And user-friendly toilets, dishwashers, and showers are coming back soon, too!
Posted by Leslie Eastman
President Donald Trump has spent another day reversing Biden’s efforts to limit consumer choices over products that limit their options and hinder their quality of life.
In the name of efficiency, Biden’s bureaucrats banned incandescent light bulbs, normal-flowing toilets, and effective shower heads. Trump has just instructed his Environmental Protection Agency administrator to bring them all back.
Here is the USAID subsidiary Politico’s hot take on the subject.
“I am hereby instructing Secretary Lee Zeldin to immediately go back to my Environmental Orders, which were terminated by Crooked Joe Biden, on Water Standards and Flow pertaining to SINKS, SHOWERS, TOILETS, WASHING MACHINES, DISHWASHERS, etc., and to likewise go back to the common sense standards on LIGHTBULBS, that were put in place by the Trump Administration, but terminated by Crooked Joe,” Trump posted online Tuesday.
Zeldin is the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. The Energy Department — not EPA — is responsible for establishing efficiency standards for consumer products and appliances.
Still, the post echoes Trump’s long-time criticism of efficiency standards put in place for products, like shower heads and light bulbs.
LED bulbs have been a standard replacement for the incandescent bulbs. There is myriad of reasons to deride the blue light that LED bulbs emit.
Blue light suppresses melatonin production, disrupting circadian rhythms and making it harder to fall asleep. This is particularly problematic when exposed to blue light in the evening or at night.
From the American Academy of Ophthalmology:
Blue light does affect the body’s circadian rhythm, our natural wake and sleep cycle. During the day, blue light wakes us up and stimulates us. But too much blue light exposure late at night from your phone, tablet or computer can make it harder to get to sleep.”
Prolonged exposure to blue light can cause eye strain, resulting in tired, sore, and dry eyes. This can lead to blurred vision and headaches.
So, once again, Trump is right. And many Americans are thrilled with the news.
Holy cow! Am I really getting my incandescent light bulbs back? Yeehaw. 😊 https://t.co/gxdjYQz1U9
— Dana Marie (@danamarie111149) February 12, 2025
Low-flow toilets often struggle to flush away all waste due to the reduced water used per flush. This can lead to incomplete waste removal, requiring multiple flushes, defeating water conservation’s purpose.
Insufficient water flow can cause waste to accumulate in sewer lines, leading to backups and unpleasant odors. Cities like San Francisco experienced significant sewer system issues due to the widespread adoption of low-flow toilets.
The city of San Francisco is dealing with its lack of flow with $100 million in system upgrades, and a controversial $14 million plan to pour bleach into the sewer system to neutralize the odor and disinfect the water.
Trump, again, is proven correct.
Who’s happy that Trump just gave us back the freedom to actually use our sinks, showers, and toilets like normal people? 🚿🚽💡
No more trickle showers, no more weak toilet flushes, and finally—your washing machine doesn’t take two hours per load. 🤦🏼♀️pic.twitter.com/db1pt4DPDq
— Desiree (@DesireeAmerica4) February 11, 2025
Finally, “high efficiency” dishwashers are ironically named. These dishwashers use less water, which can result in dishes not being cleaned properly. High-quality dishwashers may run up to 2-3 hours per cycle to compensate for lower water usage. Lower operating temperatures in eco-friendly cycles can lead to dishes not drying completely, requiring the use of rinse aid to promote water runoff.
I’m a fucking retard if I’d waited another month I could have gotten a dishwasher that doesn’t take THREE HOURS to run
I think I’m going to return it. And get my TRUMP DISHWASHER https://t.co/bZVWY7Q6Hn pic.twitter.com/EcLWOII2zp
— Cristine Rice (@PstafarianPrice) January 21, 2025
So, again, score another one for Trump.
Personally, I am planning to load up on the incandescent bulbs as soon as they become available.
