Beware of energy saving light bulbs.

danothy

Around the time when 100W incandescents were being withdrawn from sale I remember reading a number of posts about people's elderly relatives who would soon be falling to their deaths when getting up in the night owing to the nature of these bulbs not emitting full brightness for the first 60 seconds after they were turned on ...

Has this happened to anyone yet?

John_Jizzle

they are also full of poison. be careful if one breaks

the_devil_made_me_do_it

I always leave the front room light on if I'm going out for the evening. It just gives the impression that someone is home.

This particular bulb wasn't cheap. I have avoided using cheap energy saving bulbs.

The reason I started this thread was just to make people aware of the potential problems with energy saving lightbulbs. Wasn't expecting sarcastic comments.

danothy

the_devil_made_me_do_it wrote: »

I always leave the front room light on if I'm going out for the evening. It just gives the impression that someone is home.

This particular bulb wasn't cheap. I have avoided using cheap energy saving bulbs.

The reason I started this thread was just to make people aware of the potential problems with energy saving lightbulbs. Wasn't expecting sarcastic comments.

Do be aware that you appear to have completely ignored the possibility that it was your light fitting that caused the malfunction and that is not the case that all energy saving light bulbs that are necessarily flawed. I don't mention this to make you feel stupid, but to encourage you to check the safety of your light fittings.

Mistral001

Where was it bought?

What make was it?

Was it in a shade?

adecor

I got this email which is very graphic & not for the faint hearted & there is no proof that this is true which is why it appears on hoax slayer

http://www.hoax-slayer.com/mercury-exposure-foot-injury.shtml

muckybutt

John_Jizzle wrote: »

they are also full of poison. be careful if one breaks

Full of poison is an overstatement to say the least !

All fluorescent lights have a very small amount of mercury in them, by small I mean about the size of a ball point pen nib. Not full of poison at all, the amount contained inside one of these lamps would do next to no harm, in fact you probably ingest more mercury eating fish !

As we're all more environmentally concious nowadays thats why on the packaging when you buy a new one it tells you to recycle down at your local council tip and not to throw away in the bin.

As far as them burning and flickering - yes they do, in my current job I replace approx 200+ per month of these lamps, and quality is a big factor in them. As always pay more and the quality will be that much better, hence my firm always use Philips or Osram lamps, on the cheaper side of things a trusted manufacturer would be Megaman.

the_devil_made_me_do_it

The light fitting itself is safe. Wasn't too long ago my home underwent a full re-wire.

Also, I'm not saying ALL energy saving bulbs are a danger, just warning people that this can happen.

The make of the bulb is GEC & I also have megaman bulbs in my lamps. I bought it from the local B & Q. It's difficult to say whether all the energy saving bulbs I have in my house are problematic, because it's the front room bulb that gets the most use.

Oh by the way, I'm far from stupid. In fact I can give as good as I get on the patronising front, also a pro at sarcasm with a joint degree in cynicism.

Comyface

adecor wrote: »

I got this email which is very graphic & not for the faint hearted & there is no proof that this is true which is why it appears on hoax slayer

http://www.hoax-slayer.com/mercury-exposure-foot-injury.shtml

You're not joking when you say this is not for the faint hearted! I didn't think I was faint hearted, turns out I am! Those pictures turned my stomach.

muckybutt

Mercury poisoning wouldnt do that !

More likely to have badly cut their foot on the glass then got an infection in the cut, I would put money on that.