Tesco's energy light bulb offer a must

jayja

hi I didn't know were to post this but got to tell all
Tesco's are doing energy light bulbs at £1 each or 5 for 40p YES 5 for 40p
only 10 at a time
we now got lots a good few years of them
:j :A

shaven-monkey

If those are the ones where the tube is exposed (not encapsulated in a plastic cover) then the lower price reflects recent reports that the bulbs put out enough ultraviolet to pose a risk of causing cateracts and other unpleasantness.

If you're going to use them, put a decent thickness all encasing lampshade over them to shield yourself from unwanted sunburn.

gazza975526570

shaven-monkey wrote: »

If those are the ones where the tube is exposed (not encapsulated in a plastic cover) then the lower price reflects recent reports that the bulbs put out enough ultraviolet to pose a risk of causing cateracts and other unpleasantness.

If you're going to use them, put a decent thickness all encasing lampshade over them to shield yourself from unwanted sunburn.

There is a small risk if you sit within a few inches of them - you will hardly get an instant tan!

Ben84

I looked this up and found a couple of articles:

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing/health-news/energy-saving-light-bulbs-can-emit-enough-uv-radiation-to-damage-skin-956696.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7661462.stm

The articles didn't discuss UV and eyes, but the comparisons made show that the UV emitted is much less than that from sunlight, and decreases significantly with distance from the bulb, so I don't see any reason to worry. As I understand it, to get as much UV from a bulb as you would from daylight on a sunny day you have to be one inch away from it, and it would seem this was the bulb with the highest UV emissions in their study.

Also worth considering is that fluorescent light bulb technology is not new. The compact types we use at home are exactly the same as the long tubes which have been used in offices, universities, factories and supermarkets for decades. The only difference is that the tubes are smaller, bent and attached to a circuit and plug for use in a regular light fitting, and they are much lower wattage. The watts per square meter in the average commercial environment lit with fluorescent tubes is very high, and people will work under these lights for hours a day every working day of the week. If there was any serious basis in the UV claim I'd expect there to be a lot of office workers with sun burn and cataracts turning up by now.

shaven-monkey

Assuming that a product is safe because there would have been an outcry by now doesn't get much support from history.

Caveat emptor, the prices aren't low because they want to give you a bargain, the prices are low because they want to shift a large volume as fast as they can because, as i said before, there has been adverse publicity about some bulbs causing some problems in some people.

Are you some people?
Do you use some bulbs???

THIS COULD BE YOU!!!!!
Not that I would wish to cause any undue concern with regards to an unidentified make of unspecified bulb but if you think of the economics underlying a huge discount on large volume sales of a particular type of cheap bulb shortly after an announcement that some types of these bulbs have unknown and unquantified health effects... Well, it seems to me that these bulbs could be the very bulbs that the manufacturer wants to get paid for before they close down their factory temporarily and rebrand.

steveomcg

Rubbish, its marketing pure and simple. By doing this they can probably deflect some of the heat they get from the plastic bag crusade.

You my friend need to read up on Dihydrogen Monoxide its every where and deadly!

Bongedone

Shaven Monkey

Actually the prices are low because they are being subsidised by the utility companies who are being subsidised by an environmenal tax on your bill.

The bulbs are harmless and the only people affected are those who put them next to their face for sewing etc.

Ben84

shaven-monkey wrote: »

Assuming that a product is safe because there would have been an outcry by now doesn't get much support from history.

Outcry? I'd settle for an actual report of sun burn from a fluorescent light tube. Billions of these things have been used in millions of buildings across the world from Hong Kong to London for decades now, and people have sat under them for hours every day, and yet if someone reported sunburn from one of these bulbs today I believe it would be a first.

shaven-monkey wrote: »

Caveat emptor, the prices aren't low because they want to give you a bargain, the prices are low because they want to shift a large volume as fast as they can because, as i said before, there has been adverse publicity about some bulbs causing some problems in some people.

Are you some people?
Do you use some bulbs???

THIS COULD BE YOU!!!!!

Really, it's not a big deal. The studies found the uv output to be dramatically less than that from sunlight.

A compact fluorescent is rarely more than 20-something watts, while a sun bed is anything over 1,000 watt and up. In comparison the low energy light bulb doesn't even have the power to sun burn you available to it, let alone being a good emitter of uv light.

To use a figure of 1,500 watt as a typical sun bed wattage (this is pretty low, and tiny compared to salon equipment which can be over 3,000w or more), a ten minute session would consume 250w. Your average compact fluorescent bulb would require 10-20 hours to consume 250 watt, and when you take in to account that it's not even a particularly good uv emitter and the far greater distance it's likely to be used at, it would seem you'll be waiting a long time for that tan!

shaven-monkey wrote: »

Not that I would wish to cause any undue concern with regards to an unidentified make of unspecified bulb but if you think of the economics underlying a huge discount on large volume sales of a particular type of cheap bulb shortly after an announcement that some types of these bulbs have unknown and unquantified health effects... Well, it seems to me that these bulbs could be the very bulbs that the manufacturer wants to get paid for before they close down their factory temporarily and rebrand.

The supermarkets are having a price war on low energy light bulbs. The likely reason is that they're a very popular product right now and consumers pay attention to these things, as has been shown by the many comments here about the various offers. Also it looks good for their green credentials, and no doubt with all the anti-supermarket publicity regarding environmental issues at the moment, all of the big supermarkets would like to claim the title of the supermarket that sold the most energy saving bulbs this year.

John_3:16

I would like these bulbs to be made bigger eg 30w or more.They dont give out the same standard of light as normal bulbs so the bigger the better.

gazza975526570

more than 30w? may as well just stick with your regular bulbs then

I find 11w more than adequate - tho in kitchens and bathrooms i have slightly higher

shaven-monkey

steveomcg wrote: »

Rubbish, its marketing pure and simple. By doing this they can probably deflect some of the heat they get from the plastic bag crusade.

You my friend need to read up on Dihydrogen Monoxide its every where and deadly!

Studies have shown that people exposed to dihydrogen monoxide all die.
100% fatality from exposure.

We must ban it immediately.