Energy-saving lightbulbs - advice please!

ivyleaf

We have energy-saving bulbs in our hall. landing and kitchen-diner. We leave the hall and landing ones on all the time when it gets dark, for safety's sake. We usually leave the kitchen-diner one on after dark as well (and on gloomy days, as the room faces North), because my husband is sure he read somewhere that if these bulbs are switched on and off when entering and leaving a room, it actually uses more energy than just leaving them on all the time.

Can anyone enlighten us? (Sorry!) :rolleyes:

Many thanks

ivyleaf.

ffym

Simply not true. Like anything else the longer they are on the more it will cost you in electricity. There is some evidence that switching them on and off shortens thier life but not to the extent that leaving them on all the time is cheaper.
If security is a worry you can get lamps as low as 3 Watts which will give decent enough light in a window etc to suggest someone is in.
You could also invest in a timer which will switch a lamp / radio ..whatever on and off automatically.
For low power lamps and security timers I can recommend these guys:
http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Electrical/d190

Poppycat

I am sure you can now get energy bulbs with sensors one and come on when its dark. We leave the landing lights until the wee hours, they last younks.

ivyleaf

Thanks to both of you - didn't expect such a quick response!

I should explain that by leaving the lights on for safety reasons, I mean so that the stairs are well-lit, especially as these bulbs take a little while to reach their full brightness.

Thanks again!

ffym

oops, sorry I misunderstood. Newer lamps are getting quicker at "warming up" but you do make an excellent point - that dim spell is the big weakness for low energy bulbs especially on stairways. If it is a big problem for you, and switching on and off is accessible top and bottom, perhaps you should consider normal lighting on the stairway and use the low energy lamps where they are kept on for longer. Your Safety is far more valueable than a few pence off an elactric bill.

Poppycat

I agree newer bulbs are much quicker I been using energy saving bulbs for 15+ years I remember when they were over a tenner each and quite heavy. They use to take a few minutes to warm up. We keep the one on the stairs on as we have to climb one step to toliet and if you miss that step you could go over the rest of teh stairs onto a concrete floor.

alanobrien

Poppycat wrote:

I am sure you can now get energy bulbs with sensors one and come on when its dark.

Indeed you can but they can be a bit pricey in the shops.
I got mine here;

http://www.gtiresponse.com/lightbulboffer/osram.asp

Very good they are to

ManAtHome

I normally leave mine on - the 9/11w ones use next to nothing anyway. I have several on timers which are around 8 hours a day - still less than 100w bulb for an hour, or an electric kettle for 2 minutes!

ivyleaf

Thanks so much for your advice, folks!

I expect we will carry on leaving them on for now, as we don't have two-way lights switches at top and bottom of stairs yet - will have to get rewired in next few years though, so will organise it then!

In the meantime - may just have a look at the bulbs with sensors.

many thanks again

ivyleaf

Vince

Personaly, I prefer the slow start bulbs. They're much kinder first thing in the morning!