Campaigns Against Light Bulb Regulations

[Renamed this to allow a possibly broader listing of anti-regulation action apart from petitions, and as petitions themselves may be the basis for other campaigns]

I have my doubts about petitions achieving anything on their own, however many the signatures - in particular in jurisdictions like the EU. Politicians, and the media, react much more to street protests for example.
That said, there are other advantages to petitions. The organizers of them may organize other activities with those who sign or simply keep them informed on the issues, and it may allow for general communication between those interested, depending on the set-up.



List of Petition Links

Will - gradually! - be updated by myself and others who help with this, on the accompanying "page" with similar title (see listing in left column).

Also, see other lists, for example on Gluehbirne.ist.org and Greenwashing Lamps, currently with German and Swedish ones but which may expand. Most of their particular links should appear here also, but others may of course appear.
Note that for most petitions, anyone can sign, see however the "About" section below for more as regards to how the EU authorities interpret petitions.

Otherwise an online search under "light bulb" and "petition" together with country name or language may yield an appropriate petition to sign, and anti-ban campaign to be involved in.



About

With the EU ban finalizing, a federal USA ban starting, and bans or "phase-outs"
in several other countries, one way to protest is obviously to sign petitions.

Petitions as a political instrument are a bit of a double edged sword.
Where they get few signatures, it may suggest a lack of public resistance, or even suggest a general public support for regulations.

This may be self-fulfilling:
The EU authorities have already made it clear in their much vaunted "Citizens Initiative"

The European Citizens Initiative will allow 1 million citizens from at least one quarter of the EU Member States to invite the European Commission to bring forward proposals for legal acts in areas where the Commission has the power to do so.
The organisers of a citizens' initiative, a citizens' committee composed of at least 7 EU citizens who are resident in at least 7 different Member States, will have 1 year to collect the necessary statements of support. The number of statements of support has to be certified by the competent authorities in the Member States. The Commission will then have 3 months to examine the initiative and decide how to act on it.

As seen the rigorous conditions and all the data required (name, address, place and date of birth, passport number or identity card number etc for the signatures) it makes it next to impossible to carry out.
That said, local country petitions can of course also send a message to local leaders, who might in turn influence the European Commission.

That not being so realistic, it at least allows people some outlet to voice their objections, and, as mentioned, for the petition organizers to organize other activities with those who signed, and/or allow for general inter-communication.


The last point of course applies to petitions in federal USA, local American states, and other jurisdictions also.
They also have a more realistic chance of success:
The more locally made the legislation, the more easy the communication with legislators, and the fewer the signatures required, in a relative comparison.

 

Heatballs are Dead... Long Live Special Lamps!

Given the canned bulb "culture reserve" memorial as per recent posts, rather co-incidental to see the Heatballs getting the same fate, as quoted below, with my emphasis.

[In summary, the Heatball venture was a satirical gesture against the light bulb ban, turning the "95% heat waste" jibe around to therefore justify the sale of the incandescents as heat bulbs rather than light bulbs. The courts did not approve, believing that "misuse" was likely and that they were sold "with false product information" as to their likely use.]

Fazit ist, dass die Heatballs 2nd Edition in 75~W und 100~W, matt und klar wegen möglicher Fehlanwendung durch den Verbraucher und den damit verbundenen Gefahren für nachfolgende Generationen unter Verschluss bleiben. Wir halten eine weitere Klage vor dem OVG in Münster für aussichtslos und haben uns daher entschieden, die Heatballs der 2nd Edition als Kulturreserve einzulagern und Museen als Ausstellungsstücke zu überlassen.

The bottom line is that the Heat Balls 2nd Edition in 75W and 100W, frosted and clear, because of possible misuse by the consumer and the associated risks for future generations [ed- irony] remain blocked. We hold another appeal to the Higher Administrative Court in Münster to be futile and have therefore decided to store the [rest of] the 2nd edition Heatballs as a cultural reserve, to be passed on to Museums as exhibits.

Nevertheless, they did get recognition of Heat balls as potential "special lamps".
But selling them as a way to get round the ban did not please the authorities.
So in a change of tactic, a serious marketing venture will be launched using the website
ewg-eg.de   Elektrische Widerstandsgenossenschaft eG, "Electrical Resistance Cooperative".
Rather than a satirical sale of Heat Balls, a serious sale of Special Lamps...well, maybe not completely serious (the packaging here is not necessarily relevant!)

Comment

The Heatball story is not as straightforward as might appear...

As covered in recent news stories, such as by the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, "rough service" bulbs are being sold legally in the EU.
It so happens that the last Heatballs from China were of this or similar type i.e. unlike the first Heatball bulb types, they were being legally sold by others as light bulbs!
In other words the supposed "misuse" of the bulbs would result in perfectly legal, ordinary use,
while their use for heating was never challenged legally (whatever practical reservations may have been felt about it, as in the EU response on the matter).

It's as if a drinking straw was sold to stir drinks with, but forbidden because it might be "misused" in that people might actually drink through it!


Unsurprisingly, Drs. Rudolf Hannot and Siegfried Rotthäuser behind the venture felt there could have been political pressure involved in the decisions.
The "special lamp" status for use as heating is legal enough, but the satirical campaigning of it as a way to get round the EU ban worked against them.

