Switch To Energy Saving Lightbulbs - perhaps set a target for your home this year
Most of us use light bulbs designed about 100 years ago, which produce nearly as much heat as light. And with the heat comes the carbon dioxide, further raising the global temperature – tho’ you might not notice it!
In most homes lighting accounts for 10 – 15 per cent of the electricity bill. UK households use £1.2 billion worth of electricity on lighting every year. Electricity consumption by domestic lights and appliances has nearly doubled since 1970. And it’s set to increase by 12 per cent by the end of the decade.
By buying an energy efficient lightbulb you can cut energy wastage by over 75 per cent. That’s around £7 a year on the average energy bill or £65 over the bulb’s lifetime.
It has been calculated by someone that if every house in the UK fitted three energy saving bulbs the energy saved could light all our cities at night. Plus you get lower bills.
How about switching six over in a year?
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15 Aug 2005
for some reason i am not very good at this. I have bought extra supplies of light bulbs but i don’t seem to put them in when the bulb goes. please can I be encouraged
Midhurst, GB , 20 Aug 2005
Buy them at IKEA. Every time I visit I try to buy one more than last time and then fit it when I get home.
Maidenhead, GB , 21 Aug 2005
Remember that the design of energy-saving bulbs is such that they use a little bit more power to get started but then run very efficiently.
This means that they’re great for your living room, where the light might be on all evening, but wasteful in places where the light is only used in short bursts. The under-the-stairs cupboard would be a bad place to use one!
04 Sep 2005
We’re about 50% low energy bulbs at present, but have some fancy light fittings in which they look awful, and which I refuse to part with. It’s so difficult to get lights that aren’t ultra-techno-modern or retro at present, and I don’t like either much. So we end up with fittings which I like but which don’t work with low energy bulb. Waiting for a low energy mini bulb that looks good…
02 Oct 2005
Have them all round my house now-worth the effort.Went onto www.lowenergyworld.com to get them.They had a wide range.
04 Oct 2005
I get asked every year, as a disabled person, if I would like some free low energy bulbs. I always say yes. Now we have them in nearly all the places we can. It’s worth checking all those on disability, if they are entitled to free bulbs, as they can be expensive. When you have enough for yourself, start to give them away.
07 Oct 2005
Thanks for the tip, Kevstar1 – I had no idea you could get so many different types of energy efficient bulb.
11 Oct 2005
I was spurred on to do this as my local supermarket currently has the low energy bulbs on offer buy one get one free.
Haverfordwest, GB , 18 Oct 2005
I have been meaning to do this for a long time, but the price of the bulbs kept putting me off. When I discovered that Morrisons is currently selling 60 or 100 watt equivalent energy saving bulbs for 99p each and on a buy on get one free offer I bought 8 this week and fitted them to all the main lights in the house. Worth popping into Morrisons I think on this occasion!
27 Oct 2005
Got a few in … not all though
05 Nov 2005
We keep trying to do this and roughly half of our lightbulbs are now energy saving. The difficult thing is to remember to do it when bulbs go. We should probably try to keep a stock of low energy light bulbs in the house, so it doesn’t seem too expensive when they need replacing.
07 Nov 2005
This morning the postman delivered EIGHT energy saving lightbulbs! And they were free! If you are on a low income look out for ‘warm deal’ or ‘warm front’ grants, or the like, from your energy company, or google it and see if you could be eligible. Pity you don’t get a choice of fittings but anyway I’m off to find homes for mine now…
07 Nov 2005
Have just bought some bulbs from the Coopers magazine that comes with the newspaper they were cheaper than lowenergyworld and had a variety of sizes also buy 4 get 4 free and buy 8 get 8 free
24 Nov 2005
We are lucky in Cornwall that at Disability Days and Royal Cornwall show there are energy companys advocting these bulbs and will give them away too. Almost all the bulbs in my home are now energy saving. Thay seem to last forever too!
Godalming, GB , 28 Dec 2005
Last year I switched our standard lightbulbs to energy saving ones as they needed changing. Now I’m able to switch to energy saving candle bulbs downstairs as Homebase finally have the right type and size for our light fittings.
Reading, GB , 01 Jan 2006
Have one energy saving bulb, but am going to go and buy a supply so that as the bulbs go they’ll be replaced with low ebergy bulbs.
03 Jan 2006
We have now almost changed every bulb to energy bulbs and now save around 10000 watts of energy a week. This saves money and also reduces greenhouse gases too
09 Jan 2006
I am switching over to low energy bulbs as and when our current ones fail. We have candle bulbs in our living room-hopefully I can replace these too. Will try the website suggested above. We have no street lighting in our rural countryside location, so I was pleased to find that the bulbs were suitable for our outside light fittings. I am buying them from our local hardware store-expensive or what!
