Thursday, May 29, 2008

Reader Comments

at 6/3/2008 1:02:16 PM, Duh! said:
This is incredibly stupid. You can achieve the same thing by lamping with 75w bulbs instead of 100w. You can go back to 100W if the room 'seems too dark'.

at 6/4/2008 7:12:08 PM, Jeff Emmerson said:
Keep a watch on federal and local state legislation that is driving these types of products and changes. California recently introduced legislation that would limit the wattage of a table or floor lamp bulb to 35 watts, forcing everyone to use compact fluorescent. Laws may someday (and soon) be passed requiring voltage limiters on all lighting products and controls. Lutron has taken a step in favor of the environment, allowing consumers to save energy without a making a discernible difference in how they perceive their environment. The fact that the dimmer also increases lamp life considerably also means less waste too. Look at it from this perspective. If one has a room with 8 recessed lights that use a 75 watt halogen lamp, the only option is to step down to a 50 watt version. This is a 33% reduction in light output. This may drastically affect the lighting in the space and be negatively perceived by the home owner. If one used a dimmer with the 15% limiter, they are able to use less energy, contributing to the environment with little perceived difference. Yes, if you have a lamp that takes a 100 watt lamp you can change it to a 75 watt one. The Lutron dimmer was intended to operate well beyond this range of energy usage. Thanks for your comment.

at 6/10/2008 2:07:29 PM, DUH! said:
For now, I live in a free state, not the People's Republic of Kalifornia. Where I come from, we toss out lawmakers who attempt to impose such draconian measures. When they do manage to enact something so stupid and anti-libertarian as a lamp limited to 35 watts, we simply go get more of them to attain the light level we want. I fear that such meddling will just lead to an increase in electrical fires ans accidents as lamps become even more poorly constructed than they are today (will we see #24 wire as lamp cord soon?) and as people 'tinker' with their new lamps to defeat such silly measures. Do you not know anybody who has pulled the restrictor out of his 2.5 gpm max showerhead? Have you not heard of people paying to buy old toilets that use more than 1.6 gallons/flush? How about the huge market that eveolved for rifle and pistol magazines holding more than 10 rounds? I'll eagerly await the windfall profits from selling my 'pre-ban' lighting fixtures with their 300 watt bulbs!!! CFL's as they exist today are the devil. Poor quality of light, high initial cost, mercury concerns (valid or not), difficult disposal, long warm-up times, and a constant reminder of how the gov't tries to force upon us products the market doesn't want.

at 6/13/2008 7:08:39 PM, comtooldale said:
how many watts is a candle?

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