Turning the tables on the authorities, who after all seem very safety conscious, they enquired as to the measured mercury content values of previously suspected fluorescent lamp types...
receiving the unsurprising answer that this had not been checked. No worries there, then.

Meanwhile, their venture into selling light bulbs is therefore not over.
The new Electrical Resistance Cooperative will as said sell "special lamps" as well as generally campaign against light bulb regulations, membership is 100 Euro.

Zwöfter Heatball Newsletter
Kulturhauptstadt 2010 Essen
2012-08-26


Liebe Heatball Freunde,

am 19.06.2012 haben wir in Aachen vor dem Verwaltungsgericht in der
Hauptverhandlung um die Zukunft des Heatball gekämpft.

Mittlerweile liegt das Urteil auch schriftlich vor und kann auf unserer
Webseite im Aktionsverlauf studiert werden.

http://www.heatball.de/pdf/VG_Aachen_Urteil_2012_06_19.pdf

Facit ist, dass die Heatballs 2nd Edition in 75~W und 100~W, matt und klar
wegen möglicher Fehlanwendung durch den Verbraucher und den damit verbundenen
Gefahren für nachfolgende Generationen unter Verschluss bleiben. Wir halten
eine weitere Klage vor dem OVG in Münster für aussichtslos und haben uns daher
entschieden, die Heatballs der 2nd Edition als Kulturreserve einzulagern und
Museen als Ausstellungsstücke zu überlassen.

Zitat aus der Ordnungsverfügung:

... liegt die Anordnung der sofortigen Vollziehung auch deswegen im
besonderen öffentlichen Interesse, da nach Artikel 20a GG der Schutz der
natürlichen Lebesgrundlagen im Vordergrund stehen muss ...

Nachdem nun erneut Warnungen zum Thema Energiesparlampe ergangen sind, hatten
wir bei der Bezirksregierung als zuständige Marktüberwachung nach den
Quecksilberwerten beanstandeter Energiesparlampen gefragt.

Originaltext: Deutsche Umwelthilfe e.V.
Digitale Pressemappe: http://www.presseportal.de/pm/22521
Pressemappe via RSS : http://www.presseportal.de/rss/pm_22521.rss2

Antwort der Bezirksregierung:

>
>Von: Bensberg, Claudia [mailto:claudia.bensberg@bezreg-koeln.nrw.de]
>Gesendet: Mittwoch, 8. August 2012 12:49
>An: Hannot, Rudolf
>Cc: Ledwig, Thomas; Goeble, Sascha; Brosius, Karl
>Betreff: AW: Deutsche Umwelthilfe stoppt erneut Verkauf von ...
>
>Sehr geehrter Herr Dr. Hannot,
>
>leider liegen uns die von Ihnen gewünschten Werte nicht vor.
>
>
>Mit freundlichen Grüßen,
>im Auftrag
>
>Claudia Bensberg
>
>Dezernat 55
>Produktsicherheit/Sprengstoff
>
>
Soviel zum Thema Artikel 20a Grundgesetz. Doch es gibt auch Hoffnung. In
der Verhandlung haben wir das Thema Speziallampe noch einmal darstellen können
und hierzu den Heatball 2.0 demonstriert. Aus der Veredlung einer anerkannten
Speziallampe ist dieser hervorgegangen und liegt nun seit Monaten bei der
Marktüberwachung zur Begutachtung vor, ohne Reaktion.

Sehr wichtig für eine Speziallampe ist, dass diese mit der richtigen Gesinnung
vertrieben wird. Sobald der Verbraucher durch eine satirische Aussage dazu
verleitet wird, die Lampe nicht entsprechend des angegebenen
Verwendungszweckes zu nutzen, ist diese keine Speziallampe mehr.

Der juristische Dienst der EU-Kommission hat klargestellt, dass die Erklärung
des Herstellers und der Hinweis, dass das Produkt nicht zur allgemeinen
Raumbeleuchtung geeignet ist, ausreichen, um eine Speziallampe zu
erhalten. Beim Heatball 2nd Edition ist es aber eine Gesinnungsfrage, die über
den Titel Speziallampe entschieden hat, allen physikalischen Fakten und der
Verordnung selbst zum Trotz.

Vor Gericht wurde uns durch die Bezirksregierung versichert, dass es derzeit
keine akuten Bestrebungen gibt, den Heatball 2.0 zu verbieten und man auf eine
Stellungnahme der Ministerien warte.

Da nun der Herbst naht und viele Besitzer von Niedrigenergiehäusern den
Vorteil der Speziallampe Heatball nutzen möchten, haben wir beschlossen, dass
wir eine erste Charge entsprechend der nicht beanstandeten Warenproben, die
der Bezirksregierung vorliegen, in Auftrag zu geben.

Sobald diese Speziallampen verfügbar sind, werden wir sie über die Seite der
Elektrischen Widerstandsgenossenschaft eG www.ewg-eg.de humorlos und mit
technisch nüchterner Gesinnung anbieten. Die Satireseite www.heatball.de wird
als Erinnerung an das Widerstandsprojekt online bleiben aber keinen Shop mehr
haben.

Da wir uns nun am 1.9 von den letzten Glühbirnen verabschieden müssen, hat die
Presse das Thema auch wieder aufgeriffen. In der Sendung markt im WDR
Fernsehen läuft am Montag, 27.8 um 21:00 ein Beitrag, in dem Heatball
mitwirkt.