18 Jan 2006
Some of the light fittings in our flat don’t take energy saving light bulbs, but other than that we’ve done it. We’ve even got some funky big globe ones in the lounge.
Reading, GB , 12 Feb 2006
Have now got some for the replacment as the old ones die out. Can’t use them in the dining room or lounge as we havedimmer switches, unless anyone knows of a suitable bulb. If I get really adventurous may swap switches to none dimmer
01 Mar 2006
Does anyone know if you can buy low energy bulbs with screw fittings?
02 Mar 2006
Elizabeth I believe you can get them in Ikea (since they seem to be the sole provider of screw fitting lights in this country!)
We moved house four months ago and half of the bulbs in our old house were energy saver. I swithered over replacing the ones in the old house and bringing the long lasting energy savers with us but decided the new folk would probably keep using them until they blew and therefore would be helping the environment further by leaving them. Since moving we have got every bulb that could possibly be changed, changed! We have four strip lights in house and shed that rarely get used but halogens in the kitchen and bathroom. But the plan is to renovate the kitchen this summer so we will be choosing a different lighting system in there that will hopefully mean we can use energy savers. Makes a huge difference on our electricity consumption – the meter doesn’t spin as quickly as it used to! :)
20 Mar 2006
We’ve been doing this around the house, though our uplighter shades have presented a bit of a problem as many energy-saver bulbs are too big to fit with them. They also say you can’t use them with timer switches – anyone know why not?
22 Mar 2006
I was in Edinburgh staying at The Kings Manor Hotel and was pleased to say that most of the bulbs in the hotel used energy saving bulbs. I was so pleased as you can imagine.
27 Mar 2006
I have just been to the website mentioned above and ordered 8 low-energy candle bulbs. Didn’t know you could get them until this evening, so thanks for that. The site has loads of different kinds of bulbs.
01 Apr 2006
I have always had energy lightbulbs, from the moment I moved into this house. So I feel very pleased that I can tick something off straight away!
03 Apr 2006
Have managed two so far-mind you they take a while to warm up!
GB , 15 Apr 2006
At last I have finally got some low energy bulbs to replace candle bulbs in some wall lights that have constantly been blowing bulbs ever since we bought them some eight years ago.
Check these out they were only 47p at ASDA. I cant figure this out as most other low energy bulbs were £5+.
These were fit today 15/4/06 and are supposed to last 6+ years. The standard candle bulbs overheat and generally last about 3 months.
Next light to change is the main one in the living room. It has 3X100 watt, although it is seldom switched on.
28 Apr 2006
I have changed all the light bulbs, that have fittings for low energy bulbs, in the house over the last few months. As a bulb died I replaced it with an energy saver.
The rest in the house are Hologen’s. Are these any good, or power hungrey?
09 May 2006
Can’t find any low energy ‘spot’ bulbs…? Also please can anyone out there tell us more about the optimal length of time to expect the light to be on for, in relation to the extra ‘start-up’ power? How long do you need to be going away for, to make turning off worthwhile? While we’re at it, what about starting up computers and other appliances v. leaving them standing by?
23 May 2006
Can’t believe how muc quicker the newer bulbs light up. All changed except for the children’s dimmers.
12 Jun 2006
I have found the largest range of energy saving bulbs in Ikea, lots of different shapes and sizes.
06 Jul 2006
This action can be more difficult than I imagined. I need small size bulbs and the only place I have found them so far is Ikea, unfortunately they seem to focus on screw in bulbs rather than bayonet type. I keep on looking though.
04 Aug 2006
I’ve just put 3 more light bulbs in which was surprisingly difficult as it required a ladder (high Victorian ceilings !). However, I was REALLY surprised when one of them “popped” the next day and blew the lighting circuit. Has anyone else had any problems with them, or is this just a one-off. I’ve never had any problems before.
20 Aug 2006
I only have 2 more bulbs that I can change. I replaced 3 last weekend and I was horrified at the price…around £18 but I was happy in the knowledge I am trying to do my bit. Nt sure when I will see a drop in the electricity bill, especially as it keeps going up and up due to price hikes. My one remaining lightfitting has unusual bulbs so I will have to look out for a compatible energy saving version that fits.
Martock, GB , 31 Aug 2006
3 blown bulbs and can’t dispose of them environmentally.
