It's interesting that the big city lights used to burn whale oil

..and small torches were run on herrings or sprats?

This just in about the Earth Hour-billboard-towing SUV. Then people wonder why I get cynical about events like Earth Hour. I'd have thought it was perfectly bloody self-explanatory!

In a way, it looks like I was proven right.

A. not getting a plastic bag from Borders? or
B. getting a plastic bag from Borders, and paying them 10c which goes to their specified environmental cause?

How many psychologists does it take to change a lightbulb?

Doesn't matter, the lightbulb has got to want to change.

And, Islander, it is true about the manatees. I tried really hard to concentrate on standard deviations, margins of error, means, outliers and all those other menacing statistical threats, but all I can…

As a non-stats -able person, this was very helpful (& Hilary – loved the manatee bit!)

Median = the middle item from a sorted list of numbers.

Median = the middle item from a list of numbers.…

The minimum wage is going up but even those working full time on the minimum wage won't get into the tax cut range.

It's worse than that, as Idiot/Savant, Te Standard and others pointed out at the time the package was announced, and since.

Willie Jackson must be the worst…

Look, I attempted Stats 101 but was distracted by the poor manatees in the textbook examples who were getting…

TVNZ like much of the MSM…

Manners Mall today contains a billboard promoting Earth Hour, towed by an SUV that pours out 3.5 tonnes of CO2 each year.

MOUAAAAA!!! *RAGE*!!!

There won't be any polar bears to hug soon, thanks to global warming.

"Ice/Floe/Nowhere to go" takes on a more poignant tone in that context, doesn't it?

Manners Mall today contains a billboard promoting Earth Hour, towed by an SUV that pours out 3.5 tonnes of CO2 each year.

Good eh!

I believe the common refrain is LOL.

Good eh!

Like them new Macs.

Substitute your lies for fact
I can see right through your plastic mac ?

It's not like those big round blobs are actually pretty!! They're only made that way because that's what worked best.

I like the curly look. If that's what works best, that's what they should be.

We had a few problems with recessed down lights. Some of them would only just reach the bottom of the sockets (screw ins) due to the shape of the fitting. I think this resulted…

Can't big polluters like Rio Tinto make their own greenwash?

Tiwai Point only exists and makes money for RTZ because consumers buy stuff made of aluminium. If it closed, other (possibly fossil fueled) smelters would take up the demand. So while closing the smelter would make the *NZ* energy equation…

Polar bears are just misunderstood. All they need is a hug.

I say we farm them.

Oh wait, that's Nanny State huh? How's about we just subtly gesticulate this in a suggestive manner then?

Even that's too much for the current bunch of idiots. Hug a polar bear!

Cause having the Government actually do something about climate change is wrong. Just plain wrong! Wrong! Shouldn't be…

People affected report being able to see the flickering of a 60Hz lamp, which I imagine would be irritating at the least.

So it's a neurological issue, but a different flavour to yours..

Also, for another flavour, I found whilst on chemo, I had difficulty seeing cobolt blue and white…

90% of electricity generation in Australia is geothermal – and almost all of that is coal (gas makes up only around 5%).

You mean fossil-fuel powered, right? I don't think Australia has that much room for geothermal generation, sitting in the middle of a continental plate as they do. Be…

I'm sure Russell will be thrilled to know that there is going to be a new doctor-with-Aspergers character on his very favourite show, Grey's Anatomy, in the coming few weeks.

Oh, goody. Consciousness, prepare to be raised!

Sweet, so can I ask about how realistic the new head of surgery on Shortiesis, in their depiction of her Asperger's?

I'm sure Russell will be thrilled to know that there is going to be a new doctor-with-Aspergers character on his very favourite show, Grey's Anatomy , in the coming…

There's no shame in being fascinated by it — it is bloody fascinating.

Sweet, so can I ask about how realistic the new head of surgery on Shorties is, in their depiction of her Asperger's?

(Wow, that was some bad Englanding)

The net result of all this is that Australia has the highest per capita emissions of greenhouse gases in the world.

