Joe Molner in the comments;
The Porchlight Projects in Ontario and Alberta are currently handing out free energy efficient light bulbs for citizens ostensibly to help lower the use of electricity to light up porches across the provinces.
The sponsors are:
Alberta Energy
City of Medicine Hat
EnCana Corporation
EnWin Utilities Windsor , Ont.
The Ontario Government
Ontario Power Authority
Ontario Trillium Foundation
Admittedly the project is a commendable and worthwhile and even educational, however I find some hypocracy swamping at least the Ontario portion of the project PORCHLIGHT.
You see, my little twist in beauty is MADE IN CHINA!
So the next time I see that liar Premier McGuinty stand up and bemoan manufacturing jobs going off shore from Ontario, someone should remind him to stop buying stuff for Ontario from CHINA!!!
I don’t think there are any curly light bulb manufacturers anywhere in the world, other than in China. Regardless of what brand of bulb, if you look at where it’s made the bulb package has “China” or ” Imported by…” on it. Does the little bit of mercury in these new bulbs mean they’re too dangerous for Canadian or other western manufacturers to make?
Stop buying stuff for Ontario from China will never happen with a Liberal in the seat of power.
LIBERALS LOVE CHINA. Just ask Chretien, Martin, Mo Strong et al. They’re suffering from a severe case of China Syndrome and we’re suffering from some of the unsafe crap coming from that Commie Nation.
So far they’ve sent us bad pet food, poisonous material in kids toys and even our food chain through products and domestic animal feed.
Never mind asking why the hell we’d be importing wheat form China either.
Never mind mentioning Human rights either, they have no respect there either.
If we go shopping with the intent not to buy anything made in China we’d be carrying a very light load.
In the case of Liar McGuinty,the lights may be on but there’s nobody home. The people of Ontario just love the guy, they obviously love being lied to.
Personally, they can take those light bulbs and use them to illuminate that place where the sun don’t shine. What we require in Ontario is not more dim bulbs but a few new nuclear reactors to ensure an adequate supply of energy for our future needs.
So true! A lot of Ontarians rally to stay away from “Made In China” and yet trust them to make lightbulbs with mercury? So we help China get rid of their mercury and trust that they produce this with their wonderful safety/environmental record? What happens when people begin tossing them? I seriously doubt that everyone is a good litte Do-Be and will dispose of them as hazardous waste. It doesn’t take much to pollute the water.
We’ve taken away jobs from our own country not to mention the carbon footprint it takes to haul them all the way from China. What happens if there is an accident while carrying the bulbs?
Wake up people.
CF bulbs made in China? Dog pees on fire hydrant. Try finding one not made in China and then report back.
“Dog pees on fire hydrant?” When was that? Why hasn’t it been reported? Does it affect our C02 emissions? Are pets bad for the planet? Should we sacrifice our pets in order to save the planet? Are pet-breeders the antichrist? News at 11:00.
“CF bulbs made in China? Dog pees on fire hydrant. Try finding one not made in China and then report back.”
Posted by: John B at
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Does that have anything to do with China refusing to sign onto Kyoto?
And if Stephie Dion gets to be PM and signs onto Kyoto will Canadians be able to buy carbon credits from China to meet our Kyoto treaty obligations?
Slightly off topic but since China continues to be one of the biggest world polluters, and seemingly the only TINY BULB maker – well what the hell,
what does little off topic matter, eh?
Send them back to China when they burn out so the Chinese can cope with the mercury in these “green?” bulbs…toxic substances don’t seem to bother the Chinese…perhaps out major export to China should be all the toxic stuff they sell us we can’t dump here?
Correct! They are all made in China. My husband insisted on buying a few, and they don’t last worth a darn. I’m stalking up on candescent unbeknown to him. If there is a divorce in this house it will because of those damn curly light bulbs.
All very curious, Joe.
Why would these companies sponsor such an endeavor that takes away from our manufacturing jobs?
What’s going on here? The MSM would never throw another angle out to try to get people to think for themselves.
Any suggestions?
.
Free, harsh light, mercury filled twisty light bulbs for the serfs … private jets for the elites.
