Energy saving Light Bulbs

johntheexpat

I have no idea, but have been using them with timers (both 'mechanical' and electronic) for quite a while.  Perhaps I have been risking a major catastrophe without realising it!  But will carry on and report back if disaster strikes.

nheather

I suspect the manufacturers are covering themselves.

The electrical profile (spikes etc.) may be different and there may be a possibility (however small) that this might not be compatible or damage some designs of electronic timer.  BUt I suspect the risk is very small.

Another possibility are these push timer lights (that work by spring) that are often used in stairways and hallways in flats and apartment blacks to prevent the landlord picking up a big bill when they are left on.

I've seen ones where you only get 30 secs.  Imagine this scenario.  Landlord replaces normal bulb with cheapo Tesco LE bulb.  Frail little old lady presses the switch, the LE bulb splutters and flickers for 10-15 secs before it comes on to full brightness.  Little old lady starts walking down the stairs gets halfway and is plunged into darkness.  Little old lady tumbles and is injured or worse - she sues the landlord.  Makes the papers and Tesco is higlighted as contributing to the death\accident.  So perhaps that's why they put the restriction on the packaging.

Cheers,

Nigel

johntheexpat

Nigel!  You are so cynical  

Chris Muriel

Go for the 30% saving of switching to halogen based equivalent size/fitting bulbs; these are dimmable and so it's a straight swapover without throwing away your dimmers and with 30% energy saving (vs close to 80% with full LE).
As with full LE bulbs, look out for offers at various supermarkets and DIY stores.

nheather

I've not notice (or aware) of halogen bulbs other than the conical spots (like GU10s).

I must have a look if they come in different fittings and sizes.

Cheers,

Nigel

Chris Muriel

Some examples :
OSRAM|Consumer|Home Lighting|Halogen lamps|Product overview|Screw bases|ENERGY SAVER|index

I often find them on offer in places like Sainsburys.

nheather

No small baynonets (which seems to be a common problem with all the LE) but the small screw , small globe look interesting.  Depends on the price compared with my normal golf-balls.

Cheers,

Nigel

Lee_JTD

Some timers have a small trace current running through them when they are off. So by putting a CFL low energy lamp in you will either find the bulb goes very quicky, or it will destroy your timer.

Some timers now say on the packaging suitable for low enery bulbs, in which case they will be fine.



For those saying about the 'guarantee' eg. 8000 hours, it doesn't exist. The packaging is very misleading. I'm unsure what size sample is used when testing the bulbs, but the 8000 hours is when 50% of the bulbs tested had already failed.

KelvinS1965

A while ago I bought some single LED 12V 3 watt lamps from a shop called Ecostreet, they had a shop within a garden centre near Oxford (Yarnton). They are very bright, if a little 'blue' but I put them in my enterance hall and landing as they are the two areas that the kids tend to leave on. Unfortunately Ecostreet seem to have gone bust/dissapeared, but I'd like to buy some more of these lamps or the similar 240volt version that they sold. They were about £15 each, so not cheap, but supposedly they will last for 40 years (unlike the shop ).

We are redoing our kitchen and it's the last room that I haven't put low energy lamps in (apart from an odd one or two halogen ones where there are mirrors as the women complained about the colour effecting their makeup process ). I'd like to be able to buy something that I've seen working, so any other supplier that has a shop would be considered.

HMHB

I've found an energy saving light bulb that works with dimmer switches!

Switched to energy saving light bulbs sometime ago, but had a major problem with flickering in the lounge as the bulb wasn't compatible with my dimmer switch.

But recently discovered the Osram Dulux El Dim - currently the only fully dimmable energy saving bulb. However, there are plans for more to be developed later this year.  If you run a search in Google, you'll find loads of places that sell the Osram.

Clare

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