..........................

Mit vorherbstlichen Grüßen

der Vorstand der EWG eG

R.Hannot
S.Rotthäuser

Canned Heat "Das kleinste Birnendenkmal Europas"

No, this is not about these guys...






Rather about something with a less blue-sy content...

or if you will...

[Seemingly the same idea has occurred to different creators...
The ones covered here claim to be first and to have been copied, as per comment! Some more about the "Lichtkonserve" canning of light bulbs will follow.
Update: See "Whatever You Can, We Can Too"...]


The Heatball satirical objection to the bulb ban has been well covered in previous posts, and is still ongoing through all the legal challenges and appeals.
Meanwhile another satirical artistic venture has been going on for some years, although recently halted, again for legal reasons (the ones without humor are the German judges, but in that profession they are not alone!).
This is about the Frankfurt based Canned Heat venture, or rather Kultur-Reserve, culture reserve, by the Metermorphosen company: a word play on "metamorphosis",
as they focus on creating new artistic meaning out of everyday objects.


Their own description of their activities: Google translation, somewhat corrected...

MeterMorphosen stands, as already seen in the name, for transformed everyday objects.
We develop our own product ideas, check their feasibility, and then produce them with the most suitable materials. The transformations are more than just a gimmick, they give the items a palpable new dimension. Thus a yardstick measure of space became a measure of time and space. Or from the linoleum floor a memory card game was made, with original artwork from the 1920s. And from the world's most widely used eating utensils a small collection of poems, with which you can combine the sensuality of eating with the sensuality of poetry.
Important for MeterMorphosen is a playfully educative approach, the products must have a certain esprit, the abstract becoming sensually comprehensible. By such lateral thinking our products may succeed to make complex inter-relations more clear and able to be seen in a new way.

They also have an English language presentation of themselves...




While the canned bulb manufacture and sales have been organized by publisher Florian Koch and partners, the concept and also apparently the original manufacture was by artist Lutz Jahnke in Offenbach.

There seem to be slightly conflicting accounts about it, but the story seems to go something like this...
During the lighting festival Luminale in Offenbach April 2010, Lutz Jahnke and his partner Julia Diehl organized a big "Birnen Denkmal" light bulb memorial to incandescent light bulbs:
Public collections of spent bulbs took place and mounds of them were artistically arranged by Lutz, Julia and others.
Seemingly now in 2012 there are plans for some kind of repeat offering - the original idea and further development will be covered in a following blog post.

Having got access to sausage making /canning machines the idea then came to Jahnke
about extending the memorial idea... "after the biggest light bulb memorial in Germany, the smallest light bulb memorial in Europe!".
A "culture reserve", not really supposed to be opened, an artistically produced memory of today's bulbs for the future.

Lutz had several lines of thought behind it...
Birne = Pear = what former German leader Chancellor Kohl was called, also the classic bulb in cartoons being synonymous with a "bright idea", also historically the bulb reaching back a long time, given the action as a kind of memorial, while also symbolizing a resistance to government interference in personal freedom, the "last ration" aspect of putting it in a can, as in survival shelters...

So he started putting the bulbs into cans, somewhere along the line getting
help with the manufacture and distribution by the Metamorphoses company in Frankfurt.


Op-Online 10/4/2012 article about artist Lutz and the canned bulb development:
[or see Google translated English version]

The presentation of it as a product for sale:
[or see Google translated English version]

The site however also now warns
"The culture reserve product is until further notice not deliverable and can not be ordered from the online shop".....



The canned bulbs become banned

In recent months, the venture has again got media coverage in Germany.
14th July article from the Frankfurter Runsdschau paper, translated.

A fuller account from the 25th July, 2012, also from artist Lutz Jahnke's point of view
op-online website, translated.

As can be seen, the sale is now forbidden under threat of a 2000 Euro fine for a first offence (somewhat like drug dealing), the argument being that such 60W bulbs were banned from manufacture Sep 2011.
Lutz and company manager Koch - reasonably enough - feel they were really only packaging and distruibuting already made bulbs. The bulbs came first from German, then from French manufacturers, before the ban.
In the EU, like in the USA, the legislation is of not allowing further manufacture within the jurisdiction, or import from outside, of the light bulbs - neither of which apply here.
Florian Koch said that they may yet beat the new deadline of 1 Sep 2012 for 40W bulbs by filling cans with them instead... however, to date this seems not to have occured.

Videos:
Recent videos carry the same tale about the ban on the sale.
For example, July 24 2012, on the RTL Hessen site: mp4 file, featuring Florian Koch.

Another video from July, from the 25 minute point, featuring Lutz Jahnke, also describing how he got the idea after getting hold of a sausage machine.



Lutz's concluding thoughts from his Jahnke design site

01 september 2012:
glühbirnen — europaweit verboten
»nichts bewegt die welt mehr als licht — deshalb haben wir ihm ein denkmal für alle nostalgiger & ein mahnmal für alle die immer noch wahllos energie verschwenden, gewidmet.
die »kultur reserve« ist die antwort auf die faulen früchte der eurokratie. ein zeitgenössiches kunstwerk, das sie unbedingt in ihren besitz bringen müssen.«

01 september 2012:
incandescent bulbs - banned throughout europe
"nothing moves the world more than light - that's why we dedicated to it a monument for all with nostalgia and a memorial for all those who still (choose to) indiscriminately waste energy.
The "cultural reserve" is the answer to the bad fruits of the eurocracy, a contemporary artwork that they absolutely have to bring into their possession."

