I had been thinking about getting in a stock of low energy light bulbs but was put off when I saw that they were £3.50 each. Went into Homebase at the weekend and they were £1.99 each, but buy one, get one free, so effectively £1 each. I bought enough to do the whole house, so I will start to use them once the existing normal ones blow.
same price in Poundland.
Just to give you an idea of the difference, during the build of two houses, before we had connected them to the mains. We were powering them by a small portable generator feeding two pairs of 300w floodlights. The light from these was marginal at best and had the generator labouring quite a bit. Eventually we got the houses all wired up though still running of the generator and since everything was new we fitted these energy saving bulbs. Well found that we could switch on both houses, about 20 bulbs each without any real change in the generator speed, quite amazing really and the lighting was vastly better than the original floodlights!
I did the same recently, bought some on the internet.
The low energy aspect is great but the problem with them is that because they are based on fluorescent technology the colour temperature of the light
is very high 3500k and in some cases as high as 4200k (Kelvin).
At this temperature the light is very blue and cold. Ok for industrial applications, but not so good for the home IMHO.
This is particularly true of the low cost lamps imported from the far east.
The more expensive lamps from major european manufacturers like Philips are a much better colour. I guess its another of those you get what you pay
for situations.
i have then at home but only behind frosted glas shades to give them a better colour
Whatever you do, don't go to B&Q for these bulbs!
We bought a standard lamp from a lighting shop near Bury St Edmunds, and got a GE miniature low-energy bulb to go in it, for £3 extra. Was so
impressed with its colour and brighness we decided to get another for a different lamp fitting. Went to B&Q - £7.50 for an identical bulb!
Eventually got one in Wilkinsons for £3-and-a-bit.
Got the same result for a pack of 4 downlighter bulbs - £7-something in Wilkinsons, £15-something in B&Q.
I don't care what their adverts say - B&Q is one of the most expensive DIY outlets around, and that's including the independent
retailers.
</rant>
David
yeah just look at what they charge for a bolt!!
Waste of time --- personally think I will wait for LED based lighting
With the current low engergy bulbs apart from the disadvantages mentioned because of the start up delay they are only ok for lights that are switched
for long periods at a time --- also they don't save as much energy as claimed, although a lot of tungsten bulbs engergy is heat the heat outout
is actually pretty useful heat in a domestic situation.
The life of low energy bulbs is actually a lot less than is claimed particularly where they are constantly switched on and off --- the start-up delay
gets longer and often they start to flicker before they fully warm up.
The light output also reduces slowly with age
quote:
Originally posted by 02GF74
same price in Poundland.
quote:
Originally posted by britishtrident
Waste of time --- personally think I will wait for LED based lighting
With the current low engergy bulbs apart from the disadvantages mentioned because of the start up delay they are only ok for lights that are switched for long periods at a time --- also they don't save as much energy as claimed, although a lot of tungsten bulbs engergy is heat the heat outout is actually pretty useful heat in a domestic situation.
The life of low energy bulbs is actually a lot less than is claimed particularly where they are constantly switched on and off --- the start-up delay gets longer and often they start to flicker before they fully warm up.
The light output also reduces slowly with age
quote:
Originally posted by BenB
quote:
Originally posted by 02GF74
same price in Poundland.
How much are they in poundland then?