This entire climate change bull crap is all about the re-installation of the feudal system on planet earth.
Ya, that’s what it is folks.
AND NOTHING ELSE!!!
.
Ah, yes. Trust WL Mackenzie redux to post the stupid person;s position on this and just about any issue.
What you haven’t really seemed to notice, Mr. Redux, is that North America and to only a slightly lesser degree Europe, already effectively outsource most of their industrial pollution by having the low cost goods that it imports manufactured in China, which benefits from the $100-200 per month jobs but is saddled with the dirty wastes from producing them.
Perhpas you migth be willing to get a group of your friends together to work in a tedious manufacturing job for $150/month here in Canada and we will manufacture them here!
Our consumerism is contributing significantly to creating the horrible messes in China and India.
However, I suppose from your thoughtful perspective it is a shame to waste an occasion to engage in crass racism, even if it arises out of a false premise.
tory_watcher,
Our consumerism is providing the means for the Chinese and Indians to develop their economies. We are doing good in this world even by being slothful, greedy and lazy. We are the best.
And how many Lie-berals have invested heavily in manufacturing in China?
Remember Cretin’s team Canada trade missions?
tory_watcher: “Our consumerism is contributing significantly to creating the horrible messes in China and India.”
Are you saying the demand for plastic dog sh*t is forcing China to manufacture it?
Yes, we are doing good in this world (West). But we don’t do any good by kidding ourselves.
Ural and others – perhaps you might revisit one of the basic premises of capitalism, to which I certainly subscribe, which is that you build products that people want to buy or you will not be in business for long. So apprently, yes, some fools DO seem to want to purchase plastic dogs**t or nobody would manufacture it.
Marcia – “The MSM would never throw another angle out to try to get people to think for themselves.”
I totally agree with Marcia regarding MSM and questions regarding the implementation of Kyoto on our economy, the curious push to have Kyoto signatory countries end up buying carbon credits from non signatory countries like China, Brazil, India etc.
Particularly when individuals like Al Gore, Suzuki, Mo Strong (the original brains behind Kyoto now apparently hanging out in China)
may well stand to gain from the Ponzi carbon selling scheme in the world.
Canadian MSM appears still to be bedded with the leftists on this shitty Kyoto treaty.
I bought the koolaid on CFLs because I wanted to save money on my power bill. Since using a lot of them I have found that: They don’t make very good porch lights because even here in southern Ontario where it isn’t that cold they don’t work in the winter, or they take ten minutes to come on. They don’t last anywhere near as long as advertised, and in most home applications where they are not left on 24/7 they don’t last as long as conventional lamps. When they ban them, there will be a booming business in incandescent lamps because we will need them for our stoves, fridges, over stove vent hoods, anywhere where they must function in a harsh environment. I got one of those lamps in the mail and it said that they will save x number of tons of green house gasses. My house is nuclear powered so that is a complete crock. CFLs have there applications but they are not all they are cracked up to be. Anyway, not to long from now we will be using LED lighting. Right now it is expensive, but they really do save energy.
Not all of us in Ontario “love” McGuinty. Unfortunately no matter how hard I try there are still some things I need to buy that are made in China. McGuinty has banned incandescent bulbs in Ontario in 2010, I believe, so I guess we will all be buying “Made in China” curly bulbs. Either that or some major stocking up will have to happen…ciao
My entire apartment is decked out with CFL bulbs, they work great and give more light for less watts and will last a very long time. Yes there is Hg in them, just like there is Hg in the FL tube lights in our workplaces, malls, etc… Communities will respond by providing safe disposal depots for these bulbs as they become more prevalent. Additionally, the amount of Hg in the bulbs is very small, a fraction of the amount emitted by coal burning power-plants to produce the power that lights a regular lightbulb over its life time.
So I don’t really understand the aversion to CFLs being displayed in this comment thread.
Overtaxation of Canadians leads to these programs where a bureaucrat will make consumer choices for us. Canadians probably would buy energy saving products on their own, but taxes come first!
What we require in Ontario is not more dim bulbs but a few new nuclear reactors to ensure an adequate supply of energy for our future needs.
rattfuc
Or less immigration,
Joe Molnar: “Does that have anything to do with China refusing to sign onto Kyoto?”
