Will Heat Balls Warm America?

Many people may be unaware that the US will begin phasing out most common  incandescent lights - the light bulbs that are ubiquitous in most American homes - beginning January 1, 2012.  It will do so through energy efficiency requirements that, while not outright banning incandescents,  will make them more expensive.   Don't blame it on Obama - President Bush approved the ban as part of  energy legislation in 2007.  This is from the Daily Caller, reporting on GOP attempts to repeal the ban. 

The same restrictions are going into place in Europe, but one German entrepreneur is trying to get around this by repackaging the incandescent lamps as "heat balls".  The following is taken from the Mother Nature Network:

You gotta hand it to German businessman Siegfried Rotthaeuser, who came up with a brilliant run around the European Union ban on conventional incandescent light bulbs — he rebranded them as "Heat Balls" and is importing them for sale as a "small heating device."

The funny thing about this is that incandescent bulbs are fairly efficient when they are used as heaters, throwing off around 95 percent of the energy they draw as heat. In colder climates, using the bulbs for lighting isn't always an inefficient choice as the bulbs add to the warmth of the home.

Perhaps the day will come when we install incandescents in the winter, and replace them in the  summer with CFLs and LEDs.