Energy saving light bulbs...

John_Graham_2

I have energy saving light bulbs throughout my house. Do they really make a worthwhile difference?

Ken68

The light takes a while to get bright, but I'm satisfied to have them everywhere. Mind you they were free from Powergen/Age Concern.
And cheap from Tesco at one time...23pence., but the smaller ones.Have had some in for 5 years, wrote on the bulb holder the date they were put in and the remark "should last 12 years at 3 hours a day".
Will let you know more in 2013.

JohalaReewi

Sure do!! They use less electricity for the same light output and run much cooler. Handy for bedside lights (you don't burn yourself on the bulb!!). Only trouble is they don't work with dimmer switches. Prices are dropping too so they are not that expensive anymore. Have converted totally at home wherever possible (including outside lights!!).

moonrakerz

Text from a post I did a couple of months ago:-

Yes, they are well worth buying !
A standard 100W tungsten filament lamp, costing 20p or so, has a life of about 1000 hrs
A low energy lamp, costing £2 for a good one, giving the same light output uses only 20W and will last for about 8000 hrs.

Over 8000 hrs a low energy lamp will use 8000 X 20 Watts = 160kWh @ 8p = £12.8 plus £2 for the lamp = £14.80.
A conventional bulb will use 8000 X 100 = 800kWh @ 8p =£64 plus £1.60 for 8 lamps = £65.60.

The government prattles on about saving energy - they should ban the sale of tungsten filament lamps - this would save huge amounts of electricity. They could probably shut down several power stations as a result. Why don't they ? because electricity sales would fall, as would the profits of the electricity companies.
Ooops - I'm being cynical again !

A couple of minor disadvantages -They are not available in the same range of shapes and sizes as tungsten filament lamps and they do take a few minutes to come up to full brilliance.

If you look on the box it will tell you what low energy lamps equate to what conventional lamp.

seanhodges

I should also point out that the newer energy-saving bulbs start up very much quicker than the earlier ones. I just got one from Poundland that starts almost instantly the switch is flicked (horrible bluish light though - better buy yours from elsewhere).

The latest thing I am watching is the prices of energy-saving halogen-replacement bulbs. These replace GU10 240V halogen spots, which are a terribly inefficient way to light a room - my loft conversion has 6 x 50W = 300W bulbs to light the main room; worse than using tungsten bulbs.

At present the GU10 replacements are available up to 11W (= 50W halogen) from Megaman, but they cost over £10 each, and don't have quickstart. I hope prices will fall as fast as they did with tungsten-replacement bulbs.

Wig

The new Ikea ones 20w = 100w with plastic soft glow covers, are not too long, more bulb shaped, startup to full glow within a few seconds, and are either £3.99 for 2 or £5.99 for 2 (i forget) but they are worth it. They are also extremly bright easily equal to 100w (first time I actually agree with the ratings) They are so bright I wish Ikea had some 17w versions to take the edge off them. I think I calculated somewhere that if you use them 1 hour every day for a year you'll save £1.20, 2 hours a day you save £2.40, etc etc

The only thing wrong with them is that
1. They don't fail, so you can't replace your old ones with newer ones which aren't too long like the old ones.
2. They have mercury in them and no one recyles them or collects them to dispose of them safely.