Energy Saving Bulbs Help

MisterE · Post by **MisterE** » 02 Jan 2009, 18:22

Hi all, need some help. I got energy savers all over the house, except the main bedroom becasue I am renovating it. I'm doing the lighting and I spend a lot of time in that room playing guitar, reading, bit of chess etc. I use this room most when off work. Trouble is I find that my eyes can pick up on the flicker of Energy Saving Bulbs, I'll be honest I hate them, they play balls with my eyes, but I use them to do my bit.

What I want to know is what is the score with day light energy savers. I want to make a lighting system that is flicker free, nice on the eyes, but uses energy savers. Everytime I search I seem to come up with crack pot sites that look like a con, For example;

http://www.livingiseasy.co.uk/products/ ... index.html

I'm sure that most people who read the preps and change to energy savers are dissapointed with the light given off, I know most people in 'real' life are, not all, but I do here a good few moan about the same thing.

PS please dont tell me to get outside more mwhahahahahahaaa I'm outside from April until Dec - I like a bit of hermit now and then

Jokes aside any info or knowledge would be great

JohnTaylor · Post by **JohnTaylor** » 02 Jan 2009, 20:30

You could try talking to these people, http://www.bltdirect.co.uk/cat30_1.htm They should know what they're talking about.

Alternatives could be LEDs or low energy halogens.

You're local council might have a light bulb library that you could borrow and try before you buy too.

goslow · Post by **goslow** » 02 Jan 2009, 21:07

when I buy them I now get ones rated higher than what I would have got in incandescent, e.g. rated equivalent to 75 W when I would have used a 60W incandescent. They certainly don't seem to really give out the equivalent amount of light.

Newer CFLs are better than older ones, well known brands better quality than unknown brands/supermarket's own?

Kieran · Post by **Kieran** » 02 Jan 2009, 23:14

The bulbs by Philips seem to be pretty good, haven't noticed any flickering. Like goslow I always go for higher rated ones as they are dimmer than incandescents.

The council insisted on putting their own eco bulb in a sealed unit in my bathroom a few months ago and it flickers. Drives me crazy. And it uses 38watts. Complete waste of time.

Post by **clv101** » 02 Jan 2009, 23:23

goslow wrote:when I buy them I now get ones rated higher than what I would have got in incandescent, e.g. rated equivalent to 75 W when I would have used a 60W incandescent. They certainly don't seem to really give out the equivalent amount of light.

Newer CFLs are better than older ones, well known brands better quality than unknown brands/supermarket's own?

True, I think one of the main problems of CFLs is that they were oversold from day one. No a 20W CFL is not a bright as a 100W incandescent and an 11W is nothing like a 60W. When I buy them I look for a CFL around a third or a quarter the power of the equivalent incandescent, never a fifth or less as the manufactures seem to suggest.

If the manufactured had got this right on day one... the world would be a better place.

MisterE · Post by **MisterE** » 03 Jan 2009, 10:29

Thanks for the info guys, Going to buy higher wattage 6500k ones and if I dont like them then take them back for warm white.

This looks good http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4906188.stm

DominicJ · Post by **DominicJ** » 03 Jan 2009, 11:11

Its a quality issue.
My Girlfriends dad bought some for reading lamps, 15 years ago, still going strong, they were £10 each.
Personaly I'm fine with even the cheap ones,

MisterE · Post by **MisterE** » 03 Jan 2009, 11:50

I got the philips ones mostly in the house. Got to be honest I've not been in one home where they dont play my eyes up. But then again people mostly buy the same thing. Will up the quality and the watts and see what happens. I 'll also be designing things so that there is hardly no glare, I think that doesnt help having a bulb pointing straight in your eye

One thing I didnt know is that these bulbs contain mercury, (not much) but imagine when they start breaking and the masses throw them in the wheely bins!

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 03 Jan 2009, 19:44

MisterE wrote:I got the philips ones mostly in the house. Got to be honest I've not been in one home where they dont play my eyes up. But then again people mostly buy the same thing. Will up the quality and the watts and see what happens. I 'll also be designing things so that there is hardly no glare, I think that doesnt help having a bulb pointing straight in your eye

Ummm...always a bad move with any type of bulb. You might have to go for some all-round-translucent lamp-shades

MisterE wrote:One thing I didnt know is that these bulbs contain mercury, (not much) but imagine when they start breaking and the masses throw them in the wheely bins!

Not nice, but interestingly those who've crunched the numbers tell me that the amount of Mercury concerned is less than what would have been released in the atmosphere from burning the extra coal to make the extra electricity that would have been needed had you kept the olde incendescents in there.

And we'll all be on LEDs soon in any case...soon as they can make them in any colour bar tory-blue, and bright enough to read by

!

Vortex · Post by **Vortex** » 03 Jan 2009, 20:06

Going to buy higher wattage 6500k

JohnB · Post by **JohnB** » 03 Jan 2009, 20:08

RenewableCandy wrote:And we'll all be on LEDs soon in any case...soon as they can make them in any colour bar tory-blue, and bright enough to read by
!

I'm on them already in my little 12ft x 6ft home with a 6ft ceiling

DominicJ · Post by **DominicJ** » 03 Jan 2009, 21:29

One thing I didnt know is that these bulbs contain mercury, (not much) but imagine when they start breaking and the masses throw them in the wheely bins!

Dropped one out the loft today, it broke, chucked it in the bin without a thought

MisterE · Post by **MisterE** » 03 Jan 2009, 23:57

muwhahahahahahahaaa thanks all

Yep I hope led's get their act together, I have them in the porch and in my sons room mixed with two energy saving down lighters, looks fab, uses little elec and can be used as mood lighting or when you switch on the larger energy savers they add that extra light. I've always been crap at lighting

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 04 Jan 2009, 00:14

DominicJ wrote:
One thing I didnt know is that these bulbs contain mercury, (not much) but imagine when they start breaking and the masses throw them in the wheely bins!
Dropped one out the loft today, it broke, chucked it in the bin without a thought

Is there an 'unsurprised' smiley?

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 04 Jan 2009, 16:32

emordnilap wrote:
DominicJ wrote:
One thing I didnt know is that these bulbs contain mercury, (not much) but imagine when they start breaking and the masses throw them in the wheely bins!
Dropped one out the loft today, it broke, chucked it in the bin without a thought
Is there an 'unsurprised' smiley?

Well it's yer externalised costs innit...