more econess....

julian2002

julian2002

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hi,
i'm slowly changing all my lightbulbs to those low wattage, last for 5 year jobbies as tescos is knocking them out at 2quid each. i have 2 dimmer lights in my lounge and was wondering if there were any that were suitable for use with this kind of switch. the 'standard' ones do not seem to be.
cheers


julian.
 
Hmmm not sure shopping at tesco is particularly eco friendly though. They do have a habbit of importing everything by air and buying from rather dubious sources etc.
 
The cheaper versions of eco. friendly lights I've seen have much shorter life expectancy than the standard ones, and the last time I checked, going by estimated lifetimes, usually work out more expensive.

So long as they last as long as claimed, they're well worth it as they'll save you money.

On the Eco. friendly front I know they definitely use less electricity, but does anyone know anything about the relative environmental impact of producing them compared to filament bulbs?
 
the lights are phillips - but on special offer at about 1/2 price. i'm using them at present in my bathroom and daughters room as both of these lights are left on for long periods in the evening and at night.
as for manufacturing i would expect them to be quite 'expensive' compared to filament bulbs purely due to economies of scale and process improvement. however i'd also expect this to improve if people start using them in preference to filament bulbs.
at present i'm getting about 3 months out of a bathroom lightbulb (usually going ping at turn on) if the eco bulb lasts for 1/2 the projected 5 years that's still 10 normal bulbs.
cheers


julian.
 
I have an osram one in my study.

The colour temp is rather odd (it's pinkish), and when first turned on it is very dim and greenish, rather dingy really. Takes about 5 minutes to warm up.

I was thinking of replacing the halogen bulbs in my bathroom with LED bulbs. However, even as bright as white LEDs are now, they're still only around 15-20W equivalent light output (whereas the halogens are 50).

I've recently done much for the energy efficiency of my home, however, by doing draught sealing and loft insulation....
 
I tried using these throughout my house but in my experience they give nothing like the lifetime claimed. I'm averaging 18 months life with them, so to my mind too expensive and I won't be buying them again.

Bob
 
Almost all the lightbulbs in the flat in Lisbon are Philips or Osram energy efficient ones and in 5 years I haven't yet had to replace one. The ones in the corridor are on for very long periods.

These days you can get them in various colour temps allthough ranging from similar to filament bulbs to very high temp "white" light bulbs. They do take 5 mins or so to warm up to full brightness.

To answer your question though Julian, I don't think they are suitable for use with dimmer switches.

Michael.
 
julian2002 said:
i have 2 dimmer lights in my lounge and was wondering if there were any that were suitable for use with this kind of switch. the 'standard' ones do not seem to be.
cheers


julian.
Click to expand...

No, they're basically folded fluorescents that rely on exciting a gas, as opposed to heating a filament. A filament will change temperature (and therefore light emission) as the dimmer switch alters the current, but the same thing won't work for the energy efficient types.
 
Haha. That does really answer virtually everything that I would like to know about these compact fluorescent light bulbs. It suggest there is a noteworthy shortening of the life span if the switch off time is less than 2 minutes.

I have converted all my lighting to either these or halogen which is extremely worthwhile especially those found in the common staircase. Before we have to change all 10 tungsten bulbs every 3 months which is a nuisance to replace and they blow out approx at the same time too. Try walking up stairs in total darkness. It has been 2 or maybe 3 years since we have to change any of those new compact fluorescent light bulbs.

Ikea always seem to have a good value on these bulbs. One difficulty I have is looking for bulbs that rate over 5000 K. They don't seem to be very popular in Scotland.

The next project would be to convert my amplifier to an eco friendly digital one. Is that not a good excuse to upgrade again? :rds2:
 
Bulbs including the expensive PAR20's (IIRC) in our kitchen at £9 a bulb, all seem to go within a short time of each other, planned obsolescence I call it.
 
The problem I have with these low energy bulbs is their length. Most lamps are not designed to take them so they stick out from the top (or bottom) of the shade and look stupid.
 
There's usually a compact bulb available somewhere that'll fit in to a fitting properly, you can even get one's small enough to fit into mains voltage halogen spotlights.

I bought some compact spiral lights for work from Bulbs, lamps and tubes direct that have lasted OK so far and give a nice daylight colour temp. They have a good selection of different size energy savers.
 
Ikea do some pretty compact fluorescent bulbs, for small lamps, only probnlem with theirs seems to be mostly available as (samll) edison screw, they are pretty cheap too.
 
analoguekid said:
Ikea do some pretty compact fluorescent bulbs, for small lamps, only probnlem with theirs seems to be mostly available as (samll) edison screw, they are pretty cheap too.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately they are also pretty crap. I've got six of them in two of those tall paper lantern type lamps, and I've had 6 bulbs go in three years - long life bulbs huh. (that said they chuck out a lot of light for a wattage rating equivalent to a single 60w standard bulb).
 
I've not had any problems with them, doubt they would last five years, but they last longer than tingsten or halogen and are pretty cheap, looks like the expensive ones don't last much longer.

Wow what a bunch of geeks we really are, discussing light bulbs, what next? :)
 
avanzato said:
There's usually a compact bulb available somewhere that'll fit in to a fitting properly, you can even get one's small enough to fit into mains voltage halogen spotlights.
Click to expand...

The problem with the compact bulbs is they are in wattages that are so dim you'd be better off not bothering ;) Anything less than 40 watts equivalent is pretty silly really, as you can't see squat with that sort of dimness...

Julian - do you leave the light ON in the bathroom in the evening? Using an energy saving bulb to just go for a pee or whatever uses FAR more energy than a standard tungsten one - IIRC switching a fluro bulb on can use as much energy as leaving a 60 watt bulb on for two hours - but that might be an old wives' tale...

Do Tescos Metro do these though? Could do with a couple more for the hall lights in our place... (and do they do candle ones?)

...and WHY do Pikea INSIST on using flipping screw-type bulbs??? I bought one by mistake 3 years ago and I've never forgiven them for it! Grrrr...
 
dom,
the bathroom light is more or less permanently on after 6pm. it kind of doubles as a 'hall / landing light' to illuminate the core of the house if you see what i mean. i leave a light on in case my kid gets up in the night. the bulb is equivalent to a 60w bulb but uses less than 1/3rd that many watts (18w iirc).
cheers


julian.
 

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