"Long Life Energy Saving" Lightbulbs

SpammyTheSpammer

Probably like a lot of you, I gradually replaced all the incandescent lightbulbs in the house with the Long Life Energy Saving ones a few years ago.

I started off with the freebie ones that were being given out at the Town Hall and shows etc. After this, I bought Tesco Value ones, although I was pleased at the cheap prices of these compared to the branded ones, it seemed that one bulb cost the same as a six pack of the old incandescent ones.

Still, I was pleased to read on the packets that the Value ones had an expected life of 5 years and the more expensive ones (twice the price naturally) claimed a 10 year life.

However, I did note that I seemed to be replacing bulbs somewhat frequently so started to write the date on bulb when inserting it.Yes, I know that I should get out more but I treat this sort of thing as a hobby, my OH says it is an obsession...

Yesterday a bulb stopped working and I removed it. The bulb was a value one and it had lasted 2.5 years as I had written 12 June 2010 on the white part at the base. I had no more spares so I went toTesco to get some more.

The "Value" bulbs were £2.89 each and claimed to last 5 years, the others were £3.50 and claimed to last 10 years. I could have bought about 40 incandescent bulbs for that price.

So, getting to the rant (VENT!) part, how much are we being scammed here by these Energy Saving Long Life bulbs?

• They take ages to warm up and cast a true light
• These bulbs do not seem to be "long life",
• I have noticed no noticable reduction in my Electric usage
• and why the heck are they so expensive?

Browntoa

Tried "10.000 hours" LED bulbs to replace 20w downlights , most blew within a month or so and they were much dimmer than claimed so not an equivalent brightness

SpammyTheSpammer

FOR ONE LIGHT BULB!

:eek:

Eydon

Had my bathroom refitted and got low energy spots put in. For the first couple of years everything was fine but then a couple of bulbs blew within a few days of each other. Like you I tried the 'value' bulbs (mine were from B&Q) and they only lasted a few months. So I thought I'd see if it was worth paying a bit more. Ended up trying some LED ones at £16 a bulb and guess what - one blew after only a year (advertised as 25,000 hour life). Contacted the retailer who agreed that this was poor and fully refunded my money. Others are still going strong though but obviously only time will tell.

SpammyTheSpammer

I am just horrified that these bulbs cost so much and there is now no alternative. The "car headlight" (quartz?) bulbs cost even more and do not appear to be particularly "energy saving" so I cannot see the point of these

My conspiracy theory is that incandescent bulbs had got so cheap that the manufacturers wanted to make more money so they had them banned, brought out the alleged "Long Life Energy Saving" versions at a knock down rate and have now been gradually rachetting up the price.

I still have a few 120W incandescent bulbs that I use to light one room of the house where I want immediate brightness. I bought a pile of these a few years ago from a "cheapy" shop and these have lasted longer than some of the alleged long life ones. And they immediately light a room, no stumbling around in twilight...

I DO WISH that I had bought more now. Oh dear.

gollum007

The advertised energy savings are probably about right, but the thing is that you're only spending a tiny proportion of your electric bill on lights.

Read the switching cycles/ hours figures printed on the box too- IIRC the 5 years figure is based on something like 2 hours a day, switched on and off twice a day.

-Gollum

Quasar

I must say that my experience is quite different. I replaced all my lightbulbs (9 in all in my small flat) about 7 years ago and have had to change only 2 during this time. The brand is Philips, and they were not all that expensive.

In the meantime, both my electricity supplier and the council gave me 2 free packs of 4 bulbs each, so that I ended up with the couple of spares I had already bought plus 16 new bulbs, I think also Philips but I can't remember exactly at this moment.

I do think that the cheaper offerings are false economy, to be honest.

knightstyle

I to fail to see any advantage gained using these new energy saving bulbs. My parents had two normal 75w bulbs in the living room on a dimmer, when these bulbs were no longer available they tried the mini florescent ones but they were not bright enough, plus they had to have the dimmer removed. So they now have two new fittings, each with 10 10w mini halogen bulbs, this makes 200w and is still not as bright as the old two 75w ones!

Dave101t

keep your receipt for the '10 year life' ones, and get a free replacement from the shop when it blows. quickest ive had one blow (aside from not working out the packet) was 3 months. 10 years my @rse!

SpammyTheSpammer

Oh dear, I buy from Tesco with my weekly shop. How do I know how to find the receipt for a bulb that I bought possibly a year or two ago and put in the cuboard as a spare? Go through 100+ Tesco receipts?

PS
Keeping light bulb receipts makes my writing the date that I fitted them on the bulb look positively normal....
(apols)

LimeLight

I put mine in when i moved into my house 4 years ago and they're still going strong