I have fitted quite a few low energy bulbs – but had 3 (which were all the same type) blow within 2 months – within days of each other! This was a bit of a worry because they would have required far more energy than filament bulbs to manufacture. They also contain lots of nasty chemicals, but the nearest recycling place I could find was Basingstoke, Hampshire – and I’m in Somerset! Does anyone know any more about recycling these bulbs? Also how does the environmental impact of the manufacture/disposal compare to a filament bulb?
I’m off to try and find some decent LED bulbs to replace my MR16 and GU10 halogen bulbs. I’ve tried one manufacturer, but they’re a bit blue and dim.
03 Sep 2006
We’re already about halfway there but we’re committing ourselves to being totally energy efficient within 6 months – following the light bulb audit!
06 Sep 2006
Try to remember your plan to use energy saving bulbs when upgrading your light fittings. I have discovered that lots of light fittings now do not take “ordinary” bulbs (especially the more modern looking fittings). The most available energy saving bulbs fit like “ordinary” bulbs (i.e. they are bayonet or edison screw (E27).
You can still get spotlights which take the ordinary edison screw (E27) bulb, but they take a bit of searching to find. I haven’t found any decent light fittings taking ordinary bayonet bulbs.
There are a few other types of energy saving bulbs but they are much more difficult to find – so check out you can get an energy saving bulb before you shell out for the light fitting.
18 Sep 2006
Hello Everyone, Great to be here with so many like-minded people. My name is Deb and I’m from America, New York, NY to be exact. We already have some cf bulbs we are using and I’m awaiting delivery of more from a survey I took part in for the Environmental Defense Org (payment was a $30 certificate for bulbs – yah!!) This has really helped as I am disabled and bulbs are so expensive. I see alot of people here are from Europe but the site I ordered from was http://www.okelectric.com and they seemed to have a good assortment for those having difficulty finding what they need. Thanks for sharing and all the great tips!
GB , 19 Sep 2006
So I decided to see just how many bulbs this old house uses. To my horror, the total of 66 bulbs (17 conventional, 28 spotlights, 10 halogen, 5 mini fluorescents and only a measly 6 low-energy). Target is for six new CFLs for the most commonly used light fittings. Not easy to find the 14mm screw fittings, and expensive on the few websites which carry them.
Wendover, GB , 26 Sep 2006
Been using this site for about 1 year now
http://www.lightbulbs-direct.com/
Very useful for wide range of different eco-bulbs, love the warmer shades. Free delivery on orders over a certain amount ( think it’s £40 but don’t remember) so if you are a dib dib dib like me and have a horde of bulbs on standby, this is a great resource.
Also works having them in advance so that it’s a quick flip when the oldstyle bulb goes ;)
Does anyone know why you can’t use them in dimmer switches? Or what you can use instead?
Nottingham, GB , 03 Oct 2006
If you’re considering switching to renewable electricity, some of the power companies are currently giving away free energy saving lightbulbs as an incentive. E.g. edf energy..
GB , 03 Oct 2006
As with so many other aspects of consumerism, the selection and purchasing process of low-energy bulbs was less easy than I thought it might be. I began with a survey of the light-fittings in my house, which revealed several different types. Then, a session of on-line prospecting threw up a huge disparity of prices, not significantly cheaper than a few local stores. So I bought my first batch, only to find that some bayonet bulbs weren’t accepted by the socket, because the bulb was shaped differently to its conventional counterpart. The 11W bulbs, supposedly equivalent in brightness to a 60W conventional model, were dullards. But I’ve changed ten bulbs so far with more to follow.
Cheltenham, GB , 11 Oct 2006
Saturday 4th November is “Come Off It” day:
“On Saturday 4 November we invite you to flick the switch and commence generation of one of the world’s largest and most overlooked power sources – not Megawatts but Negawatts! Negawatts are created by harnessing people power or, more specifically, people’s power of restraint.
If every house saves just a few Watts, that’s one less new power station that we need to build. And if every house saves 100W through simple actions like switching off a light that’s not really needed, or being careful not to overfill the kettle, we’d save not one power station but several.”
See www.comeoffit.org
14 Oct 2006
We have been using energy saving bulbs in some of our fittings since we first heard of them from my really great (really, not kidding!) mum-in-law who is so green she has solar panels on her roof and is going to dig her own well! We have had our bathroom light fitting replaced recently and, as it’s the light we keep on all night as a faint reassuring glow for my toddler who dislikes going to the loo in the dark. We had to buy a bigger shade but it all worked out well. However, in our kitchen and dining room we have those modern strips of 4 stainless steel mini-spotlights that we stupidly bought because they looked cool, without thinking of the environment. Do they make any mini energy-saving bulbs that fit these kinds of contraptions? Being burdened with two under fives I can’t just browse B&Q to find out…
Cardiff, GB , 27 Nov 2006
Redecorated lounge and wanted a decent light fitting. Looked at beautiful ones with 7 or more bulbs but decided on principal to go for only 3 instead, and then got low-energy bulbs for it. They are slightly too long so you can see them from some angles when standing up – but worth it for the saving (of cash and planet).
