solar and wind farms to supply energy to the entire planet we would still need coal/oil/nuclear power stations.

Because sometimes the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow.

Compact fluoros are an environmental disaster in the making. Imagine the disposal problems of billions of these things, all containing mercury vapour. You can set up disposal sites, but its a dead cert not everyone will bother properly disposing of them.

Sirius Glass · Apr 25, 2007

Andy K said:
... but its a dead cert not everyone will bother ...

Underlining Added

An interesting and appropriate choice of words.

Steve

BWGirl · Apr 26, 2007

I'm still waiting for the Hollywood set & all the morons who follow their ill-advised political BS to come to the realization that exhaling is an emission of CO2.:rolleyes: What's next??? Soylent green? :rolleyes:

The bulb thing fractures me! hahaha All you can do is sit back, roll your eyes and wait for the next big eco-fad. :rolleyes:

For as cold as it's been here this winter & spring... we could use a little judicious 'global warming'. Anyone here remember the big "coming ice age" scare back in the 70s??? :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

jss · Apr 26, 2007

what will happen to easy-bake ovens?

copake_ham · Apr 26, 2007

Hmmm...these bulb threads seem to be coming around about every five or so weeks now.

Same old arguments - pro and con - by same proponents/opponents.

Are we all really that bored?

firecracker · Apr 26, 2007

jss said:
what will happen to easy-bake ovens?

You mean, the "pizza toasters"? If they go away, I'll be in rage!

Incandescent bulb bans

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