LocostBuilders - powered by XMB

Energy Saving bulbs (household)

Simon - 13/1/09 at 12:21 AM

New one installed on 16th Dec, stopped working last night, lasted just over

THREE WEEKS

Emailed the manufacturer and asked for a freepost address and details when they'll be replacing it!

ATB

Simon

A1 - 13/1/09 at 01:14 AM

i hate those things, they go really dull as they get old, we used one as a trial, but ended up going back to old ones...
also apparently theyre filled with mercury gas...nice and healthy when broken!!
i also think they use tonnes of energy to start...

Steve P - 13/1/09 at 06:32 AM

Yep had a sparky in the weekend and he was saying they are awful on start up but ok IF left on.

Danozeman - 13/1/09 at 07:38 AM

Dont buy the cheap ones!! Theyr crap. Iv got philips ones in every light in my house. Excellent things!! Especially when u have a wife that has the hole house lit up for the dust mites.

Mr Whippy - 13/1/09 at 07:41 AM

I totally love them tungsten bulbs are band in my house. The mercury issue is not an issue unless you break them, so don't I've only done that once since they first came out its not like they explode or anything and we've had strip lights for decades and NOW its an issue, please...

smart51 - 13/1/09 at 08:02 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Simon
New one installed on 16th Dec, stopped working last night, lasted just over

THREE WEEKS

Take it back to the shop for a refund. It is clearly not fit for purpose.

smart51 - 13/1/09 at 08:05 AM

quote:
Originally posted by A1
i also think they use tonnes of energy to start...

Not exactly. 10 or 20 seconds worth perhaps. So for the first 10 or 20 seconds, you're only saving 60% rather than 80%.

One thing I would suggest, buy bulbs that are "equivelent" to the size above the one you want as the manufacturers are a bit "optimisitc".

Mr Whippy - 13/1/09 at 08:12 AM

I don't see many people complaining about the halogen spot lights, very strange considering the whacking heap of power they use (all the time) and their pathetic lifespan. No they moan about the bulbs that for the first time are so long lasting and cheap to run they can just be left on. How typical

nick205 - 13/1/09 at 08:15 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Danozeman
Dont buy the cheap ones!! Theyr crap. Iv got philips ones in every light in my house. Excellent things!! Especially when u have a wife that has the hole house lit up for the dust mites.

Aint that the truth - I get untold flack for turning lights off and switching things off and moaning loudly about it.

I'm thinking of changing the gas and leccy direct debits to come out of the wife's account in the hope that it might help her focus on the issue

Mr Whippy - 13/1/09 at 08:34 AM

if you think that’s bad my missy thinks the house should be at 25 degs (there are thermometers on the walls!) and if it drops below that its FREEZING! Its like a sauna to me

kipper - 13/1/09 at 09:19 AM

Just a thought .....can you use them with dimmer switches.??????
Kipper.

Mr Whippy - 13/1/09 at 09:22 AM

quote:
Originally posted by kipper
Just a thought .....can you use them with dimmer switches.??????
Kipper.

no they just start to flicker, none available yet for these kind of bulbs

smart51 - 13/1/09 at 09:31 AM

quote:
Originally posted by kipper
Just a thought .....can you use them with dimmer switches.??????
Kipper.

I have a dimmable CFL bulb. Switch it off then on again within a second and the light fades up and down slowly. Switch it off at the required brightness and then on again and it remembers the brightness until the next time you reset it. Its a bit of a faff but better than nothing. Its actually a good bulb too. It is very bright at its brightest setting and doesn't warm up slowly.

