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."

Germans Dim View of Light Bulb Inspections

Updated August 24


Interesting news article from The Local, Germany:





German language stories with the above and more, also via their links:
Germany: Der Tagesspiegel, Die Welt
Austria: ORF, Futurezone




Comment

As mentioned before, resistance to the ban is particularly strong in Germany and Austria,
both having sales figures demonstrating active hoarding, and both with various actions against the ban, (search function may be used for these posts): The Austrian film Bulb Fiction, the German Light Bulb Conspiracy documentary, several German TV documentaries (ZDF, 3Sat), the Heatball satirical campaign, as well as the Canned Bulb and Bulb Memorial campaigns to be covered in blog posts soon - apart from active involvement by mainstream politicians and by "heavyweight" printed media like Der Spiegel, of which more can also be seen on Ceolas.net,
for example in the story behind the EU ban.

Several petitions have also been launched, for example as via
Avaaz.org   Gopetition.com   Openpetition.de

The UK, by comparison, has no real involvement by mainstream politicians (a few calling for recognition for light-sensitive citizens while still "welcoming regulations") or by non-tabloid media. A few petitions have been launched though, and sales figures in previous years showed some hoarding going on.

One might note a North-South Europe divide in what protest there is.
Reasons for this may be covered in a subsequent blog post (also see http://ceolas.net/#li11x "Bans in Canada, and similar countries and states").

There is an irony about the EU Commission's supervisory fervor towards others:
As Halogenica has thoroughly documented, the EU promoted CFL/LED replacement products have to meet certain criteria laid down by the Commission itself... which they don't!



Turning to the above article,
it's obviously another angle of the pedantic nature of the ban that to have the "desired effect"
consumers must be stopped by any means possible from buying what they want.

The "rough service" bulb issue also arises in the USA and elsewhere.
The irony is that apparently they cant ban those bulbs entirely because you cant hang up a LED or CFL in dark big work areas, those bulbs just arent bright enough.
Also the “rough service” situation means that if the bulbs (unavoidably) get broken a couple of times, its no big deal with incandescents, unlike with expensive CFLs and LEDs, the former of course also with mercury vapor issues on breakage. Halogen bulbs meanwhile contain toxic Bromine or Iodine, not considered relevant ordinarily, but possibly so in confined spaces like small mine chambers.


Consider what would happen if the German authorities (and others) were successful
in keeping ordinary folk from buying any incandescents that remain legal for industrial use...

"Coalminer Joe" would just buy them for his friends and so on, passing or selling them on.
“Psssst mate wanna buy a light bulb?!”
Bulb pushers will have to go to jail and sit beside drug pushers!

The American Free Our Light campaign highlights this in an amusing video on their homepage.





Not forgetting the imagery evoked by seeking to control what people can use,
as seen earlier on this blog (exaggeration..what exaggeration? ;-) )

image  Otitis
"Incandescent Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Arc Lamp"
The sequel? Why, the Temple of Gloom, of course....

image  AdminGirl
"The Charge of the Light Brigade"

image  David Dees
"Getting a Light Sentence?"

"The Heat is On"


The last one coming from the mentioned Birnen Denkmal (Light Bulb Memorial) happening,
to be returned to shortly.
 

From the Coalition of Hippy Hoarders Against the Ban

 
In the EU, the Final Solution is approaching on September 1 2012 when all remaining incandescents for general service are to be banned by the Brussels Bureaucrats.
Relevant regulation details http://ceolas.net/#li01inx
Alternatively scroll to the bottom of the EU technical document (pdf)

So, unsurprisingly, there are stories of hoarding appearing in the media, as has been the case at this time of the year for the past couple of years.

"Europeans Hoarding Light Bulbs Like It's the End of the World"
the German Die Welt newspaper said yesterday..... and so on.


Putting a little light relief to the theme, and solving the question of what to do when travelling around...
As suggested by the Coalition of Hippy Hoarders Against the Ban:

source  espaniainmortal
"Rings on his Fingers and Bells on his Toes,
He shall have Good Light wherever he Goes"



[Freely from the children's nursery rhyme
Ride a Cock Horse to Banbury Cross...
Perhaps more apropos the original
"Rings on his Fingers and Bulbs on his Back,
He shall have Good Light for any Old Shack"]

Back now to doing something more useful?..;-)
 

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 ;-)

Lightbulb Conspiracy Documentary by Cosima Dannoritzer

Updates May 30, July 23, Aug 27, 2012 and Oct 9 2013

As a company summary puts it, "Pyramids of Waste (2010) also known as 'The lightbulb conspiracy' is a documentary about how our economic system based on consumerism and planned obsolescence is breaking our planet down."