OTOH, the more polluting their electricity is, the more they have to gain from energy efficiency. (i.e. The greater the emissions per kWh generated, the greater the emission reduction…

They may be obsessed with NRl and even more arcane ballsports, but the ockers definitely demostrate a more level attitude to these kinds of small-scale initiatives to cut emissions and save a few quid too.

I wonder if this could have had something to do with the general Australian public's…

http://www.epilepsyontario.org/client/EO/EOWeb.nsf/web/Autism+and+Epilepsy

Some way back, I realised that my kids actually experience physical reality in a profoundly different way than I do.

It's a helpful insight into human difference in general, actually.

And it's one of those things you don't think about until you start asking questions – because, especially as a…

Polar bears are dangerous and unpredictable carnivores. I applaud the common sense of our Prime Minister in this matter.

Polar bears are just misunderstood. All they need is a hug.

ever. Good to see a rational breakdown of what was a rational (but ultimately mislabeled) policy. Following from that, make the benefits clear to people and they will decide for themselves.

"This week, the European Commission formally adopted new regulations that will phase such bulbs out in Europe by 2012. America will do so by 2014. Some countries, such as Australia, Brazil and Switzerland, have got rid of them already."

So it's a neurological issue, but a different flavour to yours.

And, while I realise it must be awful to suffer through it, quite an interesting one. The fact that those of us "off" the spectrum presumedly receive the sensory information in the same way (there being no difference physically…

I'd suspect you are talking about Flourescent lighting affecting suffererizerers of epilepsy which does happen.

There's a belief that about half the people on the autistic spectrum are also distressed to some extent by fluorescent lighting, but unfortunately, only a little research into it.

I asked Leo about it,…

There was ZERO agitation – well, none that broke above the line to someone who spent a good portion…

So a sensible move by the PM. Why invest in programmes that won't be sustainable over the long term?

Also, those polar bears should be sent to boot camp and bunked two to a room. Perhaps then they'll learn to stop lounging around ice floes and make themselves useful for…

Isn't this going to be the next big challenge, the rise of bigger and bigger power demands of people's entertainment? Should we slap energy standards on home electronics like that? Think of all the xboxs and so one too...

Yeah. I, uh, have this friend who kept their PS2 when…

Isn't this going to be…

My beef is, how can we tolerate a media/political environment that is so toxic, and so completely off its nuts irrational, that the dumbest and craziest arguments can come from left field and sink these basic energy efficiency measures.

Couldn't have said it better keith. Toxic sums it up completely.…

]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2009 05:12:45 +1300 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-being-a-dick-about-earth-hour/?p=100399#post100399 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/onpoint-being-a-dick-about-earth-hour/?p=100399#post100399

Question: is this carbon neutral? will the emissions be greater than the equivalent power taken from the national grid? Your criticisms are welcome

Assuming the wood comes from trees that would not otherwise have been planted, yes.

If you burn wood and then plant trees, then you'll be carbon positive…

I'd suspect you are talking about Fluorescent lighting affecting suffererizerers of epilepsy

They do affect some autistic people too.

These were cheap, immediate, effective and economical policies. They paid for themselves and had no downside. And they're history. So what's the point in talking about the kind of climate change action that…

Just over a year ago it was impossible to get anything other than the standard incandescent replacement. Anything small or spotlight-like had to be frigging halogen (which have been banned in Ausie because…

2. It would help if government (central and local) would get on board with the recycling of CFLs. Better methods of disposal of broken bulbs (mercury risk) would be helpful and would…

Apropos Nanny State vs Boot Camp: the advocates of both expect that other people will be nannied/booted, while detractors fear the boot/nanny coming for them.

Otherwise known as a Bootenanny?

These people have dimmable CFLs

I'm aware of that -

I'd suspect you are talking about Flourescent lighting affecting suffererizerers of epilepsy which does happen. Electricity is 50 cycles per second (60 USA). That's the hmmmmmmmm sound. Older style flouro worked on lower frequency and the new is higher. The new doesn't seem to…

Over this computer have a halogen (ordinary light-bulb shape) as got headaches and blurred vision trying to use a CFL.

