Energy Saving Lightbulbs for 49p each; save £9/bulb per year in electricity costs

MarkyMarkD

The first half of that post is complete cobblers.

The amount of supply and demand in the electricity generation system is monitored very closely from minute to minute. National Grid have a very good idea of the levels of usage, and ensure that there is (within a small margin of error) enough supply to meet the expected demand. Whilst, obviously there will be occasional peaks and troughs, these can be managed using things like pumped storage hydro-electric power stations, which pump water up-hill when there is surplus electricity available and release it when there are sudden surges in demand.

Long term decline in electricity usage (or, more likely, a reduction in the pace of increase in electricity usage) due to the increased usage of low-energy bulbs means that the overall average, as well as the peak, electricity usage declines - so fewer power stations are needed, eventually.

Having destroyed the nonsense part of adaadat's post, I must agree that the obsession with renewables is wrong. Energy efficiency is a far more effective method of reducing the usage of natural resources.

tr3mor

adaadat wrote: »

Those who think fitting 'energy-saving' bulbs will contribute to reducing your 'carbon footprint' completely mis-understands how electricity is produced.

As we are all human beings and, hence, unpredictable in our actions, those who produce the electricity we consume and those who set government policy determining how much electricity is available for us to use - and therefore how many consumer goods (many being electrical) we can buy and use - cannot risk a shortage in electricity supply.

You haven't thought this through!

If what you say is the case, then surely the same amount of electricity has been produced forever.

Yes there is a buffer, but it is indeed just a buffer. If the demand for electricity shrinks then the amount of electricity needed to cover the demand plus the buffer will shrink.

VeryStressedMummy

adaadat wrote: »

I, also, urge you to have a read of the Sunday Telegraph, especially Christopher Bookers' page. Discovering almost everything the media has lead you to believe as the truth is, in fact, a lie, will make you very angry.

Yours,

A keen money-saver, only where it makes sense. I hope this has been of some help.

I'd agree that a lot of what is in the media is rubbish, but then surely the Sunday Telegraph is part of the media too....

bottyboo_2

fatheralice wrote: »

Just to give this thread a slight reality check......as reported in the Sunday Telegraph 14/4/07........

Don't believe ALLL the hype about the "green-ness" of energey saving lightbulbs - ie what is going to happen to all the old filament bulbs and fixtures, plus the new pollution from expired energy saving bulbs? People need to understand the whole picture, not just some trendy fad...


Poisonous light bulbs

A foretaste of the delights we can expect in 2009, when the EU makes it compulsory for us to use planet-saving, low-energy light bulbs (CFLs, or Compact Fluorescent Lamps), comes from the website of Bar Harbour, a small town in Maine. Last month Brandy Bridges was inserting a CFL in her seven-year-old daughter's bedroom, to save on energy bills, when the bulb fell onto the carpet and broke.

She rang the shop it came from, asking how to dispose of it, She was told that, because it contained mercury, she should ring the Poison Control hotline. They directed her to the Department of Environmental Protection, which immediately sent an official to take mercury readings. Around the carpet they were so high that they instructed her not to clean it up herself but to contact a local contractor, Clean Harbour Environmental Services.

The firm inspected the bedroom and quoted her a minimum of $2,000 dollars to clean it up and remove the carpet. A month later the child's bedroom is still sealed off, while Mrs Bridges scrapes together the $2,000 and money to replace the carpet.

Since this became a local cause célèbre, the DEP has changed its tune, saying that it is perfectly okay to clean up spilt mercury with sticky tape. Mrs Bridges, having first been told how dangerous that mercury was, is not convinced.

And Brussels still has to work out how to dispose of all those billions of CFLs it wants to make compulsory in the EU from 2009, since its Restriction on Hazardous Substances directive last year banned the disposal of mercury into landfill.

Your information is interesting. We have had energy saving bulbs for many years now and have purchased new ones when the old style gave up the ghost. However recently we noticed a strange medical like smell (a bit like fiery jack/ linament) in our lounge with no obvious reasons. This smell appeared several times at undetermined times. It went on for months and frustrated us as we couldn't find any reasons for the smell.

One evening whilst watching television the smell started strongly followed by a burning smell. We do not smoke and only 2 table lamps (on timers) and the television were on at the time. We looked around and saw a plume of smoke coming out of one of the bulbs and heard a crackle and a hiss. The smell of linament and burning was strong. We unplugged the lamp, took the bulb out and through it into the garden.

The following day we inspected the bulb and saw that one of the filaments had actually burned out and was black. The bulb smelled very strongly of the linament type smell we had noticed over the previous months.

This happened over the winter and to this day we are reluctant to replace the bulbs with energy saving types as the lamps are on timers for security.

I was wondering if anybody else has had problems with these bulbs when used with timers?

Nilrem

Roseylee wrote: »

I've bought my energy saving light bulbs from IKEA. We have spotlights which take R50 bulbs and IKEA was the first place I saw which did an energy saving version for £1.49 each.

