Okay, so our government is going to ban sales of incandescents in favour of CFLs.. being curious, I've tried to hunt down "What does that mean exactly"? So far this is what I have been able to piece together:
1. All news stories are rehashes of one media statement - most are just reprinting the same AP story which provides no detail.
2. This article had a little extra quote explaining this was a import-for-sales ban. You can still sell existing stock, and you can still import for your own personal use: http://news.theage.com.au/nz-govt-to-ban-oldstyle-light-bulbs-20080617-2rwb.html (yay for Australians who can do real reporting!)
3. This website http://www.electricitycommission.govt.nz covers a strategy document http://www.electricitycommission.govt.nz/pdfs/advisorygroups/pjtteam/LESG/Efficient-Lighting-Strategy.pdf. But none of this is specific. In fact from what I understand ALL forms of lighting must meet efficiency standards, and will be enforced from next year onwards. To me, that means if anyone creates an efficient incandescent, this will NOT be banned. And most likely an inefficient CFL could be banned...
Okay, so that still leaves many questions unanswered:
1. Will I still be able to buy a 250W+ heat lamp for the bathroom? Or is this banned? Especially considering the lamp is more for heating rather than lighting.
2. What about decorative lights? e.g coloured, etc
3. What about dimming switches or lamps? Dimming CFLs are quite expensive and not really suitable sometimes.
4. Outdoor security lights?
5. Torch lights?
6. Do I really need to put an expenisve light in rarely used cupboards and rooms?
7. And so what if 95% of an incandescent is heat - in the winter I may find that is enough to keep my well insulated house warm, and in the summer, I barely use the lights anyway...