What type of light bulbs do you use

[Paul]

I wanted to try out the poll options so I thought I'd ask this;

Do you still use the old fashioned light bulbs or the new energy saving fluorescent types ?

Me ? I use the new type everywhere.

[Russ]

My parents use the energy saving bulbs all through their house, it's a bit annoying when the light isn't so bright when you first switch them on.

[Tricky]

Some energy saving ones, I've got a mate who works where they use a lot of them and he gets me one/two every now and then. I think they're ok except the size being longer than normal blubs so look daft in lamps! and that they're a bit dull for the first 5-10 minutes of being turned on. Price put me off buying them for the whole house.

[homealone]

I voted 'mostly energy saving' - I agree about them looking funny in table lamps and we use normal filament bulbs in them. One thing about energy saving bulbs, they may cost more, but they last for absolutely ages and probably work out cheaper in the long run - as well as saving on the leccy bill.

[Chimaera]

I would use more energy saving bulbs but I have a lot of the silly candle-type light fittings, and I've not seen an energy saving version of those.
No doubt some one on here will prove me wrong.....;)

[Xaccers]

Problem with enery saving ones is the length, if you use uplighters, they don't always fit

[Defiant]

One's which liight up when you press that switch on the wall lol

[Graham]

I would use energy saving bulbs if they made an energy saving 150 Watt one!!

I like my main rooms *well* lit, so they both use 150 W bulbs, but you just can't get them in the new style.

[mrm1]

You missed a bulb type on the poll. Halogen.

Most of our rooms have flush Halogen fittings.

Low voltage, but dont know how efficiant they are, probably not at all. Any one know ?

[yesman]

You missed a bulb type on the poll. Halogen.

Most of our rooms have flush Halogen fittings.

Low voltage, but dont know how efficiant they are, probably not at all. Any one know ?
Low Voltage halogen lamps are more energy effecient than the normal filament type lamp, but as usual the drawback is the intial purchase price, but they soon pay for themselves.

Low energy bayonet type lamps are ok for saving money, but IMO are totally useless otherwise.

[Ramrod]

IKEA do low energy bulbs cheap!

[Bex]

we use mainly energy savings ones but we do use some of the old style ones also...

chimmy my aunt owns a lighting shop..will see if you can get u some energy candle type ones

[paulyoung666]

you shouldnt use the mini fluro bulbs on your main landing light , because they dont work instantly and may cause an accident , or at least i was told that by someone :erm: :p :p :p

[aliferste]

IKEA do low energy bulbs cheap!


I know i really should go in and buy more!!

In the long run it is worth it i reckon! :)

[Chris]

I would use energy saving bulbs if they made an energy saving 150 Watt one!!

I like my main rooms *well* lit, so they both use 150 W bulbs, but you just can't get them in the new style.I've found that the more powerful the low-energy bulb, the less likely it is to be equivalent to what's claimed on the box - so while a '40w equivalent' low-energy bulb probably is so, an '80w equivalent' is more like 70w, a '100w' is more like 85w ... not that my eyes are so good I can detect how bright something is to that level of detail, but that's my perception anyway.

Our house is almost entirely low-power lights. We choose our fittings to look good but also to fit well with the bulbs, and the only places where we have old-fashioned filament bulbs is the lounge, where the main light has a dimmer switch (we normally use only the lamps in the lounge anyway, which all have low-power bulbs) and the bathroom, which has an enclosed ceiling mounted lampshade that won't fit a low-power bulb.

The kitchen has halogen spots, because as Graham says when you want loads of light, you just can't yet get low-power bulbs that are quite good enough. The halogens are 50w each - lower than equivalent brightness filament bulbs but higher than low-energy flourescent bulbs.

Our electricity bill is currently £15 per month, and has just dropped from £17 per month. I can't help thinking it'd be a whole lot higher if we didn't have all the low-power bulbs.

you shouldnt use the mini fluro bulbs on your main landing light , because they dont work instantly and may cause an accident , or at least i was told that by someone
This is the case with older low-energy bulbs, but the modern ones light instantly and come up to full brightness very quickly. In the majority of applications, there really is no reason not to use them now, and they do save money.