Feeling the Heat: Heatball Update

 

The German satirical (but as it turns out, seriously undertaken) attempt at circumventing EU light bulb laws by marketing incandescent bulbs as "Heatballs" has been well covered in previous posts here, as can be seen using the search functions on the left.
The major explanatory post is "We want to shed more heat than light!".

In the ever-ongoing legal battle, the most recent decision of the local Aachen court 19th June 2012 has gone against them...though "leave to appeal" to the regional Münster court has again been given (keeping lawyers in clover).

The last newsletter message from Heatball, June 3, sets up the situation, translated roughly by Google translation further below. I corrected a little to get the gist of it across, might correct a bit more if time (German to English and vice versa particularly problematic for translation tools, given word order issues!)

Liebe Heatball Freunde,
die Elektrische Widerstandsgenossenschaft eG wird am 19.06.2012 wieder in Aachen vor dem Verwaltungsgericht in der Hauptverhandlung um die Zukunft des Heatballs kämpfen.
Was hat sich alles getan?
Im letzten Sommer hatten wir das Eilverfahren in Aachen verloren, doch seitdem hat sich einiges verändert. Das Oberverwaltungsgericht in Münster hat nun festgestellt, dass die Heatball Aktion keine Kunst ist; nun ja im Urteil des Berliner Kammergerichtes heißt es dagegen, dass der "durchschnittlich informierte Verbraucher" die Aktion als solche durchaus erkennen könne; alles eben eine Frage der Sichtweise.
In der Urteilsbegründung im Eilverfahren des VG (Verwaltungsgericht)-Aachen war die mangelnde Verbaucherinformation als Grund angegeben worden, warum der Heatball auch keine Speziallampe sein kann. Diesen Missstand hatten wir direkt nach Bekanntwerden geheilt.
Das Finanzgericht in Düsseldorf hat im Frühjahr zu unseren Gunsten entschieden und festgestellt, dass die Beschlagnahmung der Heatballs am Flughafen nicht Rechtens war. Der für die Genossenschaft entstandene Schaden durch die unnötige und rechtwidrige Zwangseinlagerung, die auf Betreiben der Bezirksregierung durch den Zoll erfolgt ist, wird uns allerdings nicht erstattet; diesen müßten wir einklagen.
Mit viel Geduld ist es uns nun gelungen, dass auch der juristische Dienst der EU-Kommission eine Stellungnahme zur Definition einer Speziallampe abgegeben hat. Wenn sich das VG-Aachen in der Hauptverhandlung hieran hält, dann dürfte dem Heatball der Titel als Speziallampe zustehen und die Ordnungsverfügung könnte aufgehoben werden. Dies wird aber aus politischen Gründen nicht passieren dürfen.
In unserem Shop haben wir derzeit Lampen der Firma Philips, die als Speziallampe anerkannt sind. Die Bezirksregierung hat prompt hiervon Warenproben genommen, die sie nicht beanstandet hat. Baugleiche Lampen waren von uns bereits in Aachen beim Eilverfahren gezeigt worden, um auf die Möglichkeiten einer Speziallampe hinzuweisen. Diese Produkte werden offensichtlicherweise von der Bezirksregierung nun als rechtskonform angesehen.
In Folge dessen werden wir nun in der übernächsten Woche die Produkte Workball
und Heatball 2.0 auf den Markt bringen und gleichzeitig der Bezirksregierung Warenproben sowie Verbraucherinformationen zukommen lassen. Da diese Produkte identisch zur Philips Speziallampe sind, würde uns die Begründung eines Verbotes sehr interessieren.

Heatball friends,
the electrical resistance is fighting on 6/19/2012 eG again in Aachen before the Administrative Court at the trial about the future of the Heat ball.

What has done it all?

Last summer we lost the fast track in Aachen, but since then a lot has changed.
The Higher Administrative Court in Münster has determined that the Heat ball action is not art, against the judgment of the Berlin Chamber Court that stated that the "average informed consumers" can see the action as such, certainly, all just a matter of perspective.
In the judgment of the VG(Verwaltungsgericht)-Aachen court, the lack of information for consumers was given as a reason why the Heat ball can not be a special lamp. This grievance we immediately fixed after the announcement.

The Tax Court in Duesseldorf in spring decided in our favor,
and found that the seizure of the Heat balls at the airport was not rightful. The resulting damage to the cooperative by the unnecessary and unlawful coercion storage, done at the behest of the District Government through customs, has not been refunded, which we have had to complain about.

With patience, we have now succeeded, that the legal departments of the European Commission have given opinion on the definition of a special lamp. If the VG-Aachen holds thereto at the coming trial, then the Heatball definition as a special lamp is expected and the public order could be lifted. For political reasons this will hardly be allowed, however.

In our shop we currently have lamps from Philips, recognized as a special lamp.
The district government has taken samples from us, but that status has not been challenged. Identical lamps had been already shown by us in Aachen in summary proceedings, to indicate the possibility of recognition as a special lamp. These products are obviously considered by the district government as legal.
As a consequence, we are now in the next week bringing out the products Work Ball and Heatball 2.0 to the market and will at the same time send samples to the district government including the consumer information. Since these products are identical to Philips special lamps, we would be very interested in any reason for a ban.

