General Chat

The difference between the mercury in fillings and fish and that in these light bulbs is we can put fish and fillings in the bin. The advice for disposing of energy saving bulbs is to wrap them up and take them for special disposal at the dump!!
Seems to negate the energy saved when you have to make a special trip to the dump with one light bulb!!
And yet again - what about those of us who don't drive?

maggie

We have used low energy lighting ever since it came out, and if you allow ashort time for them to come up to full light I find them quite OK. We have them in nearly every light in our house, but you do need to hav eone which gives ahigher light than 60watt. It is much better to have abright light in the winter, subdued light can be very romantic but useless if you want to read, sew or follow a hobby, also dim light can be very depressing. Jean

I have been using them for over 25 years and in the beginning they were great heavy things. However - government and manufacturers should get together as in the past 12 months - 6 light fittings in our home have had to be changed and I could not get anything suitable which would take these bulbs - yet the old lampshades etc did.

Although I said earlier that the box said they are unsuitable for dusk to dawn timers, OH has just informed me we have one in the balcony light and have had for years

My o.h. who works with electricity in his job, bought a couple of low energy bulbs from a pound shop and put one in his table lamp - it started smoking and had to be taken out immediately. i did contact trading standards and they took details and said they would be in touch but I never heard from them again.
I would only use the bulbs in places where they are on a long time, like the hall way which is a bit gloomy.
Lizx

The migraine thing doesn't surprise me one bit. My migraines have definitely been more frequent since we had low energy bulbs.

I had never made the connection, but I have been plagued by migraines over Christmas and New Year, then my Dad told me about the report in the Daily Mail. It all makes sense now. I have been trapped in the house a lot longer without getting out in natural daylight and only getting light from these bulbs.

Dianne xx

Opps! OH was fitting one a couple of wks ago and it broke as he tried to fit it!!!! Don't ask me where it went haven't a clue

Norah

Like all Flourescent lights, Marion, they dont like being repeatedly switched off......it is more efficient to leave them on, rather than on and off every couple of minutes......

Bob

Not sure if this has been mentioned but, I read on one of my bulb boxes that you can't use them with a timer either...dont ask me why though lol.

Marion

How I agree with your sentiment, Colin.
Does anyone rememeber when mobile phones first came out? There was a warning, not to put them in your pocket (especially men) as they coiuld cause sterility.
Suddenly this warning was removed..
Had new technology altered this possibility?
No.
The warning was putting people off buying the phones. There hasn't been an enquiry about whether or not initial fears were true or not, probably because big business is what really runs this country. But the general concensus amongst scientists is that the chemicals/radiation etc that comes from the phones isn't good for you.

maggie

No Peter the Government will simply move the goal posts as they always do - as their motto must surely be ''dont let the truth get in the way of a load of bull****''

Colin so true. Flourescent lamps can't be dimmed, nor have they found a way to recreate "mood" lighting or spotlights.

The are only really of use if kept on for long periods, such as a porch light which is the only use we have for one.

Apparently they are working on dimmable ones but this needs new technology which does not yet exist, at least to a level that it could go into production.

So this will be another target failure for this government then?

I heard the report.
Low energy bulbs can also cause eczma and cause worse eczma in those already suffering.
However, when bulb manufacturers say they are phasing out incandescent bulbs - they reckon they are only phasing out the 'mushroom' shaped ones.
Many of my fittings won't take low energy bulbs, either the shade is the wrong shame, or, when they are in the room is so gloomy the bulb is useless!!
Has anyone else tried using a low energy bulb with a main light fitting using a shade that takes a 60 watt maximum? I tried it in my bathroom - it was ridiculous!!
Personally, I think choice is slowly being denied to the general public, not just in bulbs, but in many things.

maggie

The light output does take a time to come up to full strength when you switch a low energy bulb on but the brightness depends on what size you use, just like a conventional bulb for eg a 8 watt low energy bulb gives out 40 watt and 11 watt low energy gives out 60 watt of light output...from a 'soft colour bulb'
..I have just read the 'advice panel' on our Philips low energy bulb which states:
''Not suitable for dimming, electronic switches, photocells, timing devices and dusk to dawn sensors. Not suitable for fully closed luminiares''

So pretty b****y iseless then!

We are fooling ourselves if we think that energy saving bulbs will save the planet.

They won't, by all means use them when appropriate, but the impact they have on our total consumption is negligible. No one has yet come clean and said what the cost to make them is yet viz a viz the so called benefit.

It is all a bit like saying we should take a bucketful of water out of the local river when it is running high, to stop it breaking the banks.

they dont do much for your eyes either,,,they are so dim,,,,,,,,, my mum took all hers out,,,,they make everything gloomy....more light from a torch,,,,,,,,,,

Not sure about that Colin, hope I am not confusing everyone.

I have a habit of popping light bulbs, I switch them on and they pop, so this scares me.

You cant use low energy bulbs with dimmer switches either so I'm told and what about the halogen spots in the kitchen, are they being phased out as well?

WE WERE JUST GOING TO CHANGE ALL
OURS

I did think about that Angel - esp for my downstairs loo - but 'normal' bulbs are being phased out and in a few years you will only be able to buy low energy (although I still havent found one that fits the small tiffany lamps in our bedroom). So we need to start getting used to it now.

I wonder what will happen to spotlights - I havent seen them low energy yet either.