Got better bulb longevity when…

But you can save a bucketload with your laptop by turning the screen brightness down (like it should do when you run it off batteries). My IBM has that on the blue function key setting so it's easy to access and I play with it…

The energymad bulbs are made in China too (most CFLs are), the issues are the design specification, equipment and quality control at the factory and…

Question – I presume Signature Range bulbs etc are just OEMd out of China or similar? And that Energymad is actually making their own?

Cause if there is affordable OEM dimmable CFLs I'm off to start a business =)

Perhaps, then, the need to change to CFL (dimmer compatible) is less urgent than for non-dimmer controlled setups. Provided, of course, that one consistently uses a chosen lower light level…

Company called Interwaste offers a recycling service...

Thanks for the pointer Gareth :)

Does it use the same amount of power to charge a laptop battery as it does to run a laptop?…

Dimmable is a good sign. Given that the UK, Australia and China are actually of a base enough intelligence to have set energy standards for these things the types and range will only improve

Then there are the LED lights, which last almost forever, and use significantly less over their…

"Incandescent Rage".

In case anyone thought I was referring to the posters themselves...

While I'm being a dick about this, I should also address the people who are opposing Earth Hour by joining "Edison Hour", which encourages participants to "use as much power and energy as possible in order to celebrate the advancement of mankind."
Please, learn some fucking science.

DeepRed…

http://www.electricaldirectltd.co.nz/

I can make my kitchen like a disco floor.

If you're not putting the bulbs under glass in the floor, you're not doing it properly. Also, Lyndon, you can't use a pot as a disco ball, that's cheating.

if dimming tungsten bulbs actually reduces the power they use (by clipping the sine wave)?

Yes. The mean current and voltage applied is reduced, and hence the power. (Diagrams would help here). The only loss factor is the power dissipated in the triac (electronic switch) – which should be small…

Plus they come in two whites, red, green and blue. I can make my kitchen like a disco floor.

Can anyone explain this concept I read on the energywise website where they recommend exchanging a 100W incandescent with a 20W CFL? Does this change in wattage give essentially the same lux? (And therefore are they claiming that for any given light-level the CFLs are 5 times as efficient?)

(I…

So far I haven't had to replace one under 6 years old.

Have only one "cool white" which I use for illumination in front of the computer when using Skype for video calling. "Warm white" makes my…

I think the dimmer thing is still an issue, and wonder if there are CFLs on the way that can be dimmed?

Yes.

Given my chandelier is made of burnt and blackened wood the Mr Sparkerel argument doesn't really sway me (although I'm yet to find a candle-shaped CFL to…

I was talking to my Dad at the weekend (in the UK).

"That bloody funny light bulb you put in. They're crap – the thing packed in…

Our political environment is so toxic to rational debate that the simplest, cheapest, easiest measures can get defeated by dimmer switches and pseudo-liberalism.

I prostrate myself before your magnificence.

Conscience pricked, I will adjust the 'inner Scotsman' and go & buy some CFLs to replace our non-dimmered standard incandescents. And see if I can get candle ones, too.

(I, for one, will be at a friend's place during earth hour so I best remember…

Hmmm. Considering Keith's calculations, I think this argument is probably scoring an own goal.

Maybe what's of…

Can anyone explain this concept I read on the energywise website where they recommend exchanging a 100W incandescent with a 20W CFL?
Does this change in wattage give essentially the same lux? (And therefore are they claiming that for any given light-level the CFLs are 5 times as efficient?)

Yes,…

I've also noticed that the older they get, the longer they take to warm up to full light, and also, the lower their light output when they first go on.

I think there's more mercury in…

The lowest-power ones we…

We've got chandeliers everywhere in…

Do…

Hear hear. Can anyone here tell me where I ought to be responsibly chucking the bloody things in Chch?

