[Dialogue] Now We Can Shop at Wal-Mart
Jim Baumbach
wtw0bl at new.rr.com
Wed Jan 3 07:34:42 EST 2007
We've been converting all of our replaceable bulbs with fluorescents for
several years from the time of the tubes and unwieldy socket types to
today's more compact ones. I especially like the 200 watt-equivalent
types with a bright reflector shield for close up work. A month ago, I
found outdoor 100 watt-equivalent bulbs for our driveway lighting.
Although I applaud Wal-Mart's entry into this market, one of our
regional chains -- Menards -- has been offering excellent bulbs at a
very reasonable price for several years. A caveat about the new
fluorescent bulbs, they last either a couple months (fixture
overheating) or several years and will sometimes exhibit strange
behaviors such as a long warm up time in cold weather or periodic
flashing from dim to bright indoors. Stores are usually willing to
replace them if they fail within a couple months.
Jim Baumbach
Charles or Doris Hahn wrote:
> Thanks Cynthia!
> We're already committed. However there are a few
> fixtures that we have not found bulbs appropriate for.
> It's a simple step, but it's a big step.
> Charles
> --- FacilitationFla at aol.com wrote:
>
>
>>
>> The Energy Challenge
>> Power-Sipping Bulbs Get Backing From Wal-Mart
>> As a way to cut energy use, it could not be
>> simpler. Unscrew a light bulb
>> that uses a lot of electricity and replace it with
>> one that uses much less.
>> Skip to next paragraph
>> The Energy Challenge
>> While it sounds like a promising idea, it turns out
>> that the long-lasting,
>> swirl-shaped light bulbs known as compact
>> fluorescent lamps are to the nationâEUR^(TM)
>> s energy problem what vegetables are to its obesity
>> epidemic: a near perfect
>> answer, if only Americans could be persuaded to
>> swallow them.
>> But now _Wal-Mart Stores_
>>
>>
> (http://www.nytimes.com/mem/MWredirect.html?MW=http://custom.marketwatch.com/custom/nyt-com/html-companyprofile.asp&symb=WMT)
>
>> ,
>> the giant discount retailer, is determined to push
>> them into at least 100
>> million homes. And its ambitions extend even
>> further, spurred by a sweeping
>> commitment from its chief executive, H. Lee Scott
>> Jr., to reduce energy use
>> across the country, a move that could also improve
>> Wal-MartâEUR^(TM)s appeal to the more
>> affluent consumers the chain must win over to keep
>> growing in the United
>> States.
>> âEURoeThe environment,âEUR? Mr. Scott said, âEURoeis
>> begging for the Wal-Mart business
>> model.âEUR?
>> It is the environmental movementâEUR^(TM)s dream:
>> AmericaâEUR^(TM)s biggest company,
>> legendary for its salesmanship and influence with
>> suppliers, encouraging 200
>> million shoppers to save energy.
>> For all its power in retailing, though, Wal-Mart is
>> meeting plenty of
>> resistance âEUR" from light-bulb makers, competitors
>> and consumers. To help turn the
>> tide, it is even reaching out to unlikely partners
>> like _Google_
>>
>>
> (http://www.nytimes.com/mem/MWredirect.html?MW=http://custom.marketwatch.com/custom/nyt-com/h
>
>> tml-companyprofile.asp&symb=GOOG) , _Home Depot_
>>
>>
> (http://www.nytimes.com/mem/MWredirect.html?MW=http://custom.marketwatch.com/custom/nyt-com/html-companypr
>
>> ofile.asp&symb=HD) and Hollywood.
>> A compact fluorescent has clear advantages over the
>> widely used incandescent
>> light âEUR" it uses 75 percent less electricity,
>> lasts 10 times longer, produces
>> 450 pounds fewer greenhouse gases from power plants
>> and saves consumers $30
>> over the life of each bulb. But it is eight times
>> as expensive as a
>> traditional bulb, gives off a harsher light and has
>> a peculiar appearance.
>> As a result, the bulbs have languished on store
>> shelves for a quarter
>> century; only 6 percent of households use the bulbs
>> today.
>> Which is what makes Wal-MartâEUR^(TM)s goal so wildly
>> ambitious. If it succeeds in
>> selling 100 million compact fluorescent bulbs a
>> year by 2008, total sales of
>> the bulbs in the United States would increase by 50
>> percent, saving Americans
>> $3 billion in electricity costs and avoiding the
>> need to build additional
>> power plants for the equivalent of 450,000 new
>> homes.
>> That would send shockwaves âEUR" some intended, others
>> not âEUR" across the
>> lighting industry. Because compact fluorescent bulbs
>> last up to eight years, giant
>> manufacturers, like _General Electric_
>>
>>
> (http://www.nytimes.com/mem/MWredirect.html?MW=http://custom.marketwatch.com/custo
>
>> m/nyt-com/html-companyprofile.asp&symb=GE) and
>> Osram Sylvania, would sell far fewer lights.
