Seriously thoughtful 100W incandescent lightbulbs banned in the EU from 1st Sep

[billcf]

Some people just don’t get it!
CF lamp saves a lot of energy
Think GREEN

[astra]

Originally Posted by billcf

Think GREEN

I prefer NIMBY.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by billcf

Some people just don’t get it!
CF lamp saves a lot of energy
Think GREEN

I prefer to turn off my light, actually. Now, that's thinking green! Oh, let me turn off my pc as well. Because that one is using much more power than any lamp in our house. And while we're at it, I'll turn off those two fridges and one freezer as well, because they too use energy.

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by Sparrow

...today I've ordered some Full Spectrum Daylight bulbs to see what they're like - who knows, maybe they'll be even better than incandecsents.

My Daylight Spectrum bulbs arrived today - one was smashed in transit, so I'm waiting to hear what the supplier has to say about getting a replacement.
[Update - got an email this morning (Monday) apologising for the broken bulb and saying a replacement is being sent - so, although their packing may leave a bit to be desired, their customer service appears to be excellent. ]

I've installed one in my home office and I must say that I am pleasantly impressed by the quality of the light. I turned it on during daylight and kept it on through twilight and the start of night; so I got accustomed to it gradually.

I see what other people have said about usual lighting being yellowish - when I go in my other rooms it's like looking through a yellow veil; and Geoff was right about them being bright!
Early impressions are that the light from these bulbs is much better than that from other CFLs I've tried, and even an improvement on my incandescents.

I wouldn't have tried them without being spurred on by this thread; so my thanks to everyone who has participated!

[Laz116]

Originally Posted by billcf

Some people just don’t get it!
CF lamp saves a lot of energy
Think GREEN

Yes and I think it's great to save as much energy as possible. However I still use a mixture of the old light bulbs and cf light bulbs.

First of all I think cf lamps give a horrible reading light. But even more troublesome is the fact that they take up to several minutes to reach their fullest light spectrum. I simply cannot wait 2 minutes to put my coat into my closet in the hall, or 2 minutes to got to the bathroom for 1 minute.

So I use low energy light bulbs in the areas where I know I'll leave the light on for longer durations. But otherwise I tend to stick to the now banned good old light bulb.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by Laz116

So I use low energy light bulbs in the areas where I know I'll leave the light on for longer durations. But otherwise I tend to stick to the now banned good old light bulb.

Hey, not all old light bulbs are banned, only the 100W and the non-transparent ones.

[DawnFalcon]

And they can't stop you importing them, just selling...

[HarryT]

Companies in the EU are prohibited from importing them for re-sale but, as you say, it's fine for individuals to do so.

[Icarusbop]

Originally Posted by billcf

Some people just don’t get it!

Actually, I think most people do get it, they just don't like being dictated to.

Originally Posted by billcf

CF lamp saves a lot of energy

CF lights save a bit of energy (per individual light), Sodium lights use a lot of energy, but you don't see the local councils turning off all (or probably more sensibly half) of the millions of street lights - which would save MASSES of energy.

Originally Posted by billcf

Think GREEN

I do think Green in other ways, and CF light are not that green, sure they are more energy efficient but there is more than one type of pollution -Mercury for example. Yes, each CF light only has a small drop but a lot of small drops add up - do the government not say 'every little helps' (when if comes to saving energy), the same applies to a lot of small bits of pollution (except it doesn't help). And there are the phosphors used in the tube (I think) - which need to be reclaimed (Like an old TV CRT), Suddenly sounds like a lot of work to dispose of one small bulb, and all that disposal takes energy in some form or other......

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Icarusbop

CF lights save a bit of energy (per individual light), Sodium lights use a lot of energy, but you don't see the local councils turning off all (or probably more sensibly half) of the millions of street lights - which would save MASSES of energy.

The reason that most councils in the UK have switched to low-pressure sodium streetlights is precisely because they are much more energy-efficient than the old "white light" ones.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

Well, with coal plants the birds won't fly themselves to death against those blades...

As opposed to being sucked into jet engines, or battering themselves against glass walls?

There are a decent amount of wind mills already there. But they weren't allowed to add more because the electric net couldn't have it and those 3 coal plants were already planned and the birds might kill themselves against the blades... They also wanted a "green plant". Same reason for denial as the wind mills (except for the birds, naturally...)

A "green" coal plant? That's something of a contradiction in terms.

What I never understood is how they say we, the consumer, should make our carbon footprint smaller. Do you really think it will make a difference if the big companies don't make theirs smaller? If you see the amount of light, in the dark, just to light up a building... Or to keep a shop lighted to discourage thieves... And the street lights that keep burning at full light all through the night on the highways... (Belgium is the worst in that respect)...

Oh, it would absolutely make a difference. The question is how possible it is.

I don't see demand for electric power being stopped or reversed. At most it will be slowed, and I suspect the main factors doing that will be economic, not climate concerns. There's a lot of push over here to reduce demand because power costs, and adding new generating capacity costs a lot more.
______
Dennis

[Sparrow]

The UK's human population is the highest it's ever been , and the birth rate is increasing - there is no political will to address this aspect of the environmental issue (Chinese-style one baby policies won't go down well here); so we're basically tinkering around the edges with ideas like switching to CF light bulbs.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

As opposed to being sucked into jet engines, or battering themselves against glass walls?

Hey, I didn't say I understood their reasoning!

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

A "green" coal plant? That's something of a contradiction in terms.

No, not coal plants. Biomass.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

Hey, I didn't say I understood their reasoning!

I'm not sure "reasoning" is the correct descriptor. Nonetheless, I think birds incapable of learning not to fly certain routes have more problems than care in siting a wind farm will solve...

No, not coal plants. Biomass.

Oh, okay. Those tend to be politically fraught over here. We have issues with available waste disposal sites becoming full. Biomass plants for electrical generation would help, but there's a fair bit of "Not In my back yard" involved. (Better recycling efforts to separate the burnable biomass from the non-burnable refuse before collection would also help.)
______
Dennis

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

I'm not sure "reasoning" is the correct descriptor. Nonetheless, I think birds incapable of learning not to fly certain routes have more problems than care in siting a wind farm will solve...

Personally, I think we have a responsibility to minimise the impact of our activities on other creatures.

YMMV, but I don't think it is beyond us to find ways to deter birds from getting minced in wind farms (although, given the fate of male chicks in chicken units, I appreciate this is probably not widely regarded as a priority - just my op).