Does that have anything to do with this topic which is about where the CF bulbs are made? They could be made anywhere but people generally shop for the cheapest price and the cheapest place to make things right now is China. Unfortunate, but true.
jypsy: “I’m stalking up on candescent unbeknown to him”
Isn’t stalkng illegal (unless hunting)? What the hell is a “candescent” anyway?
For porches in the Great White North?
“CFLs don’t operate well in frigid conditions, limiting their use for exterior lighting in cold areas. According to a spokeswoman from Philips Lighting, most CFLs require a minimum starting temperature of minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit; below that, it’s difficult for the bulb’s reaction process to begin. Other problems in cold temps include reduced light output and a pinkish glow, rather than the desirable “soft white” (actually faintly yellow) color.”
They say that owners quite often resemble their pets but in this case it’s dim bulbs resembling their dim bulbs.
Yes there is Hg in them, just like there is Hg in the FL tube lights in our workplaces, malls, etc…
The difference being that in a standard fluorescent tube, I don’t have to torque a weak, twisted piece of glass (that contains the Hg) to get the bulb in and out.
Oh god, Kate. Has it been a slow day for news? This is another one of those poorly assembled arguments where you fly out waving around some sort of weak, lacklustre piece of evidence only to tout it as the holy grail of dirt; a smoking gun for which nobody would have ever heard about if it weren’t for the efforts of our armchair bloggers across the world. Hah. Are you familiar with the concept of quality vs. quantity?
You would be hard pressed to find proponents of a strong manufacturing sector who go so far as advocating that we revert back to the days of full on import substitution in every possible sector. Would you propose that Dalton spend hundreds of millions of dollars, perhaps billions, to entice a company to create a plant in Ontario? I think most manufacturing proponents in Canada are currently concerned with keeping the jobs we have.
Unless we want to become Luddites, realists understand that, given the population of Canada, this country is not going to produce everything.
You’re drawing straws on this one and you can do better, Kate.
I live on the 15th floor of a building with a partial view of downtown Vancouver.
Sure we can worry and fret over what bulbs we each use,but it all seems pretty pointless when I can see countless hundreds of thousands of lights blazing at 2:00 AM every night,365 days/yr.Our different levels of government are some of the biggest power whores we have.
I find the fraud in this MMGW bullshit stands out not so much in the poor science as it does in the laughable,so-called solutions the greenies themselves put forth.
Lightbulbs and Prius’…sure…that will change the course of our planet’s climate.
Dcardno writes:
“The difference being that in a standard fluorescent tube, I don’t have to torque a weak, twisted piece of glass (that contains the Hg) to get the bulb in and out.”
Oh wow, SDA’s leader and faithful are really on fire today. Now we have someone asserting that inserting and removing CFL’s is a safety hazard. I’ve been using these bulbs for the better part of a decade and not once have I had one break during removal or installation. Haha..give me a break and call it a day. One word for that argument: WEAK!! lol
McGuinty has banned incandescent bulbs in Ontario by 2010??? What’s he gonna do, put together a cadre of lightbulb police with powers of entry to enforce it? Just how silly can it get?
“CFLs don’t operate well in frigid conditions, limiting their use for exterior lighting in cold areas. According to a spokeswoman from Philips Lighting, most CFLs require a minimum starting temperature of minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit;
Too true, I was going to wire my garage with all flourescent bulbs but they are useless on days like today.
So in the winter you need incandescents that always work in Winnipeg at least.
Plus I went through the cfl phase and when you start replacing their bulbs quicker than the promised lifetime, even within 1 year it’s a friggin waste.
Course maybe they would last longer if the big retailers weren’t just buying from China.
Well Ray, I’ll direct you back to the post in question. I didn’t write it, don’t argue for or against. Never let poor reading comprehension get in the way of a criticism, eh?
It may come as a surprise to you, but this isn’t a news site. It’s a blog, sometimes I just toss out things that catch my eye because I think they’re worth taking a look at.