[paulyoung666]

oh well at least i was half right :)

[Scarlett]

I've just bought one for the light outside our front door (it tends to be on all day so that we can see where to go when we get home.) The problem is that the energy savers are really only good value if they are left on for long lengths of time. if you turn them on and off regually, your probably better using the old type bulbs.

Due to the fittings and which lights we actually use a lot, most of our house is filament.

[SMHarman]

you shouldnt use the mini fluro bulbs on your main landing light , because they dont work instantly and may cause an accident , or at least i was told that by someone :erm: :p :p :p

But the latest building regulations suggest this is an ideal place to use them as the light is left on a lot of the time!

[dieselking]

We use both low energy light bulbs & normal ones. :)

[Paul]

No one using candles I see ... :)

[zoombini]

In my house, the only filament one upstairs is a child's room that has a dimmer on & thats because the fluorescent bulbs do not work with ordinary dimmers. (the dimmer can blow up & the bulb will flash).

There are candle shaped fluorescent bulbs available, but like many things they are not cheap.
However, they do not blow often like the sets of 3 candle filament ones do.
What I do when the filament ones blow is stick some small fluorescent ones in until I get replacements.

I have a fluorescent one at the top of the stairs because there is no natural light & its left on all the time. Late at night if it gets switched on it does provide enough light to see well enough.

And most of (hang on - ALL) my bulbs were free.
There are plenty of organisations that offer to do an energy survey on your house and give you a free energy saving bulb.
Needless to say, I have taken this offer up on many occasions.

[Electrolyte01]

I try my best to only use energy saving bulbs since I think they do a great job for saving power, money, and last longer than original ones :)

[Chris]

Well, this thread is a blast from the past :D

[Electrolyte01]

Better than making a new one, some people would have complained :)

[orangebird]

I use regular, old style bulbs. I think the energy saving ones are completely awful. The light they give off is terrible.... :erm:

[Electrolyte01]

I use regular, old style bulbs. I think the energy saving ones are completely awful. The light they give off is terrible.... :erm:
:confused:

An 11W energy saving bulb is the same as a 75W regular bulb :erm:

[Mr_love_monkey]

I use the old style.
As an aside - we recently moved our electricity over to powergen, and they sent us a welcome pack - in it was 1 energy saving lightbulb, and a carbon monoxide detector - I know it's not a lot, but I thought it was a nice touch from them, after all we've already moved to them, it's not like they're trying to woo us or anything

[orangebird]

:confused:

An 11W energy saving bulb is the same as a 75W regular bulb :erm:

But the tone of light given off is different - awful. My friends have energy savers in their house, and there is always a permanent yellow tinge to the light. I hate it with a passion. :mad:

[Electrolyte01]

The one on my desk lamp above me isn't, it gives off a pure white light :erm:

[orangebird]

TBH, I don't have the lights on that much or for that long, so I don't think it would make much difference in my case to the enviroment or my pocket. I much prefer to have candles lit in my lounge in the evening, and I read by candle light in bed too.

[Mr_love_monkey]

But the tone of light given off is different - awful. My friends have energy savers in their house, and there is always a permanent yellow tinge to the light. I hate it with a passion. :mad:
I have used them before, and found that some of them tend to buzz - which is quite annoying.

I do know what you mean abou the light being yellow - when I was at uni that's what they gave us.. it kind of made everything look washed out

[SMHarman]

The one on my desk lamp above me isn't, it gives off a pure white light :erm:
That would be a Fluro H, not a plain Fluro, the are very useful for photography too, but expensive and make a big bang if you drop them as they are at higher pressure.

