I'm listening to Pat Kenny talk to Eamon Ryan, Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. Kenny's making good points, but he's too gentle. This
light bulb decision is ridiculous. I just wish Kenny would state that if the consumers really save money with these 'low energy bulbs' there would be no need for the state to bludgeon us into using these bulbs. By all means, zero rate them for VAT, but do not ban incandescent bulbs.
Kenny's pointing out all sorts of practical problems with the CFL bulbs, but the Minister's not listening. In fact, I suspect he's incapable of understanding what Kenny's saying so he keeps repeating some mantra that he's memorized.
Kenny's noting that these 'low energy' bulbs:
- burn out much more quickly than advertised if you turn them on and off, as many people do now with incandescent bulbs - in fact, Kenny said that a CFL bulb will last only for 500 hours of normal use not 5000 as the manufacturers claim;
- can't be used with dimmers and that the new dimmers that you need to buy are terrible;
- that there are many light fixtures for which there is no 'low energy' replacement yet.
Really, Kenny handled him with kid gloves. He is clearly knowledgeable about these bulbs both through good research AND, importantly, he uses them almost exclusively in his own house. He should have gone for the jugular. It's just not Kenny's style.