And I’m two for three on my CFL bulbs. First one blew within a couple of weeks, another is working well, the third is in a location where it’s rarely turned on. Haven’t bought any more. I’ll be stocking up on incandescents, too. I already have tube flourescents in the areas best serviced by that type of light.
I see my friends to my north have the same quandary we have here in the USA! As a “Lions International” USA member when I was recently soliciting funds for the blind (appropriately in front of our local Wal*Mart), we were giving out US flags that were made in China ! Duooooooo ~~~
importing the mascots from asia too, these look distinctly pokemon.
http://www.ctv.ca/mar/photo.html?pname=http://images.ctv.ca/archives/CTVNews/img2/20071127/450_mascots_0711272.jpg&win_width=703.0&description=Sumi, Quatchi and Magi are the mascots for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics.&slug=vancouver_mascot_071127
CFL bulbs are quite simply the worst bulbs on earth if you are interested in architectural lighting.
Bottom line: if you want to light your home artistically, whether it’s inside or out, CFLs are next to useless (good for lighting the shed perhaps)
Each time I go to the store I see more of these damned bulbs and fewer halogens, incandescents, etc. Just try buying a spot par20 halogen and see the price to get an idea of what I mean.
Soon I’ll have to start getting my bulbs through the internet.
The CFL mercury nightmare
http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=aa7796aa-e4a5-4c06-be84-b62dee548fda
One note I will add, however – there’s nothing quite so sure to promote investment in a manufacturing sector than the realization that you’ll be paying tax to a government that’s giving the product you make away for free.
*
my son brought one of these free light bulbs home from school yesterday.
it says, “warning: this box contains 125 lbs of coal, 50 dollars of electricity
savings, and one lightbulb.”
warning: they are made in china.
*
A small town in B.C. recently had a power surge when high voltage wires came in touch with their 240 system. It caused all the CFLs in a motel to explode. I didn’t hear anything about the motel being shut down because of mercury contamination but that maybe because the owners are not talking about it.
I own several CFL but won’t buy any more.They should never be used with dimmer switches.
It’s all nonsense that incandescents waste power. Every one of our homes in Canada needs to be heated for at least 9 months a year. Incandescents are useful heat sources. That energy is NOT wasted!
Everybody in this forum is wrong,
The light bulb generated miserly wholesale income in China, I’m guessing but maybe 20% of retail price. (Whereas domestically produced bulb might represent much more.)
The Chinese company (possibly Canuckistanian owned) ships said bulb to Soviet Canuckistan to a Canuckistanian distributor, possibly from Ontario.
Price gets marked up.
Canuckistanian merchant still makes all the money and then spends profits in Canada like usual.
Shrewd and newly profitable merchant has now accrued extra profit that would have otherwise been spent on some unproductive Canuckistanian labor at an American owned union plant in Oakville or something.
Said merchant has wisely diverted uncompetitive labor dollars, union dues, transfer payments to Newfoundland, remittances to the government in payroll deductions, and other onerous indirect payment to the Queen by way of taxes and magically transformed them into net profit (before taxes…Royal Tribute) to be mainlined into the Canuckistanian economy at the street level.
Absolutely brilliant and capitalistic. Very sound business practices.
Dalton McGuinty may indeed be a pinko clueless fag, but even broken clocks are right twice a day. He looks like a fiscal conservative with a sharp pencil on the bottom line to me!
BTW, who sold the Chinks the bulb making machines to begin with…Canuckistanians?
Funny thing though — looking at the incandescent bulbs we all have in our cupboards are almost all made in Canada. The new bulbs, although carrying familiar brand names, appear to all be made in China. This picture seems somewhat strange to me. Are we now going to see the end of the light bulb industry in this country and is China going to provide us with all our material goods?
It is getting harder and harder to find “Made In Canada” on anything we purchase. China is one of — if not the — largest polluters in the world, and our government seems quite content to allow us to continue to purchase these bulbs from that country.
Windsor Star
Sean S: My entire apartment is decked out with CFL bulbs, they work great and give more light for less watts and will last a very long time.
More light? Than what? A 20-watt bulb, maybe, but nothing produced even comes close to a halogen torchiere. I had a torchiere in my living room providing all the light I needed. Now I have two cfl lamps that provide a sickly, yellow glow that’s almost impossible to read by.