Company called Interwaste offers a recycling service – you pay $12 for a courier box that will hold 12 bulbs. Once you've filled it you seal it and drop it at…

Out of curiosity, did you see the Chandelier Defence coming?

Nope, missed that one – we were focused on a market based approach, trying to deal with the failures in information and up front price. If someone didn't want to change then we were not going to worry, just try…

Also, local bodies have a long way to go to make CFL recycling (which contain mercury) more available to jo blow. Compared to glass, plastic and paper, you really have to work hard…

Um, I'm not sure if it's been mentioned here, but there wasn't a ban.
There was a minimum energy performance standard (MEPS). Important difference.

Good point George, it is a VERY important difference and I, for one, shouldn't have used the "ban" term.

I think the dimmer thing is still…

I get so sick of saying this to otherwise interventionist liberals. "They're idiots, don't believe what they're saying, you don't actually believe that!"

If they're conservative and/or irrational, try the man-donkey-love erotica.

If that doesn't work, try food safety and telecommunications standards. Technical standards really throw libertarians.

Well, yes, but surely unless you plan on burying the wood it's part of the short-term carbon cycle anyway?

Not if you didn't chop it down for firewood in the first place. 8-)

I do wonder if Labour considered how many votes, and seats in the house it was worth to ban incandescent light bulbs?

My beef is, how can we tolerate a media/political environment that is so toxic, and so completely off its nuts irrational, that the dumbest and craziest arguments can…

There are plenty of situations where the market doesn't work and the state steps in. It's not a lefty thing, it's an economics thing.

Well, in highly partisan, or ideologically charged right-wing environments, market failure is something that you'll see Governments comfortable with. Or something that is denied altogether. Witness…

Fucked to hell and back if this shiteating fucknut is going to replace the one dimmer in his house to accommodate the only two incandescent bulbs which it drives. Besides, doesn't dimming the lights reduce the amperage of the electricity we're consuming? (admittedly, physics ain't my…

All the different types catered for (and they were really good about sorting out when we ordered screw ins instead of the bayonet jobbies. 2 years into their 9 year life we've had no dramas with any of them…

I hate earth hour! It just feels so sanctimonious and smug. I think I'll go and turn on every light and apppliance while its on ;-)

I was pissed off with the ban on incandesant bulbs, just because of the way it was done – I'd already swapped most of…

Business has a lot to gain from efficiency (we all do, of course). It's not just hair shirted hippies endorsing this stuff.

We were not in favour of a full ban on incandescant bulbs.

Andrew, was this public information at the time? I don't recall this being reported, since presumably, Brownlee would've been all over it, right?

CFLs are cheaper at producing power, through savings in replacing incandescant bulb usage, then building new power stations by a factor of about 7

Thanks for your input on the thread Andrew – it's always great to hear from the guy who was actually at the heart of it. Out…

Its becasue a GLS (standard lightbulb) is basically a small heater that happens to give off a bit of light.

Now that the insulation fund has been scrapped,and no higher standards will be put in place, poor and rich New Zealanders (insulation is generally still terrible in most expensive homes)…

And there I was thinking I wanted to be able to reduce the light levels so our* smoochy tv-watching would be just a tad more romantic.

* 'Our' being me & my sweetie, not me & Keith

The Greens suggested a standard that would effectively exclude them…

Um, Keith, aren't you out by a factor of 1000?

(Panic!)

Wait, don't freak me out like that. 8-) I used Wh for household consumption, and I divided it by 1000 for CO2e/kWh.

38 checks later, yes, that is still right.

I actually liked 'Fuck Earth Hour' better as a title.

Well, the reference to the Dimmer Brigade in the first draft read: "Fuck you you shiteating fucknuts. Fuck you to hell and then fuck you to hell some more."

A literary gem, really. But it broke the narrative stride, I…

but the consensus seems to be that I should replace them even before plink-point. Is that right? It would go against the grain of my Scottish heritage but I am prepared to make concessions for the fate of the planet.

