The following is a post to my https://bastyon.com/pinoyparadise blog that I thought might be interesting to people here:

The flooding has not been as bad as a few years ago and the wife has not missed work but has already been stranded at work twice having to wait for water levels over the road to subside and then a 4WD was still required.  Both our vehicles are 4WD. The road into town was also closed temporarily but I did manage to go into town yesterday for supplies.  

Decided to focus on some internal projects including lighting.   Eventually, I want to become energy-independent but right now I am focused on lighting. I have been researching the negative impact of LED lighting and Blue Light including UV on health. One expert suggested that Incandescent lights (less blue/UV) are the best for the bedroom and Halogen lighting (more like natural sunlight) in the living areas.

Been looking at where to buy these and found Incandescent on eBay but they all want a small fortune for them. When in town I visited Bunnings and found they had Halogen but no Incandescent. The pricing of the Halogen in the store was half of what they are asking on eBay for Helogen which surprised me.

I asked about availability of Incandescent and was told they can't get them and also mentioned the intention to phase out the Halogen, so I guess they will not be ordering any more (better buy some extra). I did some research and...

Incandescent light bulbs, once the standard in homes worldwide, are now largely phased out or banned in many regions due to energy efficiency regulations. In the United States, it became illegal to manufacture and sell most standard incandescent bulbs as of August 2023, while the European Union, Australia, Canada, and parts of Asia, Latin America, and Africa have enacted similar restrictions over the past decade. The primary reason cited for these bans is energy efficiency, as traditional incandescent bulbs waste about 95% of their energy as heat.

However, not all incandescents have disappeared—halogen incandescent bulbs remain an alternative. These bulbs are technically incandescent but offer improved efficiency and often meet modern regulatory standards. Additionally, the manufacture of specialty globes, such as those for ovens, refrigerators, decorative lighting, and heat lamps, continues to meet niche needs where alternatives are less suitable.

This explains why about five or so years ago they had people in Melbourne going door to door handing out free LED lamps to replace all those being used in your home courtesy of the government (they just care so much about us). At the time I replaced all the Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) in the house with these new energy-efficient LEDs. According to the same expert, CFLs are also not a good light source for humans.

When we moved into this place I remember the previous owner mentioning a few times, as if it was a selling point, that all the lights in the home and property were LED. It's taken me a few years but I have finally replaced all LEDs with Halogen.

I considered ordering a 10-pack of old-fashioned incandescent lamps on eBay but discovered that they were only available in BC. Most of the fittings in the home are ES. Only have a few BC fittings and they are not in the bedrooms.

Finding the Halogen lamps at Bunnings has enabled me to replace almost all the lighting for about the same cost as that 10-pack of incandescent lamps on eBay and the incandescent lamps don't last long.

I will be returning to Bunnings next week to buy more including some low-wattage (thinking 25W Halogen is available and might be good for bedroom lamps). I also have two spot-light fittings and want to look for Halogen or Incandescent lamps.

Only one day of using the new lighting and the only thing everyone has noticed so far is how yellow and warm the lighting is now and how cold and blue everything looks with LED lighting.