The [Migraine Action Association] is calling on the Government to avoid a complete ban on old-style bulbs, by providing an opt-out for people with health problems.
[…]
Several versions use a technology similar to fluorescent strip lights and some migraine sufferers say they produce a flickering effect that triggers their condition.
Karen Manning, from the MAA, said: “When the Government announced that traditional light bulbs would be phased out, we were inundated with over 200 calls and emails from members who said the flickering had caused migraines.
“This is a debilitating condition which can often leave people bed-ridden for days.
I shouldn’t tell you this, but I’m working on cornering the market in kerosene hurricane lamps. Not only do they produce a beautifully warm yellow light, they produce an aroma that when mixed with Balkan #1 pipe tobacco, stinky cheese, and a pallet of oil paints and turpentine (you have to get those underground now), results in a most satisfactory olfactory space. Fresh air is for the birds.
http://www.antiquesmethinks.com/1930-aladdin-hurricane-lamp1.jpg
Rush as usual got it about right on his show today. It was discouraging to me as a drained brain to see how quickly the U.S. hopped on the bandwagon.
What gives me my migraine are those idiots who think that banning incandescent light bulbs in exchange for mercury filled, obnoxious florescent twisty tubes is going to save us from a 20 foot rise in sea levels.
How much of this crap do we need to put up with before the shooting starts.
Are these the light bulbs which Suzuki is promoting in some TV ads? These are the squigly fluorescent bulbs that cost a lot more, don’t work in the cold, don’t last as long as promised, they give off a lousy light because of their higher calvin temperature (they’re fluorescent), they have actually started fires and they’re MADE IN CHINA? How many “carbon footprints” are we creating by having these stupid bulbs shipped half way around the world? It’s another communist conspiracy designed to make us all suffer.
Sorry, first time I’ve done link dumping, but this fits in with the Kyoto theme at least:
In 2008, A 100 Percent Chance of Alarm
Hat-tip:
Andrew Potter’s Turning off the Alarm
Ah, those “the squiggly fluorescent bulbs” on sale with subsidies from the local power company at my nearest Costco…
Coincidentally I dropped off some recylables at our local center today(yes, they have them down here too in more enlightened, i.e. Blue State places) and I noticed a notice stating that they’ll no longer accept anything fluoescent for recyling.
Caught between a rock and a hard place?
I believe it was also recently pointed out that flourescent bulbs are made in China where (surprise) there are no emmissions targets either. The incandescents are made over here.
So in the true spirit of wealth transfer (i.e. Kyoto) the jobs go too.
I deeply resent any government trying to tell me what to use or not use especialy when the reason (?) behind the regulation is as tenuous as AGW causes and solutuions.
Almost 10 years ago I got in a snit over the life span of the incandesant bulbs I had been using and switched to the twisty bulbs as an experiment. There was a delay when the bulbs were turned on and they came on dim and then increased in brightness and for some unkown reason they don’t work in a radio controlled switch
The biggest difference I noticed was that my power bill went down quite a bit and I have never had to replace one of the bulbs. When they fail I will replace them with twisty bulbs.
Its my little way of getting back at the government because the local power company is owned by the city
As an interesting aside, unlike what Rush Limbaugh said in his article refered to by Brian Drain, the incandesant light bulb was invented by two Canadians, Henry Woodward and Mathew Evans. They sold the patent to Edison due to lack of funds to produce it.
Anyone who suffers the deabilitating effects of Migraines on a regular basis will not find Kate’s post the least bit funny. — I know.
As an interesting aside, unlike what Rush Limbaugh said in his article refered to by Brian Drain, the incandesant light bulb was invented by two Canadians, Henry Woodward and Mathew Evans. They sold the patent to Edison due to lack of funds to produce it.
Thanks jckirlan.
A true story as far as Wikipedia is concerned, and it constitutes quite a metaphor for those who dare to venture there.
Woodward was to Edison as Newcomen was to Watt.
Though, what this has to do with CFLs is beyond me.
And for tonight’s history quiz:
In what year did the Canadian government ban the use of horse-and-buggy, and make the automobile mandatory?
a. 1898
b. 1904
c. 1907
Supplementary question:
When the automobile was introduced, it was touted as the perfect solution to the growing problem of “horse pollution”. True or false?
Woodward was to Edison as Newcomen was to Watt.
Though, what this has to do with CFLs is beyond me.