The local Aachen paper set the stage just before the court decision, article, June 18.
Article translated by Google, here.

German Zeit paper on decision, 19 June article, Google translation.

Quoting and expanding on the articles, according to current and preceding judgements, the 95% heat of the bulbs does not make them into "small heaters":
Engineer Dr Siegfried Rotthäuser and his physicist colleague Dr Rudolf Düren Hannot who are behind the Heatball action have evaluated the action as a success nonetheless.
"We have attracted attention. Now deal with the other criticisms of the incandescent ban."

As scientists, they doubt the environmental effect of the banishment of the "small, innocuous" light bulb - and they see themselves as eco-friendly, with 30 cents from each sale going to a rainforest project.


More from Dr Hannot in an earlier article, Google translation... and he is not the first physicist to criticize the token light bulb bans (eg http://ceolas.net/#li6x, http://ceolas.net/#li171x)
"They (the ruling politicians) dedicate themselves to energy-saving regulations, instead of considering where climate change really come from", he says.


Continuing the current verdict...

The Administrative Court of Aachen also looked at the 'heat balls' as household lamps in terms of the EC Regulation. The crucial factor was the purpose from a consumer perspective. From that viewpoint, the "Heat Ball" was seen as conventional incandescent lighting, and did not fall within the definition of special lamps which are allowed by the EC Regulation. Moreover, the Aachen Chamber did not see a prohibition as a violation of the fundamental right to artistic freedom.
Leave to appeal to the Higher Administrative Court of Münster was granted.

Comment

Basically then, the objection is from a marketing perspective, rather than from the bulb itself.

See the packaging below, and the writing on it.

"Nicht zur Raumbeleuchtung"...not for room lighting
Those types therefore still legal if actually sold for lighting purpose ;-)

Their bulbs were basically legal Chinese made "rough service" type incandescent imports, and the new Philips line are similarly defined legal as quoted - that is, legally sold as "lighting" elsewhere in Europe as in the USA for the time being (the law will likely gradually tighten also in the EU, given the parallell ongoing halogen bans).

An irony, as said before, is that the legal incandescent bulb types sold by Heatball and some American distributors "waste" more energy, than their now illegal equivalents of the same brightness (longer lifespan but needing higher wattage for same brightness as the pre-ban bulbs).
Add that to all the other lack of logic of current lighting regulations, pushing complex questionably safe CFL and other replacements for well known simple regular bulbs...

No bulb satire needed ... the laws are satirical enough as they are ;-)

Peter Stenzel Light Bulb Site Update

Austria based Peter Stenzel's now revised site at Gluehbirne.ist.org ("Argumente für die Glühbirne", "Arguments in support of incandescent light bulbs") is an excellent resource, whether you live in Europe or not, as already linked in the Resource Links section.
Note that it includes many more sections than may seem from below, including well illustrated lighting comparisons, special sections on CFL and LED issues, regulatory news, campaigns/petitions in different countries, and more, also from outside the EU.

Google translated English version (linked pages from that should also automatically be translated, to a reasonably understandable English).


Part-view of the front page in German embedded below


 
 

Bright Burgess Bulb Bill Block... part 2

 
From The Hill news site, 7th May article, by Andrew Restuccia - summary of main points
 

Republican to revive lightbulb war
A House Republican is planning in the coming weeks to revive the GOP offensive against federal lightbulb efficiency standards.

Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) will offer an amendment to Energy Department spending legislation that would block funding for implementation of standards, the lawmaker's office told The Hill.
The standards have come under fire from conservatives in recent years.

Republicans won the inclusion of a similar provision in an omnibus spending compromise that House and Senate lawmakers agreed to in December. The provision blocked funding for implementation of the law for fiscal year 2012. Burgess’ amendment would apply to fiscal year 2013.
The House Appropriations committee approved the Energy Department’s fiscal 2013 spending bill late last month. The legislation is expected to come up for a floor vote in the coming weeks.

The previous similar amendment was covered here in an earlier July 2011 post, extract:

On the 15th of July, the amendment AO75 (H.Amdt. 678) by Rep. Michael Burgess to Energy Bill H.R.2354 of July 14 2011, was successfully passed in a vote on the floor of the House.

The amendment cuts the funds needed next year to implement and monitor American federal light bulb regulation starting January 2012, which would have seen regular 100 Watt bulbs removed from sale. It is therefore temporary in nature, and does not permanently set back the lighting regulations.

Bill content and progress (Govtrack link)

Comment

There are a number of predictable online responses to this announcement,
as indeed towards any other politician opposing the light bulb regulations.


I'll take the first one pretty well as on the newly updated "Deception" page rundown


"Hey, the Economy is still in deep trouble, and Republicans worry about Light Bulbs?!"

Oddly, a lot of such critics supported the regulations in the first place - why, if the bulbs are irrelevant as an issue? ;-)

In any case, since people spend half their lives under artifical lights, one could say that such regulation affects them more than most other regulations, also given the psychological and well-being effects of lighting.

But there is also the deeper issue of regulating well known safe to use products, however good the motive. Light bulbs are in the vanguard of a new wave of worldwide product regulations, whether based on energy usage or otherwise.

It also throws up the bigger question, as covered on the Ceolas.net site, about relevant resource management and about questionable "feelgood" sacrifices to "save the planet", rather than to actually deal with any underlying problems.