While this documentary was aired on European TV channels a year or so ago as an ARTE production, it has also started doing the film festival circuit, and so in recent weeks has gained renewed attention, or indeed new attention, as in North America...

Trailer

The documentary itself, standard 53 min version with English narration

English narration with options of different subtitles: here (alternative link)

Longer version (1 hour 15 min) in German

At 15 minutes interesting additional info about General Electric USA: Reduction also of flashlight lamp life.... "to not last longer than the batteries used"...

Long version (1 hr 15 min) in French

At 15 minutes interesting additional info about General Electric USA: Reduction also of flashlight lamp life.... "to not last longer than the batteries used"...

Long 1 hr 17 min version now also in Spanish, originally shown April and October 2012 on main Spanish public TV channel: Link to RTVE video

Spanish version also on Vimeo:

Synopsis written by the film's director Cosima Dannoritzer

Once upon a time..... products were made to last. Then, at the beginning of the 1920s, a group of businessmen were struck by the following insight: 'A product that refuses to wear out is a tragedy of business' (1928). Thus Planned Obsolescence was born.

Shortly after, the first worldwide cartel was set up expressly to reduce the life span of the incandescent light bulb, a symbol for innovation and bright new ideas, and the first official victim of Planned Obsolescence. During the 1950s, with the birth of the consumer society, the concept took on a whole new meaning, as explained by flamboyant designer Brooks Stevens: 'Planned Obsolescence, the desire to own something a little newer, a little better, a little sooner than is necessary...'. The growth society flourished, everybody had everything, the waste was piling up (preferably far away in illegal dumps in the Third World) - until consumers started rebelling...

The current throwaway climate - where the latest technology is outdated after a year and electronics are cheaper to replace than to repair – is the basis for economic growth. But infinite consumption is unsustainable with finite resources: With the economy crumbling and consumers becoming increasingly resistant to the practice, has planned obsolescence reached the end of its own life? Combining investigative research and rare archive footage with analysis by those working on ways to save both the economy and the environment, this documentary charts the creation of ‘engineering to fail’, its rise to prominence and its recent fall from grace.

DOXA Festival (more below) review biography:

Cosima Dannoritzer is a filmmaker specializing in history and ecology who has worked for broadcasters in the UK, Germany and Spain.

Her previous films include: Re-Building Berlin (Channel 4, U.K., 1992, Journalism Prize of the Anglo-German Society 1993), Germany Inside Out (BBC, U.K. / YLE, Finland, 2001), If Rubbish Could Speak (TVE, Spain, 2003, awards from 'Ekotopfilm' and The'Green Vision Film Festival') Electronic Amnesia (TVE, Spain, 2006)

Interview with Cosima Dannoritzer about the documentary, in Spanish

Another online TV discussion about the documentary and planned obsolescence can be seen here, Arte TV, choice of French or German. (thank you to Peter at Gluehbirne.ist.org for this)

May 3 article by Matthew Hoekstra in the Richmond Review

Planned obsolescence subject of Light Bulb Conspiracy documentary

A documentary partly inspired by a Richmond author's book screens in Vancouver next week as part of the DOXA Documentary Film Festival.

The Light Bulb Conspiracy, written and directed by Cosima Dannoritzer of Spain, will make its Canadian premiere at the festival. Dannoritzer's 75-minute documentary explores why consumer products don't last, and the concept of planned obsolescence—the deliberate shortening of a product lifespan to boost consumer demand.

Richmond author Giles Slade served as one of the filmmaker's first points of reference. Slade wrote a book on the topic in 2006: Made To Break: Technology and Obsolescence in America.

In an e-mail, Dannoritzer said her idea of making the film dates to her childhood. She remembers her mother, in the 1970s, trying in vain to get spare parts for a broken appliance. "That's when I heard the word 'planned obsolescence' for the first time. Then, a few years ago, I filmed a huge stack of discarded computers in a recycling plant and started wondering how broken they really were, and read all these crazy conspiracy theories about eternal light bulbs and everlasting cars on the Internet."

In 2007, she began probing deeper and interviewed Slade in New York for a few scenes in the documentary. "Book and film have several things in common, but readers of the book can get new stories from the book which are not in the film, and get new stories from the film which are not in the book," said Dannoritzer. The 2010 film centres on a plan among light bulb manufacturers to create short-lasting products in order to increase profits. The film also uncovers the story of an American fire station with an old-fashioned light bulb that's been working for decades and the quest of one man to fix a printer that others suggest he throws out.

An earlier March 2011 review from Apfelkraut.org

The untold story of planned obsolescence

Did you know that the lifetime of light bulbs once used to last for more than 2500 hours and was reduced – on purpose – to just 1000 hours?

Did you know that nylon stockings once used to be that stable that you could even use them as tow rope for cars and its quality was reduced just to make sure that you will soon need a new one?

