Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Nickbat]

Need to get some before the loophole is closed. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/9498092/Retailers-avoid-ban-on-traditional-light-bulbs.html

[Martian]

The ban only applies to incandescent lamps sold for domestic use, rough service lamps will still be available as they have always been (our local CEF sells 10x 100W lamps for £2.50).

[dbug]

Still on sale from CPC (Farnell)

[Rods2]

The true cost of running incandescent light bulbs stated in the article is untrue. The energy the bulb produces as heat is only wasted during the summer, when the lights are on the least due to the long daylight hours. During the autumn / winter / spring they help heat a room and offset other heating costs.

I bought 100 60w candle bulbs off ebay before they were outlawed as CFLs cannot be dimmed, don't look right and no 60w equivalent CFL candle bulb is available anyway.

It makes me laugh where the article talks about house insurance terms as replacing incandescent bulbs with non-dimerable CFLs where there is a dimmer switch is dangerous.  Even if the dimmer is turned fully up the CFL will still overheat and may catch fire. So why is there no warning on this?

Sometime the EU total incompetence works in our favour, unfortunately most of the time it doesn't. 

Vote UKIP

[sassanach]

i've got about 100off 100w bulbs in stock anyway so i will not be running out any time soon.

[Rods2]

No sign of DD with rough and service in the title. 

[cleggy]

No sign of DD with rough and service in the title. 

 

[Martian]

as CFLs cannot be dimmed[/highlight], don't look right and no 60w equivalent CFL candle bulb is available anyway.

They can be dimmed, but you can't use a standard dimmer switch.

[TheBoy]

When a bulb blows here, I do tend to replace with the energy efficient type, mostly for an odd reason - when a bulb blows, it often knows out the lighting trip. And no matter how many times I tell here to keep the cupboard with the fusebox clear and tidy, it falls on deaf ears 

I use cfl's in leadlamps as well, as they are more robust than even RS.

I have a good stock of standard BC/ES pearl and clear bulbs, and a good stock of 60W RS (that I only use in the garage door opener), so I should be OK for my lifetime, assuming they don't degrade too much.

We've also put ES CFL's in the kitchen to replace the spotlights. The spotlights were heat scorching the fittings and ceiling over time. But the biggest advantage (power usage aside) is our kitchen is so much cooler now - before, under the spots, it used to be uncomfortably hot all the time.

[Kevin Wood]

before, under the spots, it used to be uncomfortably hot all the time.

That's the ironic thing.. 8 months of the year we are pumping heat into our houses anyway, so is the heat from a light bulb truly waste heat or does it offset the energy used by the central heating?

It's actually targeted to the rooms that are currently in use, too, unlike central heating.

The fact is that whilst it's common sense to use low energy bulbs in rooms that are in use for long periods of time, they are unfit for purpose in others where light is required on demand for short periods of time. I reckon there would need to be a serious case of Gandhi's revenge before the light in our downstairs loo (60w incandescent) used a significant amount of energy, yet when it's needed, it's needed now  . There's not normally the luxury of being able to warm up a CFL in advance. 

Ditto our kitchen. Used to have 8 50w GU10s. They were switched on on demand. OK, used a lot of energy when we were cooking in there for a few hours, but when popping in there for a beer or some munchies, they were ideal. Instant light. They have now been changed for 9w GU10 CFLs, which get left on all evening because they take relatively little power but take an age to reach full brightness.

Why we can't be trusted to make our own minds up regarding what bulb suits what application I don't know. I could waste a lot more energy by going out and buying a V12, and nobody has banned them yet.. or do I speak too soon?

[TheBoy]

I agree with Kevin Wood - we should be given the choice.  Because I want the choice, I have good stocks of the older stuff.

As for warm-up time, the freebie's the energy firm keep sending me are pretty good TBH. The killers in our house are the Megamann ones in the lunge (golfball type), which take a couple of mins. Though I haven't bothered changing them, as we live in lounge, so lights are virtually always on when we're there.

[TheBoy]

Oh, and BTW Kevin Wood, after last night's Naga Chicken, I've spent more than enough time in the bathroom for the bulbs to warm up - though thats not the hottest thing in here today 

[Kevin Wood]

The killers in our house are the Megamann ones

Those are the GU10s we have in the kitchen IIRC. 

I have always wondered about the tradeoff between warmup time and lifetime of CFL bulbs, as it seems to be the quality ones that are slow to start up. Makes me think they've got proper current limiting to protect the tube when cold.

Anyway, this is the tip of the iceberg. We'll soon be forced to use LEDs, then people will be stockpiling candles so they can have a decent level of light.

[Kevin Wood]

Oh, and BTW Kevin Wood, after last night's Naga Chicken, I've spent more than enough time in the bathroom for the bulbs to warm up - though thats not the hottest thing in here today 

Thanks for that.

[TheBoy]

as it seems to be the quality ones that are slow to start up. Makes me think they've got proper current limiting to protect the tube when cold.

Quite possibly, but with a never ending supply of free ones, who cares about lifetime .

It's only the 'specialist' bulbs I had to buy, and bought quality.