Finally - and ironically - those (generally on the left) who make such criticism and keep saying the economy matters more, are the very ones ignoring that with bans they get nothing, whereas with a tax on around 2 Billion annual sold relevant bulbs (in the US, as in pre-ban EU), they get plenty for their public spending, which in price-lowering subsidies on alternative lighting would not "just hit people with taxes" either - albeit that market competition is a better policy.



"Typical of Un-Progressive Republicans to want to hang on to Horse and Buggy technology, rather than to support Innovation!"

....or strange of "liberal" politicians to uncritically support capitalists pushing more profitable expensive questionably safe bulbs on Joe Public for marginal if any society savings, light bulbs he would not voluntarily buy, or the ban, and/or the big bulb subsidies, would not be "necessary"...

As said before, unfortunately and unnecessarily this is a partisan issue in the USA,
since the regulations are irrelevant whatever the background ideology one chooses to apply.
Still, going with the typical comments that are around, like this "un-progressive" taunt...

The arguments are again covered on the "Deception" page, albeit split up into separate "obsolescence" and "innovation" sections.

None of "Horse and Buggy", or Model T cars, or Wright brother airplanes, or typewriters, or vacuum tubes, or candles or any other(!) examples that keep being offered online, had to be banned to serve progress.

Better, or more popular, alternatives came about through the presence - not the absence - of their competing presence (and in some cases, they still have useful niche roles).

Increased, not decreased, competition is what spurs innovation that people actually want to see: Rather than a bunch of bureaucrats deciding "what is best".

And there is No Free Lunch.
Not even for the Washington Bureaucrats!
Restricting energy usage on buildings, cars, washing machines, TV sets or light bulbs always alters their characteristics: in construction, appearance, usability and/or performance as well as price, http://ceolas.net/#cc21x

That is not all.
The standards must be set so that such products already exist.
Otherwise, with light bulbs, people might literally be left in the dark.
Halogens, CFLs, LEDs - all invented before any ban.

New inventions - energy saving or with other advantages - can always be helped to the market, though not continually supported.
On the contrary, the innovations are proven as desirable, in direct comparison and direct competition on the market place.

Stimulation of free market competition happens to be the best option also to lower energy consumption all the way along the energy usage chain, for reasons described.



"How many Times do we have to Keep Saying that this is not a Ban!"

... and how many times does one have to ask the naysayers to read the Act? ;-)
See the previous post: "Yes it is a ban"

So:
It is not just a ban because obviously something "not allowed" or "phased out" is also "banned"... but it is also a ban on incandescents for ordinary use, that is, including the continually mentioned halogen type replacements (which incidentally also have differences to regular incandescents).

The 2007 EISA law phase 2 beginning after 2014 has 45 lumen per Watt end regulation which therefore also bans the touted 2012 72W halogen and other replacements (typically 20-22 lumen per Watt).

Relevant links, passages, and updates on Congress and local state repeal ban bills to date: http://ceolas.net/#li01inx
 

We want to shed more heat than light!

There has been more activity around the "Heat Balls" of late, that is, the German attempt to circumvent the EU light bulb ban law by importing and selling the incandescent bulbs as heating devices - more on the background of it below. Most of their information is in German, but those who want can use for example Google site and text translation.

Recently, a large bulb shipment that had been declared illegal was released from impoundment at customs.
More about that seizure can be read in the English language Local.de article of about a year ago

In what was meant to be a humorous protest of the European Union’s phaseout of conventional bulbs, DTG Trading owner Siegfried Rotthäuser ordered 40,000 of them in November from China. He intended to skirt regulations by selling the 75- and 100-watt strength bulbs as a source of heat for what his website calls a “resistance art project.”

However, they can't sell those ones, as they are still subject to the court decision against them (as described before).
They are nevertheless selling some lower wattage bulbs - 60W clear type for 1.69 euro each including a 30 cent rain forest charity donation, plus postage charges.
[Not sure even that is entirely legal, as regular 60W bulbs are banned from 1 Sep 2011 (EU technical specs, scroll to end), and they do not appear to be a possibly exempted "rough service" types which may last longer, but are dimmer.]

They recently answered a customer enquiry this way:

"You can (at this time) order 60W crystal only, other types are banned by the local government. The expected life time was 2000h, but realistic is about 1500h."

As for the legal situation,
the EU Commission have further clarified their opinion on the matter.
Their basic position was made clear a year ago.
It's all in German and image-copied, so no online translation.
However it is the usual "Hey we all save the energy of Romania" carry on (the Romanians must be very happy by now!) so not really worth wasting time on anyway...

That said, as also reflected in the original court decision, one point related to the necessary labelling of the bulbs as being "unsuitable for lighting".
There is a kind of trap the EU is falling into, as they themselves have pronounced the lamps as unsuitable for lighting.
So the Heatball people sought clarification on this, and the EU Commission in a November 2011 letter (in German) says they are right, that the labelling would legalize the bulbs under EU legislation 244/2009 Article 3 paragraph 2.
As always there is a proviso, in that the Commission suspects that in their legal quest the Heatball people will still have to show that the bulbs will not likely be "misused" as lighting, and that the Heatball company's own (current) promotion language in selling the bulbs would likely be taken into account in that regard.