Did you know that you might have a tiny little chip inside your printer that was just placed there so that your device will “break” after a predefined number of printed pages thereby assuring that you buy a new one?

Did you know that Apple originally did not intend to offer any battery exchange service for their iPods/iPhones/iPads just to enable you to continuously contribute to the growth of this corporation?

This strategy was maybe first thought through already in the 19th century and later on for example motivated by Bernhard London in 1932 in his paper “Ending the Depression Through Planned Obsolescence”. The intentional design and manufacturing of products with a limited lifespan to assure repeated purchases is denoted as “planned/programmed obsolescence” and we are all or at least most of us upright and thoroughly participating in this doubtful endeavor.

Or did you not recently think about buying a new mobile phone / computer / car / clothes / … because your old one unexpectedly died or just because of this very cool new feature that you oh so badly need?

A really well done documentary that provides a comprehensive overview about and a detailed insight into this topic recently aired on Arte and other European television networks. It is entitled “The Light Bulb Conspiracy – The untold story of planned obsolescence” (aka “Pyramids of Waste”, DE: “Kaufen für die Müllhalde”, FR: “Prêt à jeter”, ES: “Comprar, tirar, comprar”) and is a French/Spanish production directed by Cosima Dannoritzer.

Recordings of the movie have been uploaded to various video portals, for example currently available on YouTube in EN/International with Norwegian subtitles, DE, FR and ES. Just the official TV and Internet broadcasts were viewed by over 2,500,000 people. If you like to follow up on some of the documentary’s content, here are the links: The light bulb at the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department can be watched here via web cam. Wikipedia has some more information on the Phoebus cartel in English and German. The referenced clip about the tremendous waste of ink by inkjet printers can be found at Atomic Shrimp: “The Dirty Little Secret Of Inkjet Printers”. The software to reset the page counter of various Epson printers can be found here: SSC Service Utility for Epson Stylus Printers. The people that made “iPod’s Dirty Secret” are the Neistat Brothers. The tough guy from Ghana that collects evidences at the dumping grounds to identify the orignators of electric waste is Mike Anane and he also contributed to the report “Poisoning the poor – Electronic waste in Ghana” issued by Greenpeace.

That planned obsolescence may be needed or even is substantial to appease the ever-growing hunger to achieve continuous and distinct economic growth that is natural to nations with advanced economies aka developed (?) countries is one part. The past and present is comprised of numerous advocates and supporters with well-engineered argumentations in favor of this business strategy. But even the ultimate argument gets immediately and indisputably absurd and unreasonable when it comes to the thereby produced waste – the other part of planned obsolescence.

“The Light Bulb Conspiracy” quite clearly showed where this leads to and especially where all the resulting waste is dumped. Let’s keep that in mind while impatiently waiting for the release of the next generation of the iPhone …

Those on Facebook can catch up on news about the documentary and related events, in English, German and Spanish:

The Light Bulb Conspiracy

Kaufen für die Müllhalde

Comprar, Tirar, Comprar

Comment

Updated May 30, May 31 (I may expand on this comment over the next few days)

This is one of the planned posts here, in the ongoing "series" about Light bulb lifespan, as introduced the other day with the "Leading a Double Life" post, which also deals with some of the principles involved.

The documentary is well made and researched with interesting information and interviews. It opens the door to all kinds of "sustainability" support, and reviews typically link to sites like "The Venus Project" "Zeitgeist movement" etc.

The documentary also points out how long-lasting Communist bulbs were kept from Western markets, but also how times are changing, so that now Warner Philips, grandson of the Philips founder, is turning to making LED bulbs "that last 25 years".

The 2 main issues are therefore

# how one might make sure that longer lasting light bulbs and other products are made

# whether one should only make durable sustainable products "to stop consumerist waste"

To begin with, while the Phoebus cartel was certainly detrimental to consumers (http://ceolas.net/#phoebuspol), the point is not "how bad capitalism is" - it is how bad any lack of competition is.

Quality as well as lifespan arises from market competition.

One of the common misconceptions is that "Capitalism is about Free Markets". But both Capitalists and Socialists dislike Free Markets! Certainly the Competition that is, and should be, at the heart of Free Markets. That is why, yes, state intervention is good: To initially help new inventions to market - but not to continually support them. That means that long lasting as well as short lasting products would be available.

As covered in the previous post, short lasting products - have advantages too: Not everyone will live in one place, or use products a lot. Moreover - with say computers or cars - people want new products for their new features, new innovations and possibilities. With light bulbs there are, as said, even specific advantages to shorter lasting bulbs, in that they tend to be brighter.

Obviously though, whatever the product, the more parts that can be recycled, the better, alternatively, that some products are refurbished and kept going for poorer local or third world consumers.