[Macca371]

I use regular, old style bulbs. I think the energy saving ones are completely awful. The light they give off is terrible.... :erm:

I agree I don't think the light is not suitable in places where you spend a lot fo your time reading or writing or whatever. It looks really bland :(

[Paul]

Good god, someone has dragged this out of the dungeon :eek:

My first ever poll ...... :cool:

[paulyoung666]

well i might as well jump in , british gas have just sent me 4 compact fluro bulbs for nowt , ahhhhh no i remember the reason , i signed up for their central heating care package :) , i must plug them in soon :D

[dilli-theclaw]

All rooms here except the living room and my computer room have energy saving bulbs.

[Halcyon]

I still have the old filament ones.
I really should get some energy saving ones and probably will when I move out.

[paulyoung666]

TBH, I don't have the lights on that much or for that long, so I don't think it would make much difference in my case to the enviroment or my pocket. I much prefer to have candles lit in my lounge in the evening, and I read by candle light in bed too.


us fellow candle burners must stick together :tu: :)

[luftys]

I use the old type of bulbs,only because I get them from work so they are free :D and when they go I keep some nice spare ones :Yikes: 200w,just have to watch out I dont get sunburn off of them :disturbd:

[tkiely]

I feel an 'unfair to candle burners' thread coming on, what with their poluting, smoking inefficient light and a tendancy to be used by the middle classes who deserve to be taxed out of existence. This , combined with a tendancy to totally burn things when involved in an accident means they have to be eliminated.

[Matth]

Mostly low energy, plus two 60W Circular fittings which each replaced 3x 60w fittings.

If the ultra-compact weren't so expensive, well compared to what the standard are now, we'd have one in the bathroom globe, instead of a 60w - and the last pound-store 60w (4 for a quid) went bang and dumped the entire bulb glass in the globe!

Had to turn off the breaker, as by the time the pull switch had been tried several times (not knowing what happened), no idea if it was on or off.

[gary_580]

When i did my apprenticeship. I took one of those pearl light bulbs apart. Soldered a 1.5 v battery and a 1.5 volt bulb inside and glues the glass back in.

The effect was that if you held the light bulb on metal it completed the circuit and light up.

Funny thing was it got forgotten about and left in a draw, scared the life out of my dad when he replaced a blown lightbulb with it and switched it on. ONE LOUD BANGGGGGGGGGGG

[Ramrod]

When i did my apprenticeship. I took one of those pearl light bulbs apart. Soldered a 1.5 v battery and a 1.5 volt bulb inside and glues the glass back in.

The effect was that if you held the light bulb on metal it completed the circuit and light up.

Funny thing was it got forgotten about and left in a draw, scared the life out of my dad when he replaced a blown lightbulb with it and switched it on. ONE LOUD BANGGGGGGGGGGG :rofl: Presumably the battery was in the glass section of the bulb.....didn't it clank about?

[gary_580]

:rofl: Presumably the battery was in the glass section of the bulb.....didn't it clank about?


Yup, was all glued in at the base so it didnt move, was a small battery too so not much weight difference. The pearl finish inside the glass meant you couldnt see it either

[Escapee]

I stay away from the energy efficient ones that give off loads of RF interference, I wish all the neighbours would as well!

[MikeyB]

I've got spot lights similar to these almost everywhere in the house:
http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?searchTerms=430%2F2917

Not halogen bulbs either!! So I guess I'm worse than most people when it comes to light bulbs!

[Paul]

"Sorry! We've had a problem with the link you've just selected." :(

[Paul K]

Was it these?
http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?storeId=10001&catalogId=2501&langId=-1&searchTerms=430+2917&go.x=0&go.y=0

[MikeyB]

Was it these?
http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?storeId=10001&catalogId=2501&langId=-1&searchTerms=430+2917&go.x=0&go.y=0
Yeah thats the ones!!! Dont know what I did to mess up the link I posted :rolleyes:

[th'engineer]

Hate to say this but electric ones:D :LOL:

[timewarrior2001]

made of glass, have some wire and some gas inside them. Frequently go "chink" on me cos I'm tight and buy the cheapo ones.