>> Because the bulbs
>> are made in Asia, some American manufacturing jobs
>> could be lost. And because
>> the bulbs contain mercury, there is a risk of
>> pollution when millions of
>> consumers throw them away.
>> Michael B. Petras, vice president of lighting at
>> G.E., concedes that âEURoethe
>> economics are better with incandescent bulbs.âEUR?
>> All that has only spurred Wal-Mart to redouble its
>> efforts âEUR" and, in typical
>> fashion, it is asking those who may be hurt by the
>> change to help achieve
>> it.
>> During an extraordinary meeting in Las Vegas in
>> early October, competing
>> bulb makers, academics, environmentalists and
>> government officials met to
>> ponder, at times uncomfortably, how Wal-Mart could
>> sell more of the fluorescent
>> lights.
>> The proposals discussed at what Wal-Mart dubbed the
>> âEURoelight bulb summitâEUR?
>> ranged from the practical (advertise the bulbs on
>> the back of a Coke 12-pack) to
>> the quixotic (create a tax on incandescent bulbs to
>> make them more
>> expensive).
>> Selling 100 million bulbs âEURoeis not a slam dunk by
>> any stretch of the
>> imagination,âEUR? Stephen Goldmacher, an executive at
>> Royal Philips, the Dutch company
>> that is one of the worldâEUR^(TM)s largest light-bulb
>> makers, told the group. âEURoeIf this
>> were easy, it would have happened already.âEUR?
>> The attendees did not need to look far for
>> evidence. Wal-Mart had asked the
>> owners of the Mirage Hotel and Casino, where the
>> conference was held, to
>> commit to using the energy saving bulbs in its guest
>> rooms in time for the
>> meeting. The hotel politely declined.
>> It is not alone. Compact fluorescent bulbs,
>> introduced in the United States
>> with much fanfare in 1979 by Philips just as the
>> nationâEUR^(TM)s second energy
>> crisis of the decade was getting under way, have
>> never captured the public
>> imagination.
>> The new bulbs âEUR" lighted by sparking an efficient
>> chemical reaction, rather
>> than heating a metal filament âEUR" were ungainly,
>> took several seconds to light
>> up and often did not fit into traditional light
>> fixtures.
>> Since then, refinements have made them far more
>> convenient to use, reducing
>> their size and price as well. But Wal-Mart sold
>> only 40 million in 2005,
>> compared with about 350 million incandescent bulbs,
>> according to people briefed
>> on the figures.
>> And it would have stayed that way unless Wal-Mart
>> decided to go green. More
>> than a year ago, Mr. Scott, the companyâEUR^(TM)s chief
>> executive, began reaching out
>> to some of environmental groups, telling them that
>> Wal-Mart, long regarded
>> as an environmental offender, wanted to become a
>> leader on issues like fuel
>> efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions.
>> Mr. Scott viewed such a move as a way to use
>> Wal-MartâEUR^(TM)s influence to improve
>> the environment, cut costs and, of course, burnish
>> the companyâEUR^(TM)s bruised
>> image. In September 2005, Mr. Scott and Andy Ruben,
>> Wal-MartâEUR^(TM)s vice president
>> for strategy and sustainability, drove 6,000 feet
>> to the Mount Washington
>> Observatory in New Hampshire with Steve Hamburg, an
>> environmental studies
>> professor at _Brown University_
>>
>>
> (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/b/brown_university/index.html?inline=nyt-org)
>
>> , and Fred Krupp,
>> the president of the advocacy group Environmental
>> Defense.
>> At the summit, where scientists measure _climate
>> change_
>> (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/t
>>
>>
> opics/globalwarming/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier)
>
>> 24 hours a day, the men discussed global warming,
>> acid rain, the hole in
>> the ozone layer and what Wal-Mart could do about
>> them.
>> âEURoeYou need to look at what is being sold on the
>> shelf,âEUR? Mr. Hamburg recalled
>> telling Mr. Scott over a dinner of turkey and
>> mashed potatoes. He began
>> talking excitedly about compact fluorescent bulbs.
>> âEURoeVery few products,âEUR? he said,
>> âEURoeare such a clear winnerâEUR? for consumers and the
>> environment.
>> Soon after returning from the trip, Wal-Mart
>> publicly embraced the bulbs
>> with the zealotry of a convert. In meetings with
>> suppliers, buyers for the chain
>> laid out their plans: lower prices, expanding the
>> shelf space dedicated to
>> them and heavily promoting the technology.
>> Light-bulb manufacturers, who sell millions of
>> incandescent lights at
>> Wal-Mart, immediately expressed reservations. In a
>> December 2005 meeting with
>> executives from General Electric, Wal-MartâEUR^(TM)s
>> largest bulb supplier, âEURoethe message
>> from G.E. was, âEUR~DonâEUR^(TM)t go too fast. We have all
>> these plants that produce
>> traditional bulbs,âEUR^(TM) âEUR? said one person involved
>> with the issue, who spoke on
>> condition of anonymity because of an agreement not
>> to
>>
> === message truncated ===>
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