The bulbs you are complaining about are bright white bulbs with a color temperature of 5000K or higher. It is easy to find LED bulbs with a color temperature of 2700K which are usually labeled warm white. They produce little blue light and look yellowish. You can filter by color temperature while shopping at many online stores such as this one:
https://www.lowes.com/pl/light-bulbs/general-purpose-light-bulbs/2016985961
Personally, I think LED bulbs are as much better than incandescent bulbs as ice cream is better than hay. I absolutely detested spending hours every month changing burned out incandecent bulbs. Not only was it time consuming, but Bob Saget reminded us that it could be life threatening to climb up on chairs and tables to change bulbs. Since switching to LED bulbs, I rarely have to change them out.
I do however have a few fixtures that, due to their design, are not well suited to LED bulbs. They are enclosed, unventilated, and cook LED bulbs so that they do not last as long as incandescent bulbs in the same fixtures. I did buy several cartons of incandescents several years ago to use in those fixtures, I have discovered that I do not use them very often. One of these days I will sell a couple of them on ebay.
I’m glad to see incandescent bulbs back. I learned in IC manufacturing that tungsten’s only downside is electromigration, eventually burning out the thinner filament. The solution is to buy bulbs rated for 130v. The higher rated incandescent bulbs will last 10-15 years. I’ve been using them for 40+ years.
I hear you on the subject of dishwashers. But, like a lot of things, it is plus minus and can be fiddled with and managed.
The minus on newer dishwashers is the cycle time, the plus is that they are much quieter than the older models. The old ones could drown out conversation at the dinner table. It’s a trade off, one that I am willing to make.
As for the quality of the wash. It can be mitigated in a couple of ways. First, scrape and hot water rinse the dishes before putting them in the machine. It undoubtedly destroys any energy or water savings promised by the specification, but it is worthwhile if you don’t want detritus baked on to your dishes. Use the rinse aid. It is just a mild detergent. It will not harm you or your dishes. If you have hard water, consider adding TSP to your detergent. I can help a lot. TSP is tri-sodium phosphate. It used to be a constituent of detergent powders but was removed after some bogus ecological panic. You can buy boxes of it in powdered form in most hardware stores.
If you don’t like blue light from LEDs, then don’t buy blue-light LEDs !!!
Lighting LEDs come in a variety of fixed colour temperatures, ranging from –
2000°K very warm red/orange light
to
6500°K very cold blue light.
You can also get adjustable colour lamps to suit your requirements
This site tells you about colour temperatures.
https://mr-led.co.uk/blogs/resources/an-illustrated-guide-to-led-colour-temperatures
This site tells you most of what you need to know about LED lamp differences.
https://www.superbrightbulbs.com/colors.htm
Incandescent lamps release most of their output as heat, with only 5 % as light,
a typical light bulb produces perhaps 15 lumens per watt.
LEDs release most of their output as light & produce between 120- 200 lumens per watt.
So what do you want to do, light a room or heat it ??
At my local Home Depot they have a display with various LED bulbs lit so the consumer can see the “color” of the light they they put out. I’m sure they’re not the only store to do that.
I need 100W incandescent bulbs to hatch and keep my baby chicks warm.
My granddaughter needs them to bake me cupcakes in her toy oven.
I never vote for politicians that are willing to kill baby chicks and hate granddaughter cupcakes.
Fortunately, specialty 100W incandescent bulbs were still available from photography supply houses.
Its apparent to me that politicians love photographers or there would not be that exemption.
It’s also apparent to me that Donald Trump loves baby chicks and granddaughters.
I think Biden has destroyed that part of the American manufacturing capability. We will need to import again.
From the article: ”
“I am hereby instructing Secretary Lee Zeldin to immediately go back to my Environmental Orders, which were terminated by Crooked Joe Biden,”
Trump put that in his Executive Order! That made me laugh! 🙂
If you’re looking for a long lasting bulb …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centennial_Light
(But they don’t make them like they used too.)