ReMan - 13/1/09 at 09:46 AM

I think they're great and every non-dimmed light in our house has them, I reckon it is saving me money.
The kitchen alone had 2 banks of 3x 60W spotlights that are on most of the time, sppecially in winter. They would use 1 unit every 3 hours and a unit is about 12p? so if they were on for 6 hours a day then thats Ł7.20 a month.
The low calorie ones are 11 w so cost Ł1.32 mth so Ł6 month saved just on lighting the kitchen

dhutch - 13/1/09 at 10:26 AM

quote:
Originally posted by smart51
I have a dimmable CFL bulb. Switch it off then on again within a second and the light fades up and down slowly. Switch it off at the required brightness and then on again and it remembers the brightness until the next time you reset it. Its a bit of a faff but better than nothing. Its actually a good bulb too. It is very bright at its brightest setting and doesn't warm up slowly.

Blood 'ell thats a bit clever!

We have a pair of dimable cfl's in our house in the lving room, but they work through the dimmer unit.
- The effect isnt bad, there dont dim very smoothly and can flicker a bit. But the main issue is they have a startup time of about 2seconds. Which is really annoying after a while.

Gererally im not a fan of CFLs.
- They generally use more than there rated at, as the rating is sually the energy output to the tube rather than the total used apprently. (so a 20w will use about 25 or more)
- Also a 11w catagorically doesnt put out as much light as a standard 60w. A 20w CFL is a far better match for a 60w incandent.
- And finally, having cut 50% of the energy you put in with the lgiht bulb. All you have to do is up the heating ever so slightly to compenstate!

They have there use, partiualarly in boats/caravens/racetrailers etc where your running off batterys.

However for domestic in-house use the only real saving is about 50% of not very much. During summer.

Daniel

Mr Whippy - 13/1/09 at 11:42 AM

well like them or not the old ones are going to be banned by 2011 so stock pile them now

BenB - 13/1/09 at 12:17 PM

I like the "low energy" ones when I get them but they seem to get worse with time. I've got a Philips one in my living room that is apparantly about 100W (I got the 60W one and you could hardly tell it was on even when it had warmed up!!). Trouble is with time it's getting dimmer and dimmer and dimmer.

I think after about 9 months it's down to the 60W level....

Meanwhile I've got other Philips ones that have last much longer without a drop-off of light levels. Strange....

carpmart - 13/1/09 at 12:18 PM

The only thing I would say against the low energy bulbs is that the light is a little 'flat' compared with 'original' bulbs!

I can't help thinking LED bulbs would be a better way to go? I haven't seen any available to replace household bulbs, are they?

stevebubs - 13/1/09 at 12:53 PM

quote:
Originally posted by carpmart
The only thing I would say against the low energy bulbs is that the light is a little 'flat' compared with 'original' bulbs!

I can't help thinking LED bulbs would be a better way to go? I haven't seen any available to replace household bulbs, are they?

I've seen them to replace the MR16 spotlights (have replaced the MR16 bulbs in the lights over the bed with blue LED equivaltents as they're not so intrusive if SWMBO is sleeping and I want to read.

Not seen them for standard bulbs, though

stevebubs - 13/1/09 at 12:53 PM

quote:
Originally posted by carpmart
The only thing I would say against the low energy bulbs is that the light is a little 'flat' compared with 'original' bulbs!

I can't help thinking LED bulbs would be a better way to go? I haven't seen any available to replace household bulbs, are they?

smart51 - 13/1/09 at 12:59 PM

I bought a few LED candle bulbs They look quite nice and the quality of the light was good but there just wasn't enough of it. four 1W bulbs were just too dim even in the kitchen. I sent them back. They'll be fantastic as soon as someone realises that you need 10W - 15W to light up a room.

A few companies like Cree make 1W leds (rather than having 20 LEDs to make 1W) and they are blindingly bright. We just need someone to make a bulb out of them.

Marcus - 13/1/09 at 01:36 PM

LED bulbs are on the way, will be on the market later this year. I'm waiting for them rather than traditional energy savers.

A1 - 13/1/09 at 02:52 PM

dont LEDs give you very direct light? i have an inspection lamp in the garage, but i use the tungsten one more cause it lights up a wider area...
LED bulbs would be rather snazzy though!

