Lights On

[rose2008-2008]

Does anyone else balk at the price of Light Bulbs. I know some of the poundstretcher shops have a few sizes but not all. Its ridiculous. And there are so many different types it takes you ages to find what you want. When you buy packs sometimes you get one that does not work and its always the last one in the box you go to use. By then of course you have not got the receipt!!!. I have heard that soon it will be all Energy Saving Bulbs only??..I was going to say DAYLIGHT ROBBERY,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, that sounds like a good joke for this thread!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

[cookiecookuk]

we fitted a new kitchen light last week it cost £12 49 that included the 3 bulbs and then went to mr t's and looked at the bulbs to get a few spare and they were £8 each,  so £24 for 3.

how the h@ll do they work that one out....?????

so i can go to ar##s and buy 2 complete lights with bulbs less than just the bulbs ...

[calibra101]

I agree 100%. I bought 2 lights similar to these  for my landing and hallway, they take 8 small bulbs each. The bulbs are forever blowing and are expensive to replace. I now hate these lights, dont know what possessed me in the first place .

[ed_blackadder_1]

I agree also,, do you remember when they first came out energy saving bulbs were really cheap, and the energy companies kept giving them away, I still have loads in the cupboard that are useless because they don't fit any of my lights.

We have been looking for an energy saving bulb to go in our outside light, and we have eventually found one that can be used in enclosed lights and it is going to cost £15.00. riddiculous the life on it is 6 years, well if they are anything like some of the ones we have already that are supposed to last years.... they dont.

[bhgardeners]

Bought a new fitting for the kitchen.  Bulbs were about £6 a pack of 3 BUT we expectedthem to last longer than they do.  Have replaced 4 bulbs so far in 4 months(and there's only 3 in there!).  OH came home with some bulbs one day - just fitted the fiirst - can't remember which shop but £1.00 for 3, which whilst better des so not impress me at the usage rate

!.

[bitsnknots]

We've lived in this bungalow for nearly 12 years and just after we moved in, our nextdoor neighbour who is an electrician, put a new light fitting in the living room for us.  However, the bulbs don't last for long.  One went again earlier on and it cost a small fortune for bulbs.

[petitecalicocat]

We have energy saving bulbs &  we need to switch the light on 5 mins before going upstairs as the bulbs are so dim when first switched on ,   so how is that saving energy !

[peteryola]

When I bought this house 21 years ago, the first thing I did when I moved in was put energy saving bulbs everywhere.  I still have one of those original ones going strong.  Most of the others are about 5 - 6 years old; no complaints about them at all and to my mind the warm up ( which if you time it is only about 1½ minutes at the most ) is an advantage as it avoids the shock of a sudden bright light in your eyes.

[guardpig]

Not an advantage first thing in the morning when staggering downstairs, thank you.  

Anybody else object to the fact that not only are we expected to pay the earth for the blasted things but that we are also expected to put them in the car and take them to the tip because they can't go in the recyclig bin and they can't go in the general rubbish either - the chemicals inside are too dangerous!.  How is that saving the environment?  

The recently purchased energy bulbs seem to light up quicker but are certainly not lasting any longer than the old tungsten filaments did.

[rose2008-2008]

In my living room i have two sets of 3 lights ( which my ex put in,, i dont like them now) which take the Halogen silver lights. If you get them from cheaper stores they blow in five minuites,(if they work at all). But i did buy these from W*****OS and they have lasted a long time. I hate having three lights on each,,,wondering which ones going to blow next!!!!!!!!!!!!!. ITS INFURIATING. I m going to have to get them changed. The Energy saving bulbs i find are dim when you first put them on then they get brighter the longer their on for!.

[wskneil]

Much though I know I should be using energy saving environmentaly friendly bulbs, having seen the price of dimmable bullbs for our living room lights I went to Aldi and bought a box of good old fashioned light bulbs! Just ignored the "Heavy duty... not for dometsic use" written on the box

[aernethril]

I've got one of the halogen lightbulbs that's like a candle shaped light in an old bayonet fitting and it's lasted for years.

The so called original energy saving lightbulbs are also very toxic to produce, let alone disposing of them as mentioned.

And they are absolutely useless if not downright dangerous for using in areas where you do not want to leave the light on all the time, and they are not cost effective if you are like me - constantly turning unnecessary lights off.

The old type lightbulbs from the one pound type shops are really not safe - I bought a couple of packs for the same set up - a pair of 3-light sets, bayonet fittings and some screw-in ones and they not only blew after a very short time, they blew the fuse too and went with a huge 'pop'.  One even blew the fuse in the fuse box!

So I got in a good stock of decent bayonet lights for the lounge light sets a while back, but when they go, I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and get the halogen replacment bulbs and hope they last.

[aernethril]

Also, I did try one of the energy saving bulbs (the mercury ones) in the bathroom and that was when I discovered they completely change the colours of everything.

It's very very noticeable and it makes things that go well in daylight or old bulb-light look absolutely horrendous.

[spring_rabbit]

The new LED energy saving bulbs are brilliant, last for ever and use so little power, ok they cost a bit more but in the long term they are worth every penny. Instant brightness and give a light very close to the old filament bulbs

Replaced our old style 100W bulbs with the new 5W LED bulbs and am getting to replace as many other bulbs around the place as I can

[rose2008-2008]

My energy bulbs make everything look yellowy. WHY are they so dangerous????. I have one in my toilet as the light,,will it be ok or should you relly not buy them. Im worried now???. 

[duck_a_lorange]

---

@rose2008-2008 wrote:

 WHY are they so dangerous????. I have one in my toilet as the light,,will it be ok or should you relly not buy them. Im worried now???. 

---

They contain mercury vapour which is cumulatively neuro-toxic. (Mercury used to be used in hat-making - hence the expression "mad as a hatter".)

They are fine unless you break them - then the instructions say you should open the windows and leave the room for a few minutes.

I suspect that the bins at the tip that you are supposed to use are full of broken bulbs and surrounded by an invisible cloud of mercury vapour...

[rose2008-2008]

Why do they say then that they will only sell Energy saving bulbs soon then?. Surely they should not sell them if their dangerous???.

[wskneil]

The energy saving fluorescents are being banned too, so it will all be LEDs or whatever they decide is the new saviour of the environment. Totally ignoring the fact that they are almost all being produced in China, who are building more and more powerstations burning brown coal, oil and wood to power the factories, and messing up the environment even more!

[rose2008-2008]

I have Lumen ones ,,it says Lumen on the box?.

And i have ones that say Tungsten on the box?. Is it these that are dangerous then?. I will chuck them out if they are?.

Im relly sorry im confused?.  Thank you women!!.

[wskneil]

Tungsten ones are probably the old fashioned now banned ones! Nothing worng with them apart from the fact they use more electricity than the newer ones. Lumen I would guess is a brand of the newer low energy bulbs. They are all safe to use, just need to be careful when disposing of the fluorescent bulbs cos they have noxious chemicals inside. Dont worry about it too much tho< I used to play with mercury when I was a kid and it didn't do me any harm.... well not that I have noticed!