BREAKING: Trump moves to kill EPA waivers that allowed California to set de facto national fuel economy and EV mandate standards for cars and trucks.
https://x.com/JunkScience/status/1890772018095620170
story tip
I don’t know — people should buy LED light bulbs to reduce electric bills and advances in LED technologies now allow a wide choices in light frequencies emitted. Not perfect yet, but good. There are instances when I refer incandescent — when I need both light and heat — which is good when you need it and a waste of energy when you don’t.
Low flow faucets are homeowner adjustable — remove flow restricting the washer or change to to one of your flow choice. I have one sink faucet that needs a very restricted flow and others that I set to flow full blast (tub fill).
However — water usage is a local issue and depends on the fresh water availability in the local water district. In California and the US Southwest, almost every locality needs to restrict fresh water wastage — ignorant people running water needlessly down the drain (or onto lawns and golf courses).
My area has plenty of water for local water districts — all water flows to the Hudson river, whether or not it passes through my household systems makes no difference – all waste water also flows into the Hudson, via a water treatment plant at the end of our road.
Our fresh water reservoir is a smallish pond held back by a low 8 foot dam and flows freely all year in all weather. It flows down and down into the Hudson River. Even in our worst drought years, water continued to flow over the dam, even with more and more homes going up. Last year, the pond was dredged to remove sedimentation and increase overall volume — making a non-existent problem even less (actual sensible thinking into the future — better to dredge now than when we are in the middle of serious two-year drought).
I don’t mind the water restriction in appliances (washing machine, dishwasher) but the “efficiency
regulations” have lengthened the duty cycle to a ridiculous degree.
Here are the facts on Incandescent, CFL, and LED lighting
https://www.effiworkx.com/calculators/electricity-calculators/led-bulb/
Personally I like LEDs and have used them in all replacement because they use less power. I like the colour of the light as well, as opposed to the yellow light that comes from an incandescent bulb.
Irrespective, the incandescent bulbs are no longer made here (Ontario) and never lasted anywhere near as long as the LEDs. I replace the older miniature neon lights that fail with LEDs.
Incandescent bulbs are better in winter because along with the light they provide more heat in the room. LEDs are better in warmer periods because they run cooler, but consumers should check the lumens they provide because they may actually be harder on the eyes. As for cleaning, I had a supposedly energy efficient front loading washer and it never had the capacity of my previous top loader, nor did it do any better job of getting clothes clean. So when it went, I bought another top loader and have found it can handles larger loads, and if there’s any less efficiency in cleaning power, I haven’t noticed it after three years.
In Paris everything is LED and when you walk at night you can feel the cinematic (Private Ryan) effect. Also when your eyes travel and you see dots where there is light (pulsating LEDs). Also in restaurants, you have a Private Ryan fork.
Oh dear. LEDS can emit what ever colour you like, They are just about te only piece of green tech worth having.
I wont be installing a smart meter, heat pump, or solar panels.
I wont be buying an electric car
Compact fluorescent lamps were the biggest piece of shit since wind turbines.
If you want shorty lived fragile inefficient light bulbs I see no reason why you shouldn’t be allowed to waste your money.
Just don’t force me to, that’s all.
I will keep all my LED lights.
My wife loves to have every lamp in the house burning all the time till nighttime, with 100 wat bulbs in every lamp and having 17 lamps, that is like running a 1500 watt heater all the time. I am sorry but my power bill has gone down and the led bulbs last much longer!
One thing we have not touched on are the health benefits of the natural light we evolved under. People are finding some intriguing benefits of near-infrared light. And spending more time outside.
This video makes a lot more sense if you search for some of his infrared light videos too. I have strong doubts about the dollar values of the benefits, but I also have strong doubts about the dollar benefits of the 125 lumens per watt rule, this is the first I’ve heard of it.
Feb 17, 2025 #DOE #LED #light
Roger Seheult, MD of MedCram explains a new Department of Energy rule that will force LED bulbs to be manufactured to more restrictive standards, with potentially detrimental health consequences