cheap ES lightbulbs

Post by **saint-spoon** » 06 Oct 2008, 07:05

For anyone with a Son of morris nearby they are selling 5 Philips 40w & 75w equivilent energy saving lightbulbs for 50p while stocks last. I had to look twice but they really are 5 for 50p.

Sunny B · Post by **Sunny B** » 06 Oct 2008, 08:58

I don't mean any disrespect, and it's good of you to post the advice, I'm sure it will be helpful to other members, but I really have a problem with ES lightbulbs, myself. Yes, they are better than conventional ones, but LED bulbs are way better again.

Did you know if you break an energy saving lightbulb they emit a toxic gas, you are supposed to open a window, leave the room and shut the door for 30 mins, and then use gloves to pick up the pieces?

stace · Post by **stace** » 06 Oct 2008, 09:15

I bought 3 lots of those from son of morris!

I use them all over the house!

stace (f+

Post by **saint-spoon** » 06 Oct 2008, 10:59

Sunny B wrote:I don't mean any disrespect, and it's good of you to post the advice, I'm sure it will be helpful to other members, but I really have a problem with ES lightbulbs, myself. Yes, they are better than conventional ones, but LED bulbs are way better again.

Did you know if you break an energy saving lightbulb they emit a toxic gas, you are supposed to open a window, leave the room and shut the door for 30 mins, and then use gloves to pick up the pieces?

Interesting comments, as far as I was aware the gas used is the same as the stuff in fluorescent tubes which we have used for ages (this I shall investigate further). They do however claim to use on average about a quarter of the power that bulbs with elements do. I will however concede that LED lights are more ecologically friendly. In my defence I posted it on the frugal bit not the eco bit.
I would be interested to find out what is actually friendlier to the environment, the standard bulb or one of the low energy ones; apart from the obvious reduction in required energy there is the life expectancy which is in excess of ten years for an energy saving one whereas I have had standard bulbs that have blown in less than six months so thereâ€™s a saving on manufacturing.
Iâ€™m also interested to know about the toxicity of the gas being used, I have not read the packaging so I can not comment on the evacuation of the room or opening a window; the gloves bit makes sense if even to protect against shards of glass.

Post by **saint-spoon** » 06 Oct 2008, 11:45

I have furthered my investigation and it appears that I was correct in assuming that the same dangers exist with fluorescent tubes as energy saving bulbs. They both contain mercury vapor. According to my source (wiki) the amount of mercury released by one bulb can exceed U.S. federal guidelines for chronic exposure. Chronic however, implies that the exposure takes place over a long period of time. One time exposure to a trace amount of mercury is unlikely to be harmful. Conventional tubular fluorescent lamps have been used since 1938 with little concern about handling.
On the plus side energy efficient bulbs have a life span 8-15 times that of a standard incandescent bulb and taking manufacture and energy usage save around 2000 times their own weight in green house gasses over their lifetime. Importantly they should always be recycled via the company who has an obligation to do so. Philips is apparently among three manufacturers who have managed to reduce the mercury content down from 4mg per bulb average down to 1-2 mg which is also a bonus. Last bit, if you do decide that these bulbs are for you then it is recommended that they are switched on for a minimum of 15 minutes at a time as repeated use for shorter durations can significantly reduce the life expectancy (I didnâ€™t know that) and therefore the environmental benefit.

kate egg · Post by **kate egg** » 06 Oct 2008, 12:11

Thanks for all that investigation, I use these bulbs wherever I can and I don't think I have replaced one yet. How should we dispose of them when they stop working?

Thanks also re tip of leaving on for at least 15 mins, we have one above the shower that must get switched on and off more regularly at the moment.

Post by **Mad Chick** » 06 Oct 2008, 13:20

Slightly

but concerning light bulbs...