It is right, let your inner Scotsman know that it…

The idea being that the reduced heat output from bulbs (powered by hydro) will be replaced by increased central heating (powered by burning natural gas).

Interesting. I can see the fuel replacement argument, but surely, a lightbulb on the ceiling (with 50+% of the heat going straight up) can't be…

There was a minimum energy performance standard (MEPS). Important difference. Not all incandescents were knocked out by it.

It's a very useful policy instrument, and can be used to great effect. The Japanese have applied moving…

Soon has been and gone... available now.

When I was in CFL buying mode about 18 months ago..... Mitre-10's home brand called "Basix" had in-store demonstrations of…

If you have purchased quality bulbs and have more then one blow out in under a year I'd say that suggests your wiring is wonky, not the bulbs are crap.

Fair enough, although I am not certain I did in fact get quality brands... Can anyone give a recommendation of…

We just try to draw graphs that look pretty.

It's so easy now too, just push a button in excel. Oh and we just download the data from teh interwebs straight into excel. Hardly takes any time at all and we can go home early and hoon around the streets…

Don't fluorescent bulbs badly affect some autism spectrum people? I'm sure someone else here (e.g., Russell) knows more about this than I do, but that was the first thing I thought of when I heard the idea of banning incandescent bulbs.

I'm aware of that — and of people having…

Unless you're suggesting that scientists and academics made all that shit up?

Well, duh. All that Scientific Method stuff is sooooo twentieth century. We just try to draw graphs that look pretty. Right, Bart?

And while the ban on the old lightbulbs was a small step, the rush to repeal the ban…

- You can't smoke P in a squiggly bulb
ergo...

Gareth Ward, put your hand up and pretend to look at my elbow, because I am giving you an Air High Five.

Garth George claimed in his Herald column to have been making plans to stockpile the old bulbs.

I like to imagine that pile is in the same basement as his stockpile of BZP.

Let's follow the logic:
– Garth claims BZP is a gateway drug to P
– Garth…

But, Global warming is a big business in itself. Ask any academic looking for funding, If you want funding all you have to do is append the name of your study with the words "With regard to Global Warming" and you're home and hosed.

Bull-F'ing-shit.

I'm an academic.

I look…

Garth George claimed in his Herald column to have been making plans to stockpile the old bulbs.

I like to imagine that pile is in the same basement as his stockpile of BZP.

To date we have one still going at 2.5yrs old, but the next longest was only 1 year, and the majority less than 6 months. This was…

Don't be silly Gareth, of course the link said that, otherwise the authors' funding would dry up...

No, no, I don't think Steve is a classic denialiserer (it's more fun when you add syllables). He's raising some valid queries for non-climate-scientists like us, but having looked into the same issue…

But, Global warming is a big business in itself. Ask any academic looking for funding, If you want funding all you have to do is append the name of your study with the words "With regard to Global Warming" and you're home and hosed.

So the global warming debate is…

I should add that we have a houseful of CFL bulbs. Every time an old one went, my darling would replace it with a more efficient one.

I should add that environmentally (for everyone) and financially (for you) it makes sense to replace them all now before they die. Despite…

Burning organic material (like wax and wood) produces CO2. Tell your friends.

Well, yes, but surely unless you plan on burying the wood it's part of the short-term carbon cycle anyway?

Not that have any wish to detract from the awesomeness of your post.

Earth to Earth Hour: Our politicians, despite their best efforts, do not live in space.

Hehe! Great blog Keith. Double points for:

And it was balls.

The argument is drawn from classic liberalism's core claim to freedom: That we have the inalienable right to any activity as long as it…

the central library is giving away ecobulbs in support of earth hour. at least they were yesterday. so i assume its happening all week.

go back everyday and stock up for free.

You've got to read between the lines.

Some women were furious because, while they were…

BUT

I do wonder if Labour considered how many votes, and seats in the house it was worth to ban incandescent light bulbs?