The Heatball "user info" is taking the above into regard, and again emphasizing the overall environmental benefit of the lamp. The latter is also taken as shown by referring to Dr Peter Kosack's Kaiserslautern University research (in German) comparing infra-red with conventional room heating, and the relative advantages of the former....from the research findings:

It was shown in the present study, that infrared radiation heating is a viable alternative to conventional heating systems.
With proper use of infrared radiation heating, there are advantages in energy consumption as well as in lowered CO2 emission and overall cost.

[as seen from other incandescent related heating studies, the CO2 reduction is particularly noteworthy when the electricity source is low in C02 emissions, eg nuclear, hydroelectric, wind, solar, and in turn displaces oil/gas/coal/turf/ home heating]

So, 28 January 2012, in the latest Heatball newsletter...

"The Higher Administrative Court in Münster will hopefully express an opinion in the near future, paving the way for the pending trial before the administrative court in Aachen."

A new cooperative:
They have also started cooperative for those who want to get lamps not meeting EU standards.
This is also "in the field of education on the topic of light and heat" and aims to get "more weight in the political debate" .



A continuing art-environmental protest:
So, rather than being a commercial activity, the founders, engineers Siegfried Rotthäuser and Rudolf Hannot continue to emphasize that in their view it is a sort of art-environmental protest against pointless EU laws. As they said last week:

"Heatball is a kind of art. It a satiric project against undue laws.
The project shows how to do something for the rainforest quite easily."

An early Reuters article by Michelle Martin, October 2010,
also points this out...

German "heatball" wheeze outwits EU light bulb ban
(Reuters) - A German entrepreneur is bypassing a European Union ban on light bulbs of more than 60 watts by marketing his own brand as mini heaters.

Siegfried Rotthaeuser and his brother-in-law have come up with a legal way of importing and distributing 75 and 100 watt light bulbs -- by producing them in China, importing them as "small heating devices" and selling them as "heatballs."

To improve energy efficiency, the EU has banned the sale of bulbs of over 60 watts -- to the annoyance of the mechanical engineer from the western city of Essen.

Rotthaeuser studied EU legislation and realized that because the inefficient old bulbs produce more warmth than light -- he calculated heat makes up 95 percent of their output, and light just 5 percent -- they could be sold legally as heaters.

On their website (heatball.de/), the two engineers describe the heatballs as "action art" and as "resistance against legislation which is implemented without recourse to democratic and parliamentary processes."

Costing 1.69 euros each ($2.38), the heatballs are going down well -- the first batch of 4,000 sold out in three days.

Rotthaeuser has pledged to donate 30 cents of every heatball sold to saving the rainforest, which the 49-year-old sees as a better way of protecting the environment than investing in energy-saving lamps, which contain toxic mercury.

A German 2010 article has further background information.



They were also part of the Austrian film Bulb Fiction, highlighting some of the faulty arguments and industrial politics behind the EU ban (I have been meaning to do a separate post about the film).

Here are "all the lads" behind the two ventures...

Rudolf Hannot (Heatball), Christoph Mayr (Bulb Fiction), Siegfried Rotthäuser (Heatball),
and Moritz Gieselmann (Bulb Fiction)

More photos in this Austrian Film photographic archive, and video clip links etc.



# # #
Past blog posts about Heat balls are copied below for convenience
[Some of the above 2011 information was not made available earlier]
# # #

Update December 14 2011

As the USA ban is coming up, and continuing with a comparative look at how Europeans have thought up ways around the regulations, the attempt to sell 90% heat emitting products as "heat balls" was interesting and imaginative.

Needless to say, the legal heads were not amused...

They have for the last months been considering an appeal in a higher court and how to go about it.
Meanwhile, in September they tried to have the Heatballs sold in Switzerland (outside the EU) but in October this got a definite no from the Energy ministry official responsible for Energy Efficiency legislation.


# # # # # # # #
Update July 27 2011:

As expected, the decision yesterday (26th July) was that the "heat balls" can not be allowed, in also being a source of light as banned by specifications throughout the European Union
(the name "heat balls", also using English in Germany, was presumably to take away from the light "bulb" idea). More here.

The case was not altogether clear however: So-called "rough service lamps" as used in mines and other such locations are also incandescent lighting as banned in the EU specifications, and there are other exemptions as for small refrigerator lamps and the like.

The issue therefore turns around lighting used as GLS (general service lighting) in ordinary ceiling fittings etc.
So the prospect of, in practice, identical general service lighting being continued was obviously too much:
There might have been (= might be) more chance of success if the light bulbs had a specific screw-in fitting for a lamp with say a reflector in it to "beam the heat".
Of course, enterprising (and determined) people would then put such fittings also in other lamps, but that is another matter...


# # # # # # # #
June 28 original post

Siegfried Rotthäuser and friends in Germany have imaginatively tried to get round the European ban on regular simple incandescent bulbs by marketing them as "Heat Balls" (more).
This is a sop to the frequent ban defence relating to the fact that incandescent light bulbs give out over 90% of their electrical energy they use as heat (nevertheless being much easier to manufacture, when great brightness is required, compared to CFLs or, even more so, compared to LEDs).

The case has gone to the courts for decision, expected 26 July 2011, see announcement (pdf, in German)


Comment
Interesting legal argumentation might be expected in court...
a heat ball or rather "heat bulb" market idea to be followed in the USA and elsewhere?

