More complaints about energy-saving bulbs

subscribe

Some U.S. energy experts say the push to lower the price of compact fluorescent light bulbs has led manufacturers to use cheap components.

"Somebody decides to save a little money somewhere and suddenly we have hundreds of thousands of (bulb) failures," said Victor Roberts, an independent expert in Burnt Hills, N.Y., who conducts failure analysis testing on light bulbs.

Compact fluorescent bulbs comprise 11 percent of the market for bulbs in the United States, but consumers increasingly complain the bulbs burn out early, The New York Times reported.

"In the pursuit of the holy grail, we stepped on the consumer," said Michael Siminovitch, an energy expert at the University of California, Davis.

Overall, the energy-saving bulbs are of good quality, but it's difficult to keep tight quality control on a cheap, mass-marketed item, many of which come from China, said Alan Feit, vice president of Feit Electric.

"While manufacturers try to inspect all incoming materials, one little mistake may cause a performance problem," Feit said.

Related News

clean electricity standard

Reconciliation and a Clean Electricity Standard

WASHINGTON - The Biden Administration and Democratic members of Congress have supported including a clean electricity standard (CES) in the upcoming reconciliation bill. A CES is an alternative to pricing carbon dioxide through a tax or cap-and-trade program and focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions produced during electricity generation by establishing targets. In principle, it is a technology-agnostic approach. In practice, however, it pushes particular technologies out of the market.

The details of the CES are still being developed, but recent legislation may provide insight into how the CES could operate. In May, Senator Tina Smith and Representative Ben Ray Luján…

READ MORE
energy storage

E.ON to Commission 2500 Digital Transformer Stations

READ MORE

tucson line workers

Cost, safety drive line-burying decisions at Tucson Electric Power

READ MORE

New York Governor Kathy Hochul

Building begins on facility linking Canada hydropower to NYC

READ MORE

berlin pv industry

Berlin urged to remove barriers to PV

READ MORE