Caerphilly, GB , 08 Dec 2006
We’ve put in about as many low energy bulbs as we can now. They have certainly improved since we first started using them – they used to be very slow to warm up. Thanks for the incentive to start using them more.
Harrow, GB , 24 Jan 2007
I got into these long ago, when they still cost an arm and a leg, just because I like novelties; and all but one of mine are still shining away after many years. But I’ve just discovered the Biobulb (see http://www.ecozone.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=488). It’s expensive at a tenner a bulb (I bought a pack of five and found takers for the other four), but it’s amazing! It burns 25 watts but floods the room with a cold, northern daylight which is apparently (and it seems to be working for me) a good antidote to SAD. The bulb is also a nice shape, by the way.
Oxford, GB , 09 Feb 2007
wannabegreen: I recommend trying LED spotlights (1 watt!) these come for a variety of fittings such as GU10s that fit in countersunk type boxes. Like this type of thing http://www.initiallights.co.uk/index.php?cPath=21&gclid=CJnI26KBwIkCFRnbXgodnTt9Qg
Although I think it is best to mix these with some low wattage halogens (5 watt) so you still get a nice warm light.
Taunton, GB , 29 Mar 2007
We have a lot of energy saving bulbs around the house – and have done for several years now – but I’ve spotted a few that have somehow escaped – and need to remedy that.
The only problem we’ve had has been that some are very dim – even after the obligatory 5 mins warm up. I’m sure that technology has moved on and brighter bulbs are now available – so I’ll check those out.
19 Apr 2007
I found it very hard to change all my lighting to energy saving, until I was passed the details of a company called Efficient Light ltd www.efficientlight.co.uk , they were extremely helpful and now I even have efficient mirrorlights, under-cabinet lighting and dimmable spotlights! Why are the supermarkets taking so long to catch up?
14 May 2007
For all those out there still thinking about it – just do it. They come in all shapes and sizes (check out the shops mentioned in the above posts) to fit all types of fittings and modern ones warm up almost instantly (and no they don’t use more energy if switched off after a short period of time – only if you’re switching them on and off more frequently than every minutes). They are now really cheap (87p for some in Tesco, buy one get one free in Morrison) but even if you pay £5 for an LED spotlight it will pay for itseld in 6 months! It may be seen as the green thing to get your own wind turbine but changing 10-15 bulbs will save more energy! I have now changed about 15 at home and 6 in the office and hope to go totally low energy by the end of the year! Go for it!
05 Sep 2007
have changed tolow energylight bulbs in 2 rooms so still a few to go. I do have a supply in the house for when the ‘other ones’ finally expire. Was interested to learn we should only use them in places where the light is on for a long time… good advice.
Boston, Lincolnshire, GB , 21 Dec 2007
I am committing to changing my light bulbs as and when I can, or as and when the current ones fail.
However, I will make sure I have done this in the next 6 months.
Martock, GB , 24 Mar 2008
The quality of energy saving bulbs has got a lot better recently. Have been able to find bulbs that fit small light fittings and produce a decent light – Megaman seem work well.
Had to change all my recessed MR16s (which each had their own transformer, which didn’t like low energy bulbs) to GU10 – so that was a lot of work, grovelling around in the loft. Have replaced some of my exposese GU10s with LED, but they are not as bright (and very expensive), so still need a couple of filament bulbs there for now.
Dimmable CFLs are still quite expensive – especially if you have room with 8 recessed lights! Buy 1 and see if you like it before you buy a room-full.
GB , 11 Jun 2008
I’ve just taken the wall down between the kitchen and dining room. The kitchen has always been dark. I need to upgrade lights. Kitchen currently has a florescent strip light and dining has a traditional light fitting with a energy saver bulb.
Any suggestions on how to improve light and keep down energy? Downlighters preferred. What are the options?
17 Aug 2008
Ok so whilst calculating my personal carbon footprint I descovered that I had 31 light bulbs in my house but only 5 are energy efficient ones! We are in rented accom and there are 10 bulbs on dimmer switches, which as far as I know can’t have EE bulbs? Let me know if I’m wrong. We don’t leave lights on when not in the room…most of the time. Must remember to turn off lights when not in use. More sun would help!
Joe – is there room for a mirror opposite a window as these create more light. Also, white walls make rooms lighter.