As for light bulb heat "waste", it is often conveniently forgotten that CFLs and LEDs also convert most of their energy use to heat, although the heat is internalized more - in the case of CFLs leading to a recognized fire risk.
More on incandescent light bulb heat, and it's possible benefit here (http://ceolas.net/#li6x)


// end June 28 post
Regular update posts in this blog, search on "heat balls" //


Footnote:
"To shed more heat than light", for those who do not know, is an English expression meaning to stir up emotions (heat), cause controversy and confusion that makes an issue less clear...
"EU Commission": More politically correct "the European Commission", but I do not subscribe to their nomenclature (or much else that has to do with the EU, for that matter)
 

Update on EU "Heatballs" avoiding Incandescent Ban

 
// Regular update posts in this blog, search on "heat balls".
At time of this edit, last update February 2012 //

Coming up to the USA ban,
and continuing with a comparative look at how Europeans have thought up ways around the regulations, the attempt to sell 90% heat emitting products as "heat balls" was interesting and imaginative.

Needless to say, the legal heads were not amused...


 
Update December 14 2011:
They have for the last months been considering an appeal in a higher court and how to go about it.
Meanwhile, in September they tried to have the Heatballs sold in Switzerland (outside the EU) but in October this got a definite no from the Energy ministry official responsible for Energy Efficiency legislation.



Update July 27 2011:
As expected, the decision yesterday (26th July) was that the "heat balls" can not be allowed, in also being a source of light as banned by specifications throughout the European Union
(the name "heat balls", also using English in Germany, was presumably to take away from the light "bulb" idea). More here.

The case was not altogether clear however: So-called "rough service lamps" as used in mines and other such locations are also incandescent lighting as banned in the EU specifications, and there are other exemptions as for small refrigerator lamps and the like.

The issue therefore turns around lighting used as GLS (general service lighting) in ordinary ceiling fittings etc.
So the prospect of, in practice, identical general service lighting being continued was obviously too much:
There might have been (= might be) more chance of success if the light bulbs had a specific screw-in fitting for a lamp with say a reflector in it to "beam the heat".
Of course, enterprising (and determined) people would then put such fittings also in other lamps, but that is another matter...

# # # # # # # #

June 28 original post

Siegfried Rotthäuser and friends in Germany have imaginatively tried to get round the European ban on regular simple incandescent bulbs by marketing them as "Heat Balls" (more).
This is a sop to the frequent ban defence relating to the fact that incandescent light bulbs give out over 90% of their electrical energy they use as heat (nevertheless being much easier to manufacture, when great brightness is required, compared to CFLs or, even more so, compared to LEDs).

The case has gone to the courts for decision, expected 26 July 2011, see announcement (pdf, in German)


Comment
Interesting legal argumentation might be expected in court...
a heat ball or rather "heat bulb" market idea to be followed in the USA and elsewhere?

As for light bulb heat "waste", it is often conveniently forgotten that CFLs and LEDs also convert most of their energy use to heat, although the heat is internalized more - in the case of CFLs leading to a recognized fire risk.
More on incandescent light bulb heat, and it's possible benefit here (http://ceolas.net/#li6x)

Update on "Heat Balls"

 
// Regular update posts in this blog, search on "heat balls".
At time of this edit, last update February 2012 //

Update for December 2011:
They have for the last months been considering an appeal in a higher court and how to go about it.
Meanwhile, in September they tried to have the Heatballs sold in Switzerland (outside the EU) but in October this got a definite no from the Energy ministry official responsible for Energy Efficiency legislation.


Update 27 July:
As expected, the decision yesterday (26th July) was that the "heat balls" can not be allowed, in also being a source of light as banned by specifications throughout the European Union (the name "heat balls", also using English in Germany, was presumably to take away from the light "bulb" idea).
More here.

The case was not altogether clear however: So-called "rough service lamps" as used in mines and other such locations are also incandescent lighting albeit not originally meant for ordinary consumers, and there are other exemptions as for small refrigerator lamps and the like.

The issue therefore turns around lighting used as GLS (general service lighting) in ordinary ceiling fittings etc.
The prospect of, in practice, identical general service lighting being continued was obviously too much: there might have been (= might be) more chance of success if the light bulbs had a specific screw-in fitting for a lamp with say a reflector in it to "beam the heat".
Of course, enterprising (and determined) people would then put such fittings also in other lamps, but that is another matter...

# # # # # # # #

June 28 original post

Siegfried Rotthäuser and friends in Germany have imaginatively tried to get round the European ban on regular simple incandescent bulbs by marketing them as "Heat Balls" (more).
This is a sop to the frequent ban defence relating to the fact that incandescent light bulbs give out over 90% of their electrical energy they use as heat (nevertheless being much easier to manufacture, when great brightness is required, compared to CFLs or, even more so, compared to LEDs).

The case has gone to the courts for decision, expected 26 July 2011, see announcement (pdf, in German)


Comment
Interesting legal argumentation might be expected in court...
a heat ball or rather "heat bulb" market idea to be followed in the USA and elsewhere?

As for light bulb heat "waste", it is often conveniently forgotten that CFLs and LEDs also convert most of their energy use to heat, although the heat is internalized more - in the case of CFLs leading to a recognized fire risk.
More on incandescent light bulb heat, and it's possible benefit here (http://ceolas.net/#li6x)