The eco-wackos have succeeded in banning the standard incandescent light bulb, leaving us with those ugly, mercury-filled, twisty bulbs. But two German entrepreneurs have figured a way to turn liberal stupidity on itself and get around the ban at the same time.
Do not make the mistake of thinking this is a light bulb
Just as acts of terrorism have been renamed “made-made disasters” by the Obama administration, these guys had one of those Eureka! moments when they realized they could get around the light bulb ban simply by renaming them “Heat Balls.”
Ahhh, the genius of German design:
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” … On their website, the two engineers describe the heatballs as “action art” and as “resistance against legislation which is implemented without recourse to democratic and parliamentary processes.”
The company’s sold out its first 4,000 Heat Balls in just 72 hours.
It looks like heatballs are a hot commodity.
H/T: Tim Blair
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
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Wait for it, Siegfried Rotthaeuser and his brother-in-law in prison for environmental crimes against nature.
Rated Awesome! What do you think?
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Brilliant! We should see this crafty ruse in a good light. (pardon the pun) Loopholes are there to be exploited.
Rated Awesome! What do you think?
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What the eff? Why would they ban 100 watt bulbs? Even the twisty ones come in different wattage here…
Man the European Union needs to stay the hell away from the USA, is all I’m saying.
Oh and good for these guys
They sound almost american in their thinking, heh.
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Not just the EU, Warren. They are, for all intents and purposes, banned here in the states as well. As I understand it, GE’s last manufacturing line of incandescent bulbs is in the process of being sent to China
I hate flourescent with a passion, so I tend to use LEDs. However, they are still far too dim for most applications. Fortunately, I still have a small stockpile of the real thing
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Maybe GE isn’t manufacturing them anymore, but someone sure is. I can go on the internet and “shop” for 100 watt bulbs.
I don’t know about buying them at Wal-Mart, but I’ll have to go check now.
I still don’t understand *why* they are outlawed.
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According to the “Anointed One” they are inefficient and thus not “green” enough.
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I guess next they will be trying to make us not use salt in our food eh?
…Oh wait a minute…
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I would call them light-up resistors. Just in case you need a linear current consumption vs. input voltage in your factory.
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We’re entering dark times because of environmentalism, pun intended.
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That is BRILLIANT of them! (no I won’t switch the subject, nor will I say socket to me., I wonder if we could use the same bright thinking, and rename the revolting dimwits Obomie and MOOCHelle “Trash” and leave them out by the curb for Tuesday pickup?
Vote often! Democrats do!
Controversial. What do you think?
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Trash is too good a name for them. Banish them back to Kenya and let them operate a landscape and gardening service. They can call it “spade and hoe”, all they have done to America is chop and dig anyhow.
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Touche!!
Vote Often! Democrats do!
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That is a more accurate description of an incandescent anyway.
The old saying is that if aliens were studying our technology trying to understand it, they would question light bulbs saying “Why are your heaters so inefficient? 10% of the energy is wasted as light.”
Controversial. What do you think?
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Who gives a crap what space aliens, illegal aliens, or eco-moonbats say about “our technology.” Millions of consumers should be making the decision, not the EPA or our elitist politicians in Washington. Put the different light bulbs on the market in a fair and open market competition. If you want the mercury-filled curly-que short lifespan fluorescent, then buy it and use it. If you prefer an incandescent “heater that emits light” because it is non-toxic, lasts longer and emits a better quality of light, then we should be able to buy it. I know which would win out in the marketplace. Fascists and statists do too. Which is why they are killing the incandescent in the name of the hoax known as global warming.
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Umm, it’s a joke…
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What pisses me off about this light bulb ban is that George W. Bush signed the damned thing into law.
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Wait…you can’t say something against the great and mighty Bush! If you do that, then liberals will have nothing to use as fodder in arguments!
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GWB was a liberal in disguise….. Haven’t you figured it out… he was a plant to ensure that his highness Nobama gets elected…
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My greatest concern is what type of sockets are in standard fixtures in Germany?
If like those in the USA then most are rated for 60 watt bulbs and there could be a serious offense to delivering a potentially hazardous heating appliance to consumers and well know that they will be used in standard sockets. Otherwise, I like it!!
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Europe has 220/230V household electrical systems, as opposed to 110/120 for the US. Their bulb sockets are very different. A good comparison of the difference can be found here:
http://www.1000bulbs.com/category/60-watt-standard-shape-light-bulbs
Scroll down about a third of the way and you can see the EU version. Also note there are still plenty of incandescents still available, but they will get harder to find as time marches on.
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Brilliant!
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Hey Cisco, most upright lamp sockets (the metal/w cardboard inserts) are rated 250w@250volts. At least the one I am looking at right now and using a 50-200-250w bulb in is.
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