"Long Life Energy Saving" Lightbulbs

battleborn

The problem with them "cheap" low energy lamps is they are usually them big stick types that stick out of your lamp shade, they look ugly.

I wanted some that are bright but can hardly see, i looked everywhere and tried ever ready, tesco, asda etc but the best ones i found were made by a company called Lyveco i think its is pronounced live eco?

anyway i got this neat little 7w spiral, it was really small and just perfect for lamp shades, its just a shame these lyveco lamps are hard to find.

Has anyone else tried them?

JohalaReewi

Mini spiral lamps are great but not easy to find in the high street.
Plenty online though.

dianasnan

gregg1 wrote: »

I switched back to the old bulbs last year. Fed up of paying a fortune for bulbs which did not last. You can buy them on the internet.

You can still buy the old type which are now marketed as Heavy Duty bulbs to get around the legislation.
Aldi sell 60W and 100W ones along side the foil and clingfilm.

Herongull

When I had incandescent bulbs, I seemed to be replacing a bulb somewhere at least once a month. It was a hassle.

Ever since I've had low energy bulbs it is much more like once per year. This implies they last around 12 times as long. And much less faff.

You can get low energy bulbs in different shapes and sizes, and ones that give out white light, daylight light or warm golden light.

They save you loads in electricity and they look much nicer than those harsh incandescent bulbs.

What's not to like?

Azari

Herongull wrote: »

You can get low energy bulbs in different shapes and sizes, and ones that give out white light, daylight light or warm golden light.

They save you loads in electricity and they look much nicer than those harsh incandescent bulbs.

What's not to like?

1) You can't dim them.
2) They don't always last as long as they are claimed to.
3) They do not produce full brightness immediately.
4) Their colour balance is often unpleasant (and you don't find this out until you have got them home).
5) They do not produce as much light as their stated incandescent equivalent.

I find it horses for courses. In some areas I use CFL, in some standard incandescent, in some halogen and in some LED.

MarkBargain

For those buying incandescent lightbulbs, surely it is false economy given the price of electricity? If that 120w bulb is on for five hours a day for a year, it is using 219 KWH a year which is getting on for £30 on some tariffs.

Get LED bulbs, they use 10 times less electricity. They might cost a few quid but the good ones come with a 5 year guarantee. Keeping the receipt isn't difficult if it's electronic in an email!

SpammyTheSpammer

Show me the sums...

MarkBargain

SpammyTheSpammer wrote: »

Show me the sums...

120w x 5 hours = 0.6KWH.

0.6KWH x 365 days = 219KWH.

British Gas standard rate = 13.368p per KWh.

219 x £0.13368 = £29.28.

Nada666

A single person (with gas central heating) can spend £70 per year on incandescent lighting. Spending two or three pounds (or eight pounds if you must) on a bulb seems a no-brainer (if lighting colour is acceptable).

thor

Azari wrote: »

1) You can't dim them.
2) They don't always last as long as they are claimed to.
3) They do not produce full brightness immediately.
4) Their colour balance is often unpleasant (and you don't find this out until you have got them home).
5) They do not produce as much light as their stated incandescent equivalent.

This is the one which annoys me the most. I know tests must have been done proving the equivalences but when I swap from an incandescent to low energy of the same rating, it is always significantly dimmer. I hate dimly lighted rooms!