They do smaller bulbs than the original bulkier ones and have both thick and thin screw fittings.

The Croydon store also has a recycling bin for broken but intact bulbs and also a separate one for batteries.

More info:
http://www.ikea.com
Lighting > Lighting accessories > Bulbs

Thank you, I think I will be popping into the MK branch this afternoon, those are about a fifth of the best price i've seen them anywhere else (which makes them practical to try).

schubertdog

bottyboo wrote: »

One evening whilst watching television the smell started strongly followed by a burning smell. We do not smoke and only 2 table lamps (on timers) and the television were on at the time. We looked around and saw a plume of smoke coming out of one of the bulbs and heard a crackle and a hiss. The smell of linament and burning was strong. We unplugged the lamp, took the bulb out and through it into the garden.

The following day we inspected the bulb and saw that one of the filaments had actually burned out and was black. The bulb smelled very strongly of the linament type smell we had noticed over the previous months.

You should have taken this to trading standards. They could have had the bulbs checked out for manufacturing defects, imagine what could have happened if you had been out, or worse, in bed and this had caused a fire.

Make sure that anything electrical bought is designed for use in the UK and is marked with the correct approval logo (I think this is the CE mark)

organic_choc

fatheralice wrote: »

Just to give this thread a slight reality check......as reported in the Sunday Telegraph 14/4/07........

Don't believe ALLL the hype about the "green-ness" of energey saving lightbulbs - ie what is going to happen to all the old filament bulbs and fixtures, plus the new pollution from expired energy saving bulbs? People need to understand the whole picture, not just some trendy fad...


Poisonous light bulbs

A foretaste of the delights we can expect in 2009, when the EU makes it compulsory for us to use planet-saving, low-energy light bulbs (CFLs, or Compact Fluorescent Lamps), comes from the website of Bar Harbour, a small town in Maine. Last month Brandy Bridges was inserting a CFL in her seven-year-old daughter's bedroom, to save on energy bills, when the bulb fell onto the carpet and broke.

She rang the shop it came from, asking how to dispose of it, She was told that, because it contained mercury, she should ring the Poison Control hotline. They directed her to the Department of Environmental Protection, which immediately sent an official to take mercury readings. Around the carpet they were so high that they instructed her not to clean it up herself but to contact a local contractor, Clean Harbour Environmental Services.

The firm inspected the bedroom and quoted her a minimum of $2,000 dollars to clean it up and remove the carpet. A month later the child's bedroom is still sealed off, while Mrs Bridges scrapes together the $2,000 and money to replace the carpet.

Since this became a local cause célèbre, the DEP has changed its tune, saying that it is perfectly okay to clean up spilt mercury with sticky tape. Mrs Bridges, having first been told how dangerous that mercury was, is not convinced.

And Brussels still has to work out how to dispose of all those billions of CFLs it wants to make compulsory in the EU from 2009, since its Restriction on Hazardous Substances directive last year banned the disposal of mercury into landfill.

Just to put in further reality checks - I would like to find out how much mercury are there in a CFL lightbulb relative to 2 things I can think of: teeth fillings and fish.

I am curious because mercury is in our surroundings anyway. If the lightbulbs aren't adding a significant amount to our environment, then it doesn't really matter does it? If they do then we should collectively reconsider.

Thanks in advance to whoever who can help with providing relevant figures.

fizbella

I have been trying for months to buy energy saving lightbulbs to use with crystal chandeliers. The lightbulbs I use at present are small bayonet clear 25 watt candle bulbs. The only energy saving candle light bulbs available look ridiculous and ugly. They are opaque, chunkier and over two inches longer than the normal lightbulbs. I have changed to energy saving bulbs in the washroom and lavatory which had to be the equivalent of 100 watt to give the output of a normal 60 watt bulb. So unless lightbulb manufactures are able to produce suitable candle lightbulbs the only options will be to have chandeliers with stupid looking lightbulbs or change all the light fittings...great

dazza190574

Roseylee wrote: »

I've bought my energy saving light bulbs from IKEA. We have spotlights which take R50 bulbs and IKEA was the first place I saw which did an energy saving version for £1.49 each.

They do smaller bulbs than the original bulkier ones and have both thick and thin screw fittings.

The Croydon store also has a recycling bin for broken but intact bulbs and also a separate one for batteries.

More info:
http://www.ikea.com
Lighting > Lighting accessories > Bulbs

My friends mum had an issue with an Ikea energy saving light bulb. She had the light on and the bulb exploded. Luckily she wasn't in the room. They were very good about it though.

Nilrem

I've had that problem, repeatedly with Homebase R50 bulbs I stopped buying bulbs from them after finding they tended to last about half as long as Aldi's ones (which are cheaper), and had a habit of cracking when they died, with about one in 5 shattering (i'm still finding bits of glass months later).


I picked up the ikea R50 energy saving bulbs, and apart from the hellish maze that is Ikea MK i'm quite pleased with them.
My one complaint is that they are rather like the early "normal" energy saving bulbs and take 30+ seconds to warm up to full brightness.