B****** Light Bulbs

[Mr Pig]

Now, I don't swear. Not in real life anyway, at least not very often, maybe if I loose my temper, but I've quite enjoyed 'pretending' to swear on this forum by posting a row of stars rather than actually swearing. My wife however has given me grief about it, as they do, and she's right, it's still swearing really. So before I give it up I'd like just one last fling...

Who the h*** are these b******* in Europe to tell us we can't have ordinary f****** light bulbs!!??

How f***ed is the reasoning? You can have as many plasma TV sets in your house as you like but you can't have a decent light bulb so you can read a book! I guess if you're a politician it's better that the proles watch TV than read.

We not talking about nuclear weapons or toxic chemicals here, it's light bulbs for f*** sake! Just an ordinary little light bulb, and the b******* have banned them! Be afraid, very afraid. Time to ask yourself what's next.

What you going to loose next? Because there's no way they'll stop with the light bulb, these idiots are on a mission. Are you going to just sit there and let them take your choices away?

B*******!!!!!!

 

[mr Mag00]

I think the introduction of energy saving light bulbs are a good thing, however i agree with you about the increase in power use elsewhere as your example power sucking tvs and surround systems whilst left on standby.

 

[Amanda P]

You can still have halogen light bulbs, and they're very good for reading. (Although you might have to buy a new standard lamp, it's true).

 

[Davidc]

If you use the current technology ones (around for about the last 2 years) they get to full brightness faster than your hand can work the switch. They are also considerably brighter than the 'equivalent' tungsten filament bulb with better colour rendering and a choice of colour temperature. They drop to the brightness of the 'equivalent' after about 6000 hours.

You do need to spend 20p or so more than the cheap ones to get decent performance though.

Much better than the old dingy yellowish flickering tungsten filament ones that last a couple of hours, fail, blow the fuses when they fail and damage their wiring with all the waste heat.

It isn't just Europe that's banned the victorian technology ones, it's most of the world, and the energy saving worldwide is massive.

 

[Globalti]

I'm afraid he's right.

 

[onlyhuman]

If you use the current technology ones (around for about the last 2 years) they get to full brightness faster than your hand can work the switch.

That's interesting. This is the first time I've heard about them. How can you tell if the lamp you are looking at is "the current technology"?

 

[Paulus]

I have the new bulbs throughout my house. I have no problems with the output from them. I do still have some of the first ones to come out, and they do take a few seconds to warm up. The new ones are much quicker.

 

[Davidc]

That's interesting. This is the first time I've heard about them. How can you tell if the lamp you are looking at is "the current technology"?

With a certain amount of difficulty, as they look the same. generally they're a bit more expensive and will state on the box that they're fast starting.

Here's a post I wrote earlier.

These are a range which I have used. There are others from other manufacturers.

http://www.save-the-penguin.com/en/f...bigperformance

I have seen graphs of start times, but can't find them at the moment - may have another look later. From memory the time to 90% intensity is temperature dependent, and at normal room temperatures is around 1/4 to 1/2 second. If you put one outside it does get long enough to notice.

The available colours are (from another part of the website):

Homelight. 2700°K.A very warm colour that mimics the tone of an incandescent light bulb. This soft smooth glow is ideal for creating a cosy atmosphere.

Coolwhite. 4000°K.This cool colour gives the impression of high quality white light, making things look clean and fresh.

Daylight. 6000°K.Natural light is the coolest, healthiest light source we know and the Daylight lamp mimics it perfectly, keeping you alert and active by day and night.

I've only bought them from a wholesale trade supplier, in the open style. I can't imagine that the ones in a round bulb are any different though.

There seem to be plenty of online retailers when googled.

I'll have to find another maker's web site if I post on this again!

On the other hand - I just replaced some very power hungry mini halogen spot lights with low energy ones. They take abou 5 minutes to brighten up, so i've put 1/3 of the old ones back to compensate.

 

[NickM]

That'll be "f***'s sake", not "f*** sake".

Or, if you're me, "fuck's sake"

 

[Davidc]

That'll be "f***'s sake", not "f*** sake".

Or, if you're me, "fuck's sake"

take the apostrophe out - makes it much more enjoyable

 

[gbb]

DavidC raises a valuable point, one which i (and probably just about everyone else) needs to investigate before buying.
I've found the new lamps worse than useless...its no surprise you see hundreds for sale for next to nothing at the carboot sales...very few people are impressed by them.
Have the energy companies (and ultimately the government) made a huge mistake by perhaps giving away millions of old technology lamps...cos they're bloomin useless. In doing so, they've alienated just about anyone thats tried the free ones.

I've stocked up on 100 and 60 watt tungsten lamps, i'm that unimpressed with the new ones.
Perhaps i need to do some homework ?

 

[zimzum42]

Someone somewhere made the point that the old ones contributed to heating your house in a small way, and since the new ones don't, you'll have to turn up the heating, costing you and the earth more...

 

[Globalti]

Someone somewhere is stupid.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

I have the new bulbs throughout my house. I have no problems with the output from them. I do still have some of the first ones to come out, and they do take a few seconds to warm up. The new ones are much quicker.

And me. I can't understand why everyone's making such a fuss about it.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Someone somewhere made the point that the old ones contributed to heating your house in a small way, and since the new ones don't, you'll have to turn up the heating, costing you and the earth more...

That's bollocks. I remember the interview on the radio and I thought the bloke was wrong then. It's not going to make a noticeable difference to how warm your house feels.