Re: Web Enabled Time/Temp/Humidity and I/O Controller

["Robert L Bass" <Sales@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

"RickH" wrote:
>
>>> Nobody ever seems to consider that the CFL is
>>> already playing catch up with the incandescent
>>> next to it on the store shelf in terms of carbon
>>> usage...
>
>> That's an interesting theory but unless you can
>> provide statistics to back it up, I'll have to consider
>> it just that -- one man's theory. I'm not saying
>> you're wrong yet.
>
> Well, I count over 35 parts average in the 14 CFL
> schematics here with some ballasts having 50 parts...

By statistics I was not referring to parts count.  Do you have actual statistics
pertaining to the environmental impact of CFL's vs. incandescant bulbs?

> As opposed to 5 or 6 very non-complex elemental-like
> parts in an incandescent...

The problem isn't how many parts there are.  It's how much energy it consumes.
In that regard CFL's are way ahead.  Again, they're not perfect and they may not
be the long-term choice.  But for the time being, CFL's give much more light
using much less energy, thus ergo much less coal and therefor, do less harm to
the planet.

For me personally it wouldn't be that much of an issue as I don't expect to be
around long enough to see the worst consequences of what humans are doing.
However, I think we all have a responsibility to do whatever we can to reduce
our "footprint".

> The question is can the CFL recover the obviously larger amount of waste it
> caused just to get it to the shelf, than the path the simple incandescent
> followed to get there next to it?

Even considering what you've mentioned so far, it's not a given that CFL's
create that much waste.  Further, it's certain that using conventional bulbs
causes much harm.

> If it could then, then I agree its a good thing, but based on the fact that
> many of my CFL's have not lasted as long as my incandescents I
have to wonder.

That is a valid point.  I have not tested a lot of makes but the ones I have in
place have not given me any problems to date.  Only time will tell.

> Also does one even bother to add in the cost of a resistor factory (which
> would be making resistors anyway)?

Probably not.  Companies that make resistors make othert things as well and
would still be present even if CFL's were never introduced.

> All things manufactured have a deeper cost, I just see the incandescent having
> a very low manufacturing cost...

Ford's Model A cost a lot less to build than a Prius.  Care to guess which one
is more destructive to the environment (when actually operating)?  :^)

--

Regards,
Robert L Bass

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