Memorial Day

[chris_gerrib]

Memorial Day is not a big commemorative day at my house. I'm not sure why - I served in the Navy, my dad and uncle were in the Air Force, and grandpa was in the Navy in WWII - and a commander of the American Legion Post 51. But there's no big ceremony in Westville for Memorial Day, so my family tends to consider the day as a simple holiday.

So I spent yesterday golfing, then driving back north to Chicago. The Vue may not be getting the mileage I want in town (and my lead foot is probably to blame for that) but she got 32.7 MPG for a 278 mile run on highways and expressways.

Speaking of energy conservation, I've been a fan of compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) for some time. They save me dollars, and reduce our dependence on foreign energy sources. So, I've decided to record my savings by joining the One Billion Bulbs campaign. My personal stats are below. Maybe reducing the importance of the Middle East, and hastening the day we can leave, is a good thing to do on Memorial Day.

Comments

[jeff-duntemann.livejournal.com]

Ummmm...a ton of CO2 is saved by 13 bulbs in a year's time? That seems high to me. Do they explain how they do the math? Is it dust-to-dust analysis? Because if it isn't, the number is misleading.

You can certainly calculate the value of the electricity saved, but there's more to a product's overall environmental footprint than how much electricity it uses.

I'm ambivalent about swirlies. I put in six of the damned things here, and every last one of them was dead within six months. One went out in a little over a month. They were in two batches from two different stores, so I'm not willing to call it a "bad batch" and try again just yet. Something Weird Is Going On Here.

[chris-gerrib.livejournal.com]

I dinked around on the Billion Bulbs site and don't see exactly how they did the numbers. I think based on this (http://onebillionbulbs.com/learn) that they are extrapolating from pounds of CO2 per watt saved, which is a fairly rough measure. I've heard about the need for more resources to make issue, and the fact that the dead bulb has mercury, but if you're truly getting 10 for 1, the net-net should work out.

As far as reliability, I've actually seen exactly the opposite. I used to blow a lot of conventional bulbs, mostly from power surges on startup. I recently lost two CFLs - one that had been on nearly continously for 3 years and another el-cheapo (for a CFL - about $2 / bulb) that I had outside in an elderly fixture. I have seen a huge difference in performance by brand.