So called Energy saving light bulbs ??

Question

These bulbs are normally quite expensive as they look more complicated to make, so the question is, Do the firms who make them use a lot more energy to make them than we save when we use them, as they are full of gas, plastic, electronic stuff and the glass part seems to be a lot more bulky.

Answer 1

The amount of energy used to make the bulb is reflected by the cost of the bulb. I think you are right that there is quite a lot more energy used to make a compact fluorescent (CF) bulb than is used to make an incandescent bulb. But that is more than compensated for by the much greater light generating efficiency of the fluorescent bulb.

A fluorescent bulb uses about 80% of the electricity the produce light and the other 20% becomes heat. An incandescent bulb on the other hand uses only 5% of the electricity to produce light and the other 95% is lost as heat. That is a really huge difference.

The other thing about fluorescent bulbs is that they last far longer so you do not have to make as many bulbs. That also offsets the extra cost to make them.

Currently a typical sized fluorescent bulb will save the consumer about $30 in electricity savings and in fewer bulbs purchased over its life time.

Answer 2

Excellent question!

In answer to your question though, I too have wondered if there is a trade-off. How damaging are the bulbs to the environment when they ARE finally disposed of?

Just a point about choosing your energy saving lightbulbs.

I noticed in the shop when buying my ones that the different brands offer bulbs that use the same 8W or 11W but there is a difference in the intensity of each brand/model. Look at the "Lumens" the bulb is rated at. The higher the Lumens, the more light you'll get for your Wattage and for your money.

I have 11 of them in my apartment. I now pay 40 € for a two month electricity bill and that is with the microwave, washing machine, computer and TV. Most of my friends pay something like 100 € or 120 €. And since October, I haven't had to change any bulb yet. I think they're worth it (as long as your electricity supply is stable and you don't have to keep buying new ones.)

What will Kenner do for their toy ovens that cook using the heat from an incandescent light bulb? They make such great Devil's Food Cake!

Answer 3

Every light bulb in my house is an energy saving one, so that makes in excess of 40.

1. Make sure that you buy a wattage evivalent that is more than the normal light bulb power you would use.

2. Some makes have a much better lux output than others.

3. If you have an energy light bulb on and are leaving the room for a few minutes, but intend to go back in - don't switch them off, leave them on. This is because they take a little time to warm up and the start up current is quite high. Also, as with any electrical item, switching on and off causes aging.

4. Energy saving light bulbs don't work with dimmer switches and don't work in ovens! Have yet to see any real good spotlight or halogen replacement.

I have read that one consequence of the energy saving bulbs is pollution. Apparently, the bulb is filled with Mercury vapour, which is toxic.

If the world moves over to these bulbs, no adequate means has yet been put in place on how to dispose of them when they fail. The last thing you want is for everybody to be taking them to the rubbish tip, throwing them in - and as they break, let out toxic Mercury vapour.

Answer 4

r lux output than others.

3. If you have an energy light bulb on and are leaving the room for a few minutes, but intend to go back in - don't switch them off, leave them on. This is because they take a little time to warm up and the start up current is quite high. Also, as with any electrical item, switching on and off causes aging.

4. Energy saving light bulbs don't work with dimmer switches and don't work in ovens! Have yet to see any real good spotlight or halogen replacement.

I have read that one consequence of the energy saving bulbs is pollution. Apparently, the bulb is filled with Mercury vapour, which is toxic.

Answer 5

The really silly thing is that even these flourecent tubes in a fancy compact design are not that great at converting electricity to light.

Ye olde incandecent bulb makes a great room heater, convering 95% of the electricity directly into heat. As a light source they are pretty useless. The flourecents are much better. but still waste far to much as heat. Try LEDs the new high power ones are really efficient. Mind you need a few to light a room, but you convert 90% of the energy to light, so they stay pretty cool. And you can direct the light to where you want it.The old timer who said nothing to replace incandecents with for spotlights or flood lights or torches, just hasn't loked. Got mercury vapour spot lights in my yeard, 250W bulb is about 5 times as bright as an incan decent, on all night very night and still going srtong after 12 years! Got a sodium high pressure vapour lamp, that produces even more light per Watt, but the colour is a bit orange (not a low pressure sodium lamp with the typical sodium yellow light) New traffic lights use LEDs, save municipalities a fortune in power costs, torches of all sorts use LEDs, run on tiny batteries and last for ages with bulb lifetimes of 20,000 hour being the norm. Candles, get real, ever tried studying by candle light? Even ye ole kerosine light is better, (but in mass use think of the green house emmisions) (unless they are tallow candles), Then there is the mantle lamps, nice and bright, but again not very energy efficient.

Answer 6

It is very likely that more energy is expended making the energy saving light bulbs than ordinary light bulbs.

The real saving is made because the energy saving light bulb lasts on average for 3000 hours as compared to 1000 for an ordinary bulb.

The other major saving is in energy use. Whereas an average ordinary light bulb uses 40 - 60watts the energy saving bulb uses about 19watts. A very big difference. It is easy to see that massive savings can be made.

Tesco supermarkets are going over completely to energy saving bulbs over the next few weeks months. They will save hundreds of thousands as a company on their electricity bills.

Okay. Now I am going to be totally honest with you. I do not have a single energy saving light bulb in my house. I have found a source of ordinary light bulbs for a mere 10pence each with an output of 40watts. What I have done instead, is remove all the light bulbs in my house, save one for reading by.

We'll just see how this works out. Anyway, with the lengthening days there's no need to switch on a light until quite late, from around 8.30pm - by June 20th or so, it will still be daylight here in London until about 10.15 - 10.30 pm.

Candles - they're the real answer. My pound shop sells 24 long cancles for 99pence.

Answer 7

You need to buy the correct wattage to match a tungsten GLS lamp. Multiply the compact fluorescent wattage x 5 to get the equivalent GLS. Example a 20 watt E/S will be required to equal the lumen output of a 100 watt GLS. They DO save money, by using 1/5 of the energy and lasting about 10-16 times as long. This more than offsets any increased production costs. I have fitted thousands of these lamps of various brands and wattages since the first Philips ones came on the market about 20 years ago. Another point that not many people appreciate is that all the branded lamps, Philips/Osram/GE etc are available in at least 3 colours, from warm white to cool white. They are now very cheap, down to about £2.00, the next stage will be for them to work with normal dimmers, which is not currently possible.

Answer 8

I would reccomend you buy them because Yes they are more expensive than normal light bulbs when you buy them, however it will save you money in the long run. This is because normal light bulbs use lots of energy and therefore lots of electricity to power themselves but only release a little bit of light. The energy saving bulbs use less energy therefore less electricity to power themselves but they actually release lots of light. So with normal bulbs you pay more for less because your electricity bill will be higher whereas with these bulbs you pay less for more

Answer 9

Bloomin crap anyhow, Got two light shades where these bulbs are too long to fit in so I use normal bulbs. Also, you need 12w bulbs to act as night time bulbs but you can't get a low enough wattage in the energy ones.

They need to work all this out (12w, microwave, fridges, cost/energy to make them etc..) before stating they're the best things since sliced bread.

Answer 10

I'm not sure, but wasn't there a published article last week suggesting that this type of bulb may be in some way poisonous to humans. I only got a snippet of it while i was doing something else and wasn't able to follow it up.