“it’s all nonsense that incandescents waste power. Every one of our homes in Canada needs to be heated for at least 9 months a year. Incandescents are useful heat sources. That energy is NOT wasted!”
Jack has made a good point. Even in Southern Ontario there is no such thing as waste heat for six months of the year. Remember too that “waste” heat displaced by CF bulbs will only be made up by running the furnace that much longer. It’s ironic that the electricity used for lighting comes in large part from both nuclear power and hydro – both non-polluting, non CO2 emitting forms of energy (referring to Ontario). The extra heating will be from either natural gas or oil.
I’ve been using CF bulbs for years and have been getting good service. In Toronto, outdoor bulbs last on average about three years at about 10-12 hours per day. I have noticed that the new, really cheap bulbs now available are poorer quality where I find it common for 1 or 2 from a six pack to die after perhaps six months.
Dim prospects that ‘energy efficient’ will pay off: CIBC
Globe and Mail Update
November 27, 2007 at 11:27 AM EST
Improvements in efficiency have done little to reduce actual energy consumption, as consumers take advantage of those gains to drive bigger cars farther, or heat larger homes, CIBC World Markets Inc. economist Jeff Rubin says in a new report.
In a study released today, Mr. Rubin described an “efficiency paradox” in which technology improvements allow for better energy efficiency, but those savings are lost to greater consumption….
http://www.reportonbusiness.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071127.wrubin1127/BNStory/energy/home?cid=al_gam_mostview
“It’s all nonsense that incandescents waste power. Every one of our homes in Canada needs to be heated for at least 9 months a year. Incandescents are useful heat sources. That energy is NOT wasted!”
yes let’s all start heating our homes with light-bulbs!
CFL’s – another bloody leftist/government/IPCC/Gore/Suzuki conspiracy theory to make money!!!
I have two of those little curly idiot things. I put them the two places where the light stays on all the time and they don’t need to be bright. For a reading lamp or something they are friggin’ useless.
I foresee a thriving cross border trade in incandescent light bulbs should the Big Brother set in Ottawa ban them. They’ll be for sale in Indian reservations across the country too. Right next to the Sit ‘n Bull Smoke Shop.
Maybe I’ll make my fortune being a light bulb smuggler. Get a nice boat, cruise back and forth across Lake Ontario, what a great life!
do not use CFL bulbs in enclosed fixtures, be careful in potlights, do not use in shower fixtures, do not use in high vibration areas like garage door openers. no recommended in safety lights or any rough use applications.
I have never had success lighting one of these things anywhere close to -20F. and they take awhile to light up even at room temperature, I have 4 in a 5 light fixture and I always put an incandecent bulb in one so I get the effect of instantaneous light. I have incandecent floodlight bulbs that I know are 20 years old as I havent changed them sicne we moved in.
artistic lighting? the AGW types will have us all with CFL lights on a bare fixture with a pull chain if possible.
anyone heard what Al Gore cut his utilities to lately, he was to move to CFLs at the palace.
Gulf Canada square was heated with light bulbs for about a decade after in was built. it was not a successful experiment. I believe they still have the large water tank dampening the temperature fluctuation.
the bulbs were mostly flourescent.
Tory_watcher, who obviously prejudges any cerebral communication through a narrow national socialist template sez:
“Our consumerism is contributing significantly to creating the horrible messes in China and India”
Not MY consumerism Pillow Pantz…nor from any of my political or professional efforts.
Nice try, but I think the red condom you swallowed at the last Libby youth love in has caused terminal constipation and has now clouded your perception.
Went out for a celebration supper and tried a fancy new restaurant. All fixtures had those twisty bulbs, and I couldn’t see. Menu was given, dark brown with black writing. Couldn’t read it. Took menu to cash register and stood and read it and made my selection. Got funny looks, but just said, sorry, I can’t see over there, or read this menu. I now carry a small flashlight in my purse.
I have changed all my light bulbs from 60W to 120W, just to show my opposition to all the gorecrap. And my utility bill has not gone up.