Another Watt, the inventor of radar, Sir Robert Watson-Watt, allegedly wrote this poem after being caught in a Canadian speed trap:
Pity Sir Robert Watson Watt
Strange target of his radar plot.
And thus, with others I could mention,
A victim of his own invention.
The relevance, Vesuvius? Another point of Canadian pride, just as if Watson-Watt indeed penned this legendary verse on Canadian soil.
“Let there be light” is Robert, folks.
Please ignore him, Kate will clean up later.
We had switched over to the new twisted, fluorescent strip lights to cut the electricity cost.
About six months ago we just happened to be in one room when one of them begin to sizzle, then began to smoke. I quickly shut it off and attempted to take the bulb out of the socket after it cooled. The base had melted and fused to the socket. There were melted spots and smoke tracks on the brass sides. It was obvious that it would have burst into flame if the lamp had not been immediately shut off.
There is now a box of them sitting in the basement, and the old incandesents are all back in place.
They are all top name brands, and all made in China.
An internet search indicated this was not a one time incident. I will not trust them at all.
I agree, Yoop. If you haven’t already seen it, this is arguably the most damning indictment against the rush to CFLs:
sound.westhost.com/articles/incandescent.htm
Of course, over time these problems will be solved. But by then we’ll be using LEDs. What a senseless waste of regulations. And why is that important? Because as Winston Churchill said, “If you have ten thousand regulations you destroy all respect for the law.”
Suggestion,
Go down to your local Home Hardware or Home Depot and buy two or three cases of incandescent bulb in 60, 75 and/or 100 watts whatever you use … also a few 40s and a couple of 25 watt oven bulbs.
You will then have a lifetime supply while they are still available. And give the finger to Suzuki, I did this already.
If you are entrepreneurial, you can buy a few dozen cases and wait a few years and scalp them outside the twisty light bulb store … you will quadruple your investment.
I see a lot of people with migraines and I don’t recall every hearing a patient tell me that their migraines were triggered by fluorescent lighting. Considering the number of triggers people have blamed for their migraines, the lack of mentioning fluorescent lighting is interesting. A lot of people don’t like fluorescent lighting, but generally can’t explain why they don’t like it.
The distinguishing characteristic of fluorescent lighting when compared to incandescent lighting is the degree of emitted light modulation by the AC current supply. Incandescent lights are modulated also, but the filament acts as a low pass filter and putting a photocell up to an incendescant light gives a fairly low amplitude AC waveform on an oscilloscope in contrast to the high depth of modulation one sees from a fluorescent.
Fluorescent light frequencies are 2X mains frequencies and thus are 100 Hz in Britain and 120 Hz in N. America. Both of these values are signficantly above critical flicker fusion frequencies (CFFF). CFFF varies considerably among individuals but trying to find ranges has been a little frustrating. A few papers I found at the online BC College of physicians medical library seemed to give an upper limit of 47 Hz with the lower range of CFFF ranging from 20-35 Hz (obviously age and drug state dependant). One study indicated that people could be trained to increase their CFFF by about 30% in 2 weeks with a particular movment task. This still puts quite a bit below the 100 Hz range in Britain.
The retina can follow flicker at rates of >100 Hz, and so at some point in the visual pathway the flicker is being filtered out, but it is definately getting in. Then, paydirt, when ran into a 1998 Swedish paper which looked at effects of fluorescent lighting on EEG and processing speed in a simulated office task. “The impact of flicker from fluorescent lighting on well-being,
performance and physiological arousal
RIKARD KUÈLLER* and THORBJOÈRN LAIKE. ERGONOMICS, 1998, VOL. 41, NO. 4, 433-447” The authors found quite a significant effect of high amplitude modulated fluorescent lights (using conventional ballasts) on all subjects EEG’s, but also found that people who had the highest critical fusion frequencies appeared to have a stimulant effect from the fluorescents. Their processing speed was increased with the high amplitude modulated fluorescents although they also made more errors.
This probably explains why I like fluorescent lights as I spent years skipping high school and programming in a brightly lit keypunch room which I found to be a very energizing environment. Needless to say it was quite brightly lit with fluorescent lights that I could see flickering after too much caffeine. Some people don’t like feeling stimulated and fluorescent lights are probably the last thing that they need.