Given that getting rid of the nanny state was the main…

While I'm being a dick about this, I should also address the people who are opposing Earth Hour by joining "Edison Hour", which encourages participants to "use as much power and energy as possible in order to celebrate the advancement of mankind."

Please, learn some fucking science.

How about "Enron…

So how do you know it's a "good quality" CFL?

The ones supported by the EC have to meet very high standards, see CFL Programme

I was pissed off with the ban on incandesant bulbs, just because of the way it was done – I'd already swapped most of…

BUT

We then had to repaint the whole lounge ceiling because the fittings were a little…

Garth George claimed in his Herald column to have been making plans to stockpile the old bulbs.

Wow Garth, elaborate plan. I'm going to stockpile the bulbs! There, plan done.

Do I dare ask WHY he was going to? Scratch that, the less exposure I have to that bitter old…

Isn't there some great little NZ company producing really good ones, bulbs that have a much higher "brightness output"?

http://www.energymad.com/nz/
Interestingly the two other people who worked with me at the EC are now working for Energymad selling these CFLs around the world...

We had some evidence from the UK that home owners were removing dedicated CFL fittings and putting standard light fittings in becasue they didn't like being forced into having dedicated CFLs.

Ah yes. Garth George claimed in his Herald column to have been making plans to stockpile the old bulbs.…

Just don't stick an incandescant back in that socket, get a good CFL.

Oh yeah, definitely. We only buy CFL's now.
Thanks, think it was Signature Range one so Foodtown are the supplier effectively.

Isn't there some great little NZ company producing really good ones, bulbs that have a much…

Keith's post has made me angry all over again about National's axis-of-stupidity attack on rational energy efficiency initiatives. One might hope that having won the election with the "OMG! the commie lightbulbs are coming!" message they'd settle down and do something more intelligent.

It sounds increasingly like the sort of…

I worked at the Electricity Commission on the CFL project promoting and subsidising high quality bulbs, we got about six million out into peoples homes, saved a whole lot of $ and energy and sparked off some market development and competition in the lighting suppliers.

I think price is one…

Also, Andrew – are there some kind of warranty periods on the squiggly bulbs? I thought part…

I worked at the Electricity Commission on the CFL project promoting and subsidising high quality bulbs, we got about six million out into peoples homes, saved a whole lot of $ and energy and sparked off some market development and…

Systematic energy saving measures will. So will building more wind/water poer and shutting down thermal. NZ could be on 120% renewable electricity (e.g. with zero non-renewable…

60W x 3hrs x 365days = 65,700 watt hours = 66KWh ?

Best. Post. Ever.

Oh yes, I forgot to say: this post wins a 'righteous!' award.

I'd be careful saying that. Danielle might hear you.

Heh. Believe me, I hate some particularly, erm, *librarianish* librarians just as much as the rest of you. Probably more. I think calling it a 'librarian state' would be vastly more accurate than 'nanny'.

(Example: nz-libs' debate about S92a actually included…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1R8UbDXjMEY&feature=player_embedded

Keith's post has made me angry all over again about National's axis-of-stupidity attack on rational energy efficiency initiatives. One might hope that having won the election with the "OMG! the commie lightbulbs are coming!" message they'd settle down and do something more intelligent.…

My partner describes Earth Hour as a way to alleviate guilt, and he's so right. I wouldn't be surprised if it discourages…

Instead, we put restrictions on telecommunication devices, and we don't whinge about it being the heavy hand of the nanny-state molesting us.

Oh, it's way worse than that, Keith. We take instructions on what telecommunications devices to allow and what to restrict from an agency administered by the United Nations.…

But the pressing issue for me is: with all the refuseniks and disgruntleds out there using the 'nanny state' as shorthand for whatever it is they don't like about society, has…

It was as if the essense of uselessness took corporeal form, put on a suit and became a lobbyist.

A Lord Sauron for consumerist, pseudo-liberal times? Brilliant!

Here in Canada there is some concern that the switch to CFL bulbs (mandatory from 2012 ... thanks to a Conservative Federal Government)…