Selling Incandescent Light Bulbs As Heating Devices

Csiko writes "The European Union has banned by law trading of incandescent light bulbs due to their bad efficiency/ecology (most of the energy is transformed into heat). A company is now trying to bypass this restriction by offering their incandescent light bulb products as a heating device (article in German) instead of a light device. Still, their 'heat balls' give light as well as heating. So — every law can be bypassed if you have some creativity!"

Easy Bake Ovens

[Sonny Yatsen]

This is not news to anyone who's ever owned an Easy Bake Oven.

Re:Easy Bake Ovens

[Suki I]

This is not news to anyone who's ever owned an Easy Bake Oven.

As an expert chef with the Easy-Bake oven handed down to me by my mother, I can attest to Sonny's comment as fact.

Inefficient heating device

[Rob Riggs]

We should ban them. Too much of the energy is emitted in the visible spectrum, not as heat.

Re:Easy Bake Ovens

[elrous0]

My sister can attest to it. She got a nasty burn from hers one time when we were kids. Poor girl still flinches every time I turn on a light.

Because I've always wanted a reason to say this..

[anyGould]

Won't anyone think of the children?!?

Re:So?

[Twinbee]

Why, it disappears into the 74th dimension where the ether's infinite free energy resides. You should go there some day - it's neat not being bound by the laws of thermo-whatsit.

Re:Is it just me?

[IndustrialComplex]

And, at least where I am, I have a hell of a time trying to get rid of them when they die

Just do what 99.9% of everyone else does. They go in the trash where they can be sent to a landfill, the mercury can leach out and into the soil where it will enter into the food chain.

You save the planet by eventually storing all that evil mercury in your organs.

Re:Is it just me?

[Traciatim]

You're just not using them right. CFLs should not be placed in enclosures with no air flow, anywhere that there are extreme temperature fluctuations, anywhere that there are high on/off cycles, anywhere there are below freezing temperatures, anywhere they would be exposed to moisture, or on any circuit that could have power fluctuations. I've had one turned on at the bottom of my basement stairs (because you can't see and there is no switch at the top) since I moved in my house 3 years ago, it's been on the whole time. Yes, this light has been on for more than 20000 hours. Every other one in my house has been replaced with incandescent because they are far cheaper and last about the same amount of time in the enclosure or position that I use them since the CFLs all died in a year or less.

Re:So?

[brainboyz]

Yeah, but knocking over a domino and randomly getting the same output as a thermonuclear bomb will really ruin your day.

Re:So?

[SEWilco]

You'd save money by turning up the heat (or insulating your house.) Electric resistance heat is ridiculously expensive.

He's resisting that.

Re:Either way...

[tdyer]

Is that like an Oil Drilling platform being a perpetual motion machine so long as it pulls more oil out of the ground than it uses?