Light bulbs banned

[Lancashire Lad]

It seems that a few people are still prepared to spread falsehoods regarding Compact Fluorescent Lamps, based on what can only be ignorance, hearsay, or their inability / unwillingness to understand the environmentally friendly benefits these lamps can provide.

A few facts: -

Do they really have short lifespan?
There are various qualities of CFL available, and like most things, you generally get what you pay for. Some of the very cheap lamps are produced in the far east, and are of significantly inferior quality (Resulting in a very inexpensive purchase, but short lifespan, lengthy period required to attain full brightness, inferior light output for the rated wattage, etc. etc.) – thus leading misguided people to the conclusion that all such lamps are no good. Purchasers should only buy CFL’s with the ‘Energy Saving Recommended’ logo on the box, and from the recognised major manufacturers. You should get a minimum 8000 hours lifespan from any reputable CFL, and in some instances significantly longer.

Does Frequent switching significantly reduce their lifespan?
CFL’s are intended to be used in situations where they will be left on for some time. They are designed around a minimum of 3000 switching cycles over the 8000 hours lifespan normally advised. (Obviously applies to reputable manufacturers product only). There are certain “Heavy Duty” CFL’s available, which are designed to half a million switching cycles, and 15000 hours lifespan, but these are not generally available at high street retailers, and are more expensive. It can be seen then that CFL’s should be used in occupied rooms, and not in short occupancy areas such as hallways and stairwells.

Do they really take “hours” to attain full brightness?
Quality CFL’s do take a short time to warm up to full brightness, particularly in a cold space. However if they carry the ‘Energy Saving Recommended’ logo, they will reach at least 60% of their full brightness in 60 seconds, and they will be to all intents fully bright within a couple of minutes.

Do they really use up a lot of electricity when switching them on and off?
Reputably manufactured CFL’s will use an amount of electricity equivalent to about 2 minutes use, during a switching cycle.

Can they be used with dimmer switches?
Standard CFL’s are not designed to be used with dimmers, and their use with dimmers should not be attempted. However, dimmer compatible CFL’s are now coming onto the market, and purchasers should check on the packaging, or with the seller, to ensure compatibility.

Are they really full of mercury?
Typical mercury content is under 4 milligrams per lamp. Considering that coal fired power stations release mercury into the atmosphere when generating electricity, over the lifespan of the lamp, much more mercury would be emitted by the electricity required to run normal tungsten filament lamps than the amount in a CFL. (And this is to say nothing of the sulphur and nitrogen oxides etc. that would also be released by the power stations increased generating requirement).

Are they really of any environmental benefit?
Due to the much more complex design, and taking all stages of the raw material procurement and manufacturing processes into consideration, it takes about 4kWh of electricity to produce a CFL, against only 1kWh to produce a tungsten filament lamp. However, this fourfold manufacturing energy cost is easily offset during the lifespan of the average CFL. They will last between 6 and 15 years depending on which wattage and product type you choose. You will save a minimum of 75% of the energy you would burn with a tungsten filament bulb.

The bottom line is really simple, it is a ”No Brainer”. - Use them where they are designed to be used, and you will save yourself quite a bit of money, and be kind to the environment at the same time.

Regards
Mike.

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by StuartDH

One 100W bulb at the top of the stairs, left on from 9pm to 7am every night. Assuming electiricty costing 10p a kWh (cheap!) and you've got a the total cost of running of £36.50 per year.

Change it to a 20W CFL and it'll cost just £7.30 and you save £29 on just one lightbulb in your house

Stu

or of course you could just turn all the lights off when you go to bed and save the whole 36.50

[StuartDH]

Originally Posted by eeyore

or of course you could just turn all the lights off when you go to bed and save the whole 36.50

OK, no need to show off, just coz you're not afraid of the stair monster when it all goes dark

[Meta menardi]

Originally Posted by StuartDH

OK, no need to show off, just coz you're not afraid of the stair monster when it all goes dark

I really wish you hadn't mentioned the S. M.

Shan't sleep for weeks.

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by StuartDH

OK, no need to show off, just coz you're not afraid of the stair monster when it all goes dark

I live in a bungalow and anyway Chris, Maximus, Marvin, and Wellington (my soft mooses) will protect me should the stair monster get confused.

[john_roberts]

Quick reply from a Newbie

Sorry I haven't read all the thread in depth but I *have* been using Low energy flourescent lights with a timer unit for some years now. All my outside lighting was run using a timer I bought from T*sco IIRC, and there was a reason I bought it - I believe it had the capabilities of switching an inductive load, whereas a lot of the other timers I looked at couldn't. Anyway, it has (had) been in constant use, without failure, for over 5 years. The only reason I don't use it now is that I have low voltage MR16 LED lighting run from a dusk to dawn sensor, which saves even more electricity.

If anyone wants the details of the timer I can dig it out and have a look.

Hope this helps and sorry if this issue has already been addressed

Regards - John

[Capt_Lightning]

There are still plenty of ordinary lght bulbs to be had. I've stocked up on 60W and 100W bulbs, so I should be OK for a few years. Maybe by then, low energy lights will have none of their current disadvantages.

[cosmicma]

it's all a much of a muchness for me we change to CFL light bulbs to save energy which in my experience do not last as long as they claim regardless of manufacture
an example i bought a number of philips 2 in 1 nightlights costing as much as 10 quid each the idea is to put them on the landing and in the bathroom and use them on the dim setting during the night they didn't last long at all

back to what i was saying...
we use CFL bulbs to save energy etc... and buy a large plasma tv that uses upto 1kw of energy even the larger lcd tvs use about 200w which is more than the crt tv you replaced we have laptops, pc's even the kids have em
various game consoles etc.. surround sound the list goes on
the reality is changing your bulbs isn't going to change the world it's way beyond that

i think hydrogen powered cars is the way forward if we really want to make an impact just think how much difference that would make
of course the technology has to be perfected and done at a price the masses could afford but this is something that is available now

but while we are so dependant on oil it's not gonna happen there's too much money to be had

[tcvarlh]

Originally Posted by cosmicma

it's all a much of a muchness for me we change to CFL light bulbs to save energy which in my experience do not last as long as they claim regardless of manufacture
an example i bought a number of philips 2 in 1 nightlights costing as much as 10 quid each the idea is to put them on the landing and in the bathroom and use them on the dim setting during the night they didn't last long at all

I'm not certain but that could be the reason they didn't last. I don't think you can use them on a dimmer switch. I know the ones I have do state that on the carton. Yours may have been different though.

Ok back-reading thru' the thread would have been a good idea.

[John]

I have just found this thread but must admit that I haven't read it all.

I use low energy bulbs throughout my Bungalow and find they are excellent. They are certainly bright enough for my needs but I have a conflicting (and selfish) problem with the banning of certain bulbs and that is the Mercury Vapour bulb.

I do a lot of mothing and where I live the Actinic Moth traps are u/s but the MV bulbs pull in huge numbers of moths. I'm wondering what I can use to replace these bulbs that will still pull in the moths.

John