Mr Mad is convinced that all the light switches in our house are broken as they never seem to turn off )j;

. To rectify this in the kitchen (where we have three spotlights and a pendant fitting) he has wired in a movement sensor light switch. This means that the lights automatically turn on when we enter the kitchen and turn themselves off when ot detects no movement for three minutes. :-D

The only downside is that the sensor is on the other side of the kitchen to the cooker so when I am standing by the hob, stirring my sauce it cannot see my arm movements so turns itself off

I now have to stir whilst performing acrobatics to keep the light on... So I now lose weight whilst cooking :-D

Lucy x

stace · Post by **stace** » 06 Oct 2008, 13:42

haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa i would love to see that!

Take a pic plz! )t'

stace

kate egg · Post by **kate egg** » 06 Oct 2008, 13:53

Yes - pcitures please!

I think we need one on our TV, Mr Novice and I don't sit down till about 10.30pm to watch an hour's TV before bed, and it's always on standby cos the kids have been watching it earlier. I have finally trained them not to leave it on when they leave the room but I think standby uses near as much electrickery )gr:

pond · Post by **pond** » 06 Oct 2008, 14:33

Sunny B wrote:I don't mean any disrespect, and it's good of you to post the advice, I'm sure it will be helpful to other members, but I really have a problem with ES lightbulbs, myself. Yes, they are better than conventional ones, but LED bulbs are way better again.

Did you know if you break an energy saving lightbulb they emit a toxic gas, you are supposed to open a window, leave the room and shut the door for 30 mins, and then use gloves to pick up the pieces?

Yes, LEDs are very energy efficient but I defy anyone to have these as 'normal' lighting, they are just too white, giving a 'cold' light.

LED technology has a way to go yet before they become as common as incandescents due to the 'warmth' of the yellowy light emitted by the latter.

I have some MR16 (70mm spot type fittings) flush lights in my bedroom, these have 'compact flourescent' 7watt lamps in. They are cheap to run and have the 'warmer', lower temperature lamps but they take 5 minutes to warm up and still look like moonlight!

pond · Post by **pond** » 06 Oct 2008, 14:34

PS,

ES is only the fitting (Edison Screw), nothing to do with the type of lamp.

Sunny B · Post by **Sunny B** » 07 Oct 2008, 09:22

Well, the stuff about the toxic gas came from a newspaper cutting my mum sent me, but it's gone now, so I thought I'd look on the internet myself. This is quite a fascnationg disussion, if you have a few minutes to go through it!

http://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum ... opic=12903

Post by **saint-spoon** » 07 Oct 2008, 11:13

Indeed it is. Sunny B
P.s Pond, I never thought about ES being the Edison Screw or else I would never have used the abrev. They have actually got bayonet fittings so my original heading was in fact an utter misleadance in the extreme.
On the subject of LED lighting the folk that do such stuff have developed lighting systems for coral reef aquariums where a very close approximation of the suns broad spectrum of light is required in order for the corals to flourish. They are currently prohibitively expensive to us normal folk but never the less available which leads me to believe that shortly we shall have affordable homely lighting from LEDs in our homesâ€¦ bbut for now itâ€™s low energy Non-ES lights for me.

bluebell · Post by **bluebell** » 07 Oct 2008, 12:55

Oh, Lucy, you made me giggle. Thinking of you stirring your sauce like crazy. Bless you, love!! :-D

lancashire lass · Post by **lancashire lass** » 07 Oct 2008, 17:41

Anything containing a hazardous substance must be disposed of through a recognised contractor who will "safely" extract it. I often use mercury lamps (for uv light) at work, and by EU law these are never to be tossed in the dustbin. So in line with the rest of this topic regarding the energy saving bulbs, that is one issue that has not been widely publicised. It won't be long before it starts to become an issue in its own right when everyone has switched to them, and the old standard house light bulb is destined for the history books.

I have a couple of light fittings in my house with a dimmer switch - these energy saving bulbs are totally unsuitable for this as they need to be on the maximum setting to work (mmm, but I want dimmed light for a reason!). Same goes for my landing light (with the 2 switches top & bottom of the stairs) That bulb didn't last a year (luckily it was a freebie from BG for having insulation fitted)