"Long Life Energy Saving" Lightbulbs

organic_choc

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

Surely they should last more than a few years>?:p

It was around 7 years ago. So they are pretty much all gone. the box says 6 years but some of them blown after only around 6 months.

organic_choc

dacouch wrote: »

I bought five phillips energy saving bulbs for a squid in the pound shop

Thank you! :beer: That is a great bargain... most online places are selling philips bulbs at at least £2.50 each!

organic_choc

Makeandsave wrote: »

I remember getting boxes after boxes of the energy bulbs 10 years ago i had about 40 of them i am now down to my last one, They do not last 10 years 1 if that and this is a brand make!

In order to last 10 years they expect you to switch on each bulb only 2 to 3 hours a day, which imho is kinda ridiculous.

organic_choc

Elsewhere wrote: »

Energy saving lights can cause health problems...

"A set of receptors in our eyes responds to blue light by suppressing production of sleep-inducing melatonin, so the naturally blue-rich light of daytime keeps us alert, while reddish evening light lets us ease into sleep. Fluorescent bulbs contain a lot of blue light, so being exposed to them late in the day or at night can contribute to sleep problems."

(http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21628916.500-tunable-light-bulbs-could-help-you-sleep-better.html)

Probably the real reason why the benevolent bulb manufacturers expect us to use their bulbs for only 2 to 3 hours a day... :rotfl:

Norman_Castle

I've got a ikea bulb in the bathroom which is about 10 years old despite more than average on-off switches. When I bought it ikea had its annoying display of 10 incandesant bulbs and 10 low energy bulbs connected to individual meters to show the savings. How many ikea stores are there?. How much did that waste?. In ikea recently I noticed they have direction arrows on the floor projected from the ceiling. Pointless.
I've had bulbs fail repeatedly in two different fittings. Both times I have found loose connections in the fitting. After fixing this the bulbs have not failed.

Annenon

I think it's the 'luck of the draw' with these things. We've got some energy bulbs, that were given away free, which are about 20 years old and still going strong and yet others that have blown within weeks.

As an aside, we've just had to replace our living room ones with the spotlight variety - only because a certain person in our household put the wii-mote through the existing fitting - I'm wondering how long these will last (barring wii-mote accidents)

SkyeKnight

SpammyTheSpammer wrote: »

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.

Energy companies were heavily subsidising or given away energy saving light bulbs a few years ago because they had certain energy saving targets and this was cheaper than insulation or renewables. They were banned from doing this in about 2010 and that's why they have shot up in price.

camaro

I have 2 Ikea low energy lamps in glass table lamps in my front room, and have never turned them off since the day I put them in (so it looks like someone is in the house). They're coming up on 10 years old now!

lazer

I hate the low energy bulbs - they take an age to light up, they do not look right in some table tamps, wall fittings etc and are expensive.

Also - theya re a false economy in my opinion - any I have had seem to last about 3 years, and the old incandescant bulbs last about a year (or much more!) - I moved into my house a year ago, and think I have only replaced 1 light bulb to date and they are all the old style bulbs.

I find the incandescant bulbs in Poundshops, hardware stores etc and stock up on them!

Also - the old bulbs give out heat which can sometimes be a desired side effect!

SpammyTheSpammer

Someone posted that they paid £8 for one lightbulb - their post has been removed but my comment remains.

!!!!!! happened there?