Low energy bulbs

[HRG.]

Jesus, I had the misfortune to go in a new-build yesterday and it was fitted with low energy bulbs all round. What a horrible colour the light is

Thank fk I went out and bought loads of 100w bulbs before they banned them, these new things make everything look totally washed out. Horrible things, they should take them off sale and not bring them back until they're properly developed

[miniman]

IIRC they are developed properly, in so far as they CAN be made to start up at full brightness instantly and put out a sensible colour. However this makes them more expensive and, as we all know, if it's not BOGOF at Wilko's its not worth having.

ETA - incidentally my new build house is fitted with 3 (as is the legal minimum) ceiling roses that specifically preclude the use of anything other than low energy lamps with a special 3-pin fitting. Which cost £10 a throw. Sadly for the green brigade, normal ceiling roses are £2 each at B&Q.

Edited by miniman on Monday 12th October 19:16

[HRG.]

Tungsten filament bulbs can do this cheaply already

[jaybkay]

Energy efficient light bulbs are made in a variety of colours, the harsh white ones are for Asians who prefer them - yellow ones (or soft white) usually cost more.

I don't have anything else but ee bulbs in my place - and I don't notice them anymore. Nowadays it doesn't concern me when the family leaves lights on, most of the house can be lit up and it costs me 1p an hour

Incandescent light bulbs are a waste of space - find suitable ee bulbs and I doubt you'll notice the difference.

[trophies]

HRG. said:

Jesus, I had the misfortune to go in a new-build yesterday and it was fitted with low energy bulbs all round. What a horrible colour the light is

Thank fk I went out and bought loads of 100w bulbs before they banned them, these new things make everything look totally washed out. Horrible things, they should take them off sale and not bring them back until they're properly developed

Don't worry 100w light bulbs are still available - to be sold for commercial use only you understand

Lew

[Shoot Blair]

I've got a few boxes of 150w ones in the shed.

[dtmpower]

Tried some GU10 energy saving fluorescent things - straight in the bin ! They just take too long to heat up and the light they give off always seems bit murky... not brilliant or white like a normal GU10 bulb...

[RizzoTheRat]

I got some 13W bulbs made by a company called Feit Electrical in Costco, they're little helical ones and come up to full power in a couple of seconds and I can't see a difference in colour between one of them in the hall and the incandescent in the bathroom.

Got some 9W Ring GU10's and they take too long to warm up, but once up the colour is the same as normal GU10 in the other half of the kitchen.

On the other hand I had some Phillips low energy bulbs free from Southern Electric and they were rubbish. Warmed up pretty quick but the colour was hidious. As others have said, don't tar all low energy bulbs with the same brush, just get the right ones.

[HRG.]

Or use up the vast supply of tungsten filament ones I've already amassed

I've got halogen ones here and the colour of the light seems fine, it's just the low energy ones I saw made me feel sick

[Tuna]

It also depends a lot on how your lighting is designed. Old fashioned filament bulbs put light out in every direction, so they're most forgiving if you have one or two pendants in each room in typical developer house style. Spots have a sharp fall off and look 'high quality', so long as you put hundreds in and don't mind your meter spinning like a top. Energy efficient bulbs tend to be directional but diffuse, so you have to plan your lighting appropriately, and perhaps balance them off with a couple of point sources for task lighting.

Personally, I'm grateful for the slow warm up times of the spots we have - gives you time to adjust as you stagger bleary eyed around the house early in the morning.