Did you know you're supposed to recycle energy saving lightbulbs?

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Permalink Reply by John D on July 13, 2009 at 9:40

Low energy light bulbs contain toxic materials, as do fluorescent tubes. They cost more to make, and cost more to dispose of. We heat our houses anyway, so what's the problem with the extra heat from a tungsten filament (non-toxic, cheap to make, cheap to dispose of).

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Permalink Reply by Hugh on July 13, 2009 at 11:57

I noticed that low energy bulbs were in the news this weekend.

Why aren't people using the free bulbs?

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Permalink Reply by Alison P on July 13, 2009 at 12:32

I'd not heard about the toxic materials. We use them; a lot of people I know don't. Reasons vary from them not fitting/suiting existing lights (the bulbs are a very different shape to the old bulbs) to not liking the colour/quality of the light that you get from them. They also take a while to reach maximum brightness, but I'm told this doesn't apply to some of the newer ones.

Must admit I don't particulary like the look of them. But what nobody seems to have mentioned here is that they last loads longer than the older bulbs and - er - they use less energy. Isn't that their main point?

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Permalink Reply by Hugh on July 13, 2009 at 12:47

I use 'em for those reasons Alison, except for some lamps where they can't be hidden! I have seen some fancy new shapes recently and for a price it seems you can now get ones that look like regular bulbs.

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Permalink Reply by Alison P on July 13, 2009 at