To ensure lack of dumping is therefore the point - not just to make longer lasting products!

Quality long lasting products - appropriately guaranteed (warrantied) - will always be more expensive, as otherwise the maker makes no profit. Competition keeps the price, and profits, down, and of course also forces manufacturers into market research to satisfy consumer desires, with lifespan as other with other characteristics. Regarding often-replaced products, notice how long lasting batteries and washing up liquids are marketed and sold. People are not stupid: Relevant long-lasting products will always be bought.

As mentioned, the documentary brings in the grandson of the Philips founder, Warner Philips, and how he with his company Lemnis Lighting is making "more environmentally friendly 25 year lasting LED bulbs". Of course these much more profitable complex expensive patented bulbs, is what the Phoebus cartel companies Philips, GE, Osram etc are making too, having lobbied for and achieved a ban on simple incandescent bulbs, as covered and documented on Ceolas.net.

One should not be lost on the sustainability irony, in terms of what used to be very simple locally made bulbs that you can make in your garage (and some pretty literally do: check out carbon filament light bulb maker Bob Kyp in Florida), incandescent bulbs which also can be made long lasting as the documentary says, now being banned. Such long lasting bulbs (up to 20 000 hours lifespan at relatively low cost) which before were kept for mining and other industry, now reaching ordinary consumer markets in post-ban Europe, to the annoyance of the EU Commission, as covered in other posts! (How terrible if people can buy what light bulbs they want). Instead, the desired development by politicians and major companies crying about their new-found "environmental values", is for complex, less known, less safety proven and rare earth mineral exhausting CFL or LED bulbs to be shipped around the world on bunker oil fuelled ships and have unlikely-followed recycling mandates put on them.... and, even more ironically, to marginal if any overall energy savings as referenced.

As for the lifespan values that underlie the documentary, it is again hardly surprising that advertised "Long lasting CFLs and LEDs" are not that long lasting at all, from ever more reviews and criticism arising: Not just because of the dubious lab specifications used (unrelated to real life use, see Ceolas.net site regarding CFL and LED specifications used) - but also out of necessity of manufacturers to make a profit, and a lack of competition from banned cheap lighting alternatives leaves the way open for a double whammy of expensive and shorter-lasting-than-supposed replacement products.

Thank you, politicians and bureaucrats.

How Regulations are Wrongly Justified

14 points, referenced:

Includes why the overall society savings aren't there, and even if they were, why alternative policies are better, including alternative policies that target light bulbs.

Ausgebrannt - Vom Ende der Glühbirne Burned Out - The End of the Incandescent

 
German critical TV documentary about the light bulb ban
45 minutes to be broadcast on Thursday 19 April
(in German - but the visuals make much of the criticism of the ban clear enough, including of the replacement lighting like the main ones offered and pushed, the fluorescent bulbs or CFLs)

Link to video here
or click on image





German and Austrian criticism has been dominant in the otherwise acquiescent European Union,
as also covered in
The Politics behind Banning Light Bulbs and the EU Light Bulb Ban Story on the Ceolas.net site.


Thank you to Rudolf Hannot and Siegfried Rotthäuser of Heatball (heatball.de) for the information:
The Heatball concept has been covered several times on this blog, the last and most comprehensive post at time of writing being here.
 

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)
 

Who Says Germans don't have a sense of Humor?

 
In a continued "save for posterity" effort of the German blog Otitis Media di Monaco
(see earlier post),
a look at his stamp collection in a GDR or for that matter EUSSR or a Soviet EUnion mode, bearing in mind the way the EU Commissariat sets all kinds of useless, unnecessary rules for European citizens, and noting in passing that the Commissioner behind the EU ban (dubbed "EU's Mr Lightbulb" by the Daily Mail), Andris Piebalgs was himself a former East European Communist director of a Government Department.



Original blog post...


GDR CFL stamp series

Contrary to popular belief, the state-planned socialist economy of communist Eastern Germany is not dead; instead, the EU in Brussels is issuing electric policies and spreading propaganda lies that are strangely reminiscent of the days of Nicolaie Ceausescu and Enver Hodscha [Hoxha].


No wonder that the old East German stamps just got an upgrade!

Beautiful european mercury poison mushroom of the novel compact fluorescent kind.
Experts may recognize the bulb design, it’s “made in Eastern Germany”.

Here, ever optimistic East German youths are shown celebrating 55 years of Socialist East Germany just a few years ago – and the proud new sign of centralist European planning and energy micromanagement bureaucracy: the compact fluorescent bulb!

Last, but not least, catch a glimpse of the beauty of Communist single party rule that inspired the well known con(servation) artist Andris Piebalgs, better known as the EU’s Energy Commissioner, to paint such a heroic eurocratic light bulb change brigadier…

 

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)