How much does it cost to run an energy saving bulb?

spinningsheep

I cant seem to find the right figures online, and i know it will vary depending on the actual wattage, but im just curious what the AVERAGE cost would be. My housemate has her light on in her room an average of about 15 hours a day you see. Im on BG CLICK ONLINE 6 and I doubt it is much, but be nice to know.

KimYeovil

Well, they're about 8 to 11 watts. So in 1 hour they use 11/1000 watts or 0.011 watts. 1 kWh costs between 10p and 15p. So (at 12p per unit) that's .132p per hour or 1.3p per 10 hours or 2p per 15 hours.

Cost per hour: (watts / 1000) x Tier 2 unit cost

(So doing that 30 days a month would cost 59.4p compared to the £5.40 a 100W incandescent costs.)

spinningsheep

cheers, no need to panic then!!

Sirbendy

indeed. Somewhere I had the figures worked out for ours, along with all the household appliances. I think they're on my old webhost though. It's not much at all to run a CFL.

EDIT: Nope, can't find it. Did find my calculation of 1.3p/hour to run this PC though. I forgot that!

Poppy9

Does anyone get the flickering and dimness when you first switch on ES Lightbulbs?

The two I have upstairs (both 11w) from Tesco work fine but the downstairs one which is a phillips flickers and is dimmer.

caveman38

Yes, I do. I was fortunate to be given a load of these in various wattages. I thought that I would use them in places where they would not look too hideous ie. not in the lounge chandeliers.
I installed them in the hall and landing. they get a lot of use and with 2 X 3 bulbs each I would save a few bob each quarter.
Problem was, when I turned the lights off they would continue to pulse on and off. the reason for this I found out was that I had electronic timers installed in the switches for when I'm out late or on holidays as a security measure.
It appears that you cannot use these bulbs with dimmers or timers as there is always residual current. although it is always there it is not sufficient to power a incandescent bulb, but will power a energy one.
My bulbs were then removed and remain redundant. I have been told that I can buy low energy bulbs for dimmers / timers but they cost a few quid each.
Any further thoughts.

Freddie_Snowbits

KimYeovil wrote: »

Well, they're about 8 to 11 watts. So in 1 hour they use 11/1000 watts or 0.011 watts. 1 kWh costs between 10p and 15p. So (at 12p per unit) that's .132p per hour or 1.3p per 10 hours or 2p per 15 hours.

Cost per hour: (watts / 1000) x Tier 2 unit cost

(So doing that 30 days a month would cost 59.4p compared to the £5.40 a 100W incandescent costs.)

Another point to note is that the Incandescent lamp would also produce 10 x (100-11) x 30 27kw of heat during the same period, and this would reduce your gas cost by (using SP online at 4.52p per kW) by £1.20 in the same period.

And before we get all ultra pendantic LIGHT is HEAT!

(Oh, and the Energy saving version does contain mercury in a vapour format, and should be handled with respect. If broken, it should be cleared up accordingly)

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/mdhs/pdfs/mdhs16-2.pdf

Cardew

Freddie_Snowbits wrote: »

Another point to note is that the Incandescent lamp would also produce 10 x (100-11) x 30 27kw of heat during the same period, and this would reduce your gas cost by (using SP online at 4.52p per kW) by £1.20 in the same period.

Add 50% to your savings on heat!!

The OP and KY used a 15 hour day to reach a cost of £5.40

KimYeovil

Ah but light is used 365 days a year whereas heating is only used 36 days a year. So 90% of the time the heat is irrelevant.

(I may be exaggerating a bit.)

gazza007

It appears that you cannot use these bulbs with dimmers or timers as there is always residual current. although it is always there it is not sufficient to power a incandescent bulb, but will power a energy one.
My bulbs were then removed and remain redundant. I have been told that I can buy low energy bulbs for dimmers / timers but they cost a few quid each.
Any further thoughts.

I use the mechanical timers for a couple of table lamps & have never had any problems.

Sirbendy

same here. I have one on a timer to come on so I can see the cats before they try to steamroller me in the doorway at night..:) No issue.

Possibly the ELECTRONIC timers may have issues..I know apparently some PIRs do too, but I use the cheap segmented mechanical timers, since I got 3 for a fiver at the sunday market 2 years back!