The best source of information on CFL’s I have thus far found is: http://sound.westhost.com/articles/incandescent.htm
and Rod Elliott, the author, reports measuring the modulation percentage of a CFL at 50% which is surprising. As I write this I’ve got the guts of a catastrophically failed CFL in front of me and there are 2 quite prominant 22 microfarad electrolyics which I thought would have given better filtering of the the AC supply (haven’t had time to hook a scope up to a CFL yet).
What I can predict is that we’ll probably see an epidemic of CFL induced illness in which only a small minority of the people will be directly affected by the CFL flicker and the majority of people will have symptoms that are best explained by mass hysteria. What I do find curious is that there hasn’t been any mass movement of environmentally conscious physicians demanding bans on CFL’s as there is abundant evidence that they can adversely affect some people.
I confess, I tried the “Twisted Serpents” and like many people’s experiece, they almost burn my house down. They’re history.
I think John has a great idea. A couple of cases of the right bulbs for your use and Bob’s your uncle, no more problems.
Although there is a miniscule amount of Mercury in the Twisties, When you literally have billions of them being disposed of into the landfills and the environment, there will be a gradual build up of Mercury in our water supply.
A few years ago technology could only detect parts per million, but nowadays technology can detect not only parts per billion but parts per Trillion. Just wait until the Greenies get hold of this item to once again promote public hysteria.
I suffer from severe migraines and when I first heard this nonsense, I had the same reaction as this association.
I began telling my friends that I was stocking up on incandescents and would be running a lightbulb black market once the ban was in place.
Those fluresents also can cause seizures in those suffering from epilepsy. I know from experience as I have an epileptic grandson. Changed the fluresent tubes in our house and his seizures were reduced to almost nil. Going from at least 2 wks/year in ICU to no stays in hospital for 4 yrs. We have one twisty light bulb in our stairway, but that is all. We do have fluresent fixtures in the kitchen (the ones with white light) and the rumpus room. They are turned off when the grandson visits.
CNN is now discussing seizures and migranes caused by those twisty things.
For a good laugh:
Warm, dry winter forecast for much of Canada
Last Updated: Tuesday, October 10, 2006 | 12:16 PM ET
CBC News
Temperatures are expected to dip below freezing in much of the North later this week, but most Canadians can take comfort in Environment Canada’s forecast for a relatively warm, dry winter. .
A broad swath of the country from the St. Lawrence River extending north and west to the Yukon is expected to experience temperatures that are warmer than normal.
Really!
So much for that forecast.
Apart from migraines and epilepsy, CFLs allegedly aggravate skin conditions.
AND THEN THERES ALL THOSE LIBERAL DIM-BULBS IN WASHINGTON D.C. COMMING UP WITH REDICLOUS IDEAS AND ALL THIS POPPYCOCK ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING AND AL GORE IS STILL A IDIOT
A bit off topic, but it’s possible those d*mned SUV driving cavemen did in the mammoths:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080104/ap_on_sc/japan_baby_mammoth_1;_ylt=AqLsE2AEJ7QQh.r0c1Ch_KL0kPUI
Heavy drinking will prevent this.
Bed-ridden? I love being bed-ridden. Bring on the fluorescent lights.
“Suggestion,
Go down to your local Home Hardware or Home Depot and buy two or three cases of incandescent bulb in 60, 75 and/or 100 watts whatever you use … also a few 40s and a couple of 25 watt oven bulbs.”
And that’s what I did. I now have hundreds of bulbs stashed away. I found out fluorescent lights don’t work that well if it’s cold, like in the garage.
AW you guys are not trying hard enough.
Being a true conservative,[read; Jack Benny cheap], I found that some twisties are far better than others.
Buy some of the better 23W colour corrected and use them in lamps with proper shades where the light is never direct.
I used to get migrains but grew out of it so now the lights in Safeway give me the urge to leave but no headaches at least.
The 23W twisted gives what seems like a 90W regular light while the 13W seems more like 45W and should be avoided.
Choose your CFLs carefully. They save me money every month. = TG
LED lighting is going to sink CFLs. It’s already being commercialized.
http://www.tirsys.com/lexel/index.htm
DaninVan is correct about leds.
Phillips took over TIR and these videos show why. Phillips and TIR based in Burnaby BC.
http://www.tirsys.com/resource-center/multimedia.htm
= TG
Posted by: Spurwing Plover at January 4, 2008 10:28 AM
Plover, in the past you’ve used capitalization selectively but in this post you seem to be going ballistic.
I can help you find the appropriate keyboard button if you use a Mac or Windows.