Dusty - 13/1/09 at 03:13 PM

I don't see why we can't have both. You could use the one you prefer or have a mix in the house which is what I do. Kitchen hall landing sitting room have lights on lots of the time so low energy. Bedroom, bog, use tungsten.
Electricity pricing is inevitably forcing people to be cost and usage conscious. The vast majority of people are moving in the 'politicaly' right direction to save money and carbon footprint is reducing as a consequence. Why nanny us with restrictive legislation? The only reason I can see is that many people don't like them which suggests they don't do the job as well as the item they replace. If they did we would need no incentive or force to make us all change.
Invent the perfect mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door!

JonBowden - 13/1/09 at 03:40 PM

ok, lets compare old-fashioned 100w with new 100w equivalent (say 25w)

old fashioned
lasts for about 1000hrs

New
lasts for about 6000hrs (often more)

over the 6000hr life of the modern bulb, it will consume:
6000 x 25 = 150000watt hours = 150kwh
at 10p per kwh, thats Ł15

over 6000 hours, the old filament bulb will consume:
6000 x 100 = 600000 watt hours = 600kwh
at 10p per kwh, thats Ł60

The modern energy saving bulb will save you about Ł45 per bulb

Perhaps some of you look at things differently but I think that ends the arguement.
We ban old filament bulbs in this house.

smart51 - 13/1/09 at 03:49 PM

swapping a 100W bulb for a 20W energy saver in every house in the country would save the UK 1 power station (with 4x 660 MW generating sets). This assumes that every house in the country has an average of 1 light on during winter evenings.

The UK is going to decommission about 15 power stations in the comming few years and now can't build replacements fast enough because locals block planning wherever one is planned to be sited. Reducing consumption will reduce future power cuts. Perhaps what we need are fewer NIMBYs.

David Jenkins - 13/1/09 at 07:56 PM

I have changed all the bulbs in our house that get left on for significant times (i.e. more than a couple of minutes). Where I just going, do what needs doing, and come out again (e.g. the toilet) then I haven't bothered - by the time the light's warmed up properly I've turned it off.

The only place where I haven't yet made the change is in the kitchen - I have six 50W downlighters that provide the main lighting (a few fluo strips under the cabinets provide the rest). I really want to change these as they use a lot of power, aren't very reliable, and a PITA to change. The trouble is that the only GU10 low-power replacements that are worth having are 20mm or so too long for the fittings (see link below). They're also very expensive. There are some LED ones but they're only recommended for highlighting, rather than main lighting.

This place is a good on-line supplier, and gives a lot of plain-speaking advice about what works and what doesn't.

EnergyBulbs

Simon - 13/1/09 at 08:17 PM

The bulb that lasted three weeks was made by Philips and was in the loo, so it's not exactly had a hard life.

Philips have yet to reply to email.

Can't take bulb back cos I think it was "freeby" from the council or other bunch of do gooders.

ATB

Simon

JonBowden - 13/1/09 at 10:24 PM

quote:

it was "freeby" from the council or other bunch of do gooders

So what you grumbling about then?

These are cheap disposable items. Most last for ages but occasionally, like any piece of electronics, one fails early.

I buy only cheap ones (often Phillips). The whole house runs with them. If I remember right, I only had to change ONE last year.
They are just plain good.

But if you really want to use old filament bulbs . . .

[Edited on 13/1/09 by JonBowden]

02GF74 - 13/1/09 at 10:46 PM

quote:
Originally posted by kipper
Just a thought .....can you use them with dimmer switches.??????

locost way would be to narrow your eyes a bit.

[Edited on 13/1/09 by 02GF74]

Mix - 14/1/09 at 04:01 AM

Hi

Is it an 'urban myth' that low energy bulbs need to be on for about twenty minutes for the start up energy requirement to equal that of a standard bulb over the same period?

Regards Mick

jabs - 14/1/09 at 05:21 PM

Just been to Tesco and the low energy bulbs are Ł1 each or 5 for 40p

any mix of 9w and 11w

does that pricing make any sence ??

But thats cheap