Energy Saving Light Bulbs. Am I Missing Something?

roadster1

As the nights are starting to draw in I went down to B+Q and bought 4 X 11w GE "Extra Mini" Elegance bulbs to replace 3 X 60W bulbs in the front room light fitting and one for the lobby. (2 pack, £5 something)

1. One bulb flickers all the time.
2. All of them nowhere near 60W equivalent.
3. Take 1-2 minutes to get up to anywhere near full light output.
3. Very green tinged light. (Makes everyone look ill!!:eek: )
4. Supposed to be replacement for standard sized bulbs but actually stick out above the shades.

Have I just made a duff buy or are they all like this? I'm certainly taking these back.
Can anyone recommend a decent make? Preferably one that comes on quickly and fits in place of a standard 60W.

I'd love lower lecky bills.

H

kittiwoz

Some energy saving light bulbs are really duff. They do tend to give a lower output and take a while to warm up. I think Phillips are supposed to be good but you could try buying 80 Watt equivalent bulbs if they still seem too dim. They would still be much lower energy than conventional 60 Watt bulbs.

chatta

I buy the equivelent of 100 watt bulbs (which I would never buy), and yes they take a minute or two to warm up, I dont have any that flicker so it must be a fault and would take it back. Console myself with the fact they are cheaper to run than normal bulbs, you do get used to them honest. And they seem to last for years, mine all have horrific amounts of dust on them :eek:

Norbert_Colon

The colour of the light is certainly different, much whiter I think. All my yellow household items looked a different colour after I changed to e.s. bulbs.

The bulbs shouldn't keep flickering though, they're defective if they do.

roadster1

Has anyone tried the really small Energy saver bulbs? They are like a spiral I believe. Doubt if they make them in 100W equivalent though. Also quite expensive from what I have seen so defeats the object somewhat.....

wacko911

I got 8 x 100W equiv (20w actual) philips 12 year warranty bulbs on ebay for about £1.50ea inc delivery. Much better than any other energy saving bulb ive used, warm up really fast, and are VERY bright.

tim_n

I bought several expensive philips ones whilst at uni. They were used fairly sparingly, but died after about two years.

The ones I bought from Ikea lasted longer (4 years) but apparently when they reach their half life they start emmiting IR waves. Mine used to trip the NTL box, change volumes on the TV or change channels. Or in one really odd day, my TV suddenly wrote my full name across the screen. Creepy.

Since then I have used 'real' lightbulbs in my living room, stairs and toilet. Ever where else has energy saving

c_smith

tim_n wrote:

The ones I bought from Ikea lasted longer (4 years) but apparently when they reach their half life they start emmiting IR waves. Mine used to trip the NTL box, change volumes on the TV or change channels. Or in one really odd day, my TV suddenly wrote my full name across the screen. Creepy.

I think it's a visit from an exorcist you're needing!! How can a bulb cause your TV to write your full name across the screen?

Melissa22_Mum

I got them for the whole house around a year and a half ago from the pound shop! The first three were perfect, however the other two did have a blue tinge to them which looks really clinical. We used them on the landing and the stairs, so don't really notice them!

MarkyMarkD

Different make bulbs have different colours and it's worth trying out different ones till you get ones you like.

Flickering isn't acceptable and you should return them.

They all take time to warm up and that can make them seem dimmer than they really are; the nominal equivalent wattage quoted can also be somewhat optimistic.

Very few of them are genuinely the same size as ordinary light bulbs. For fittings where the bulb is going to be visible it's worth getting the type which are bulb shaped as opposed to the stick type ones - but the bulb shaped ones cost more.

Raffles_3

Low energy light bulbs are our old friend the fluorescent light bulb. So they behave like that. That is why you cannot use them with dimmer switches. It sounds as though the B&Q bulbs are of the "you get what you pay for" variety. I tend not to use low energy light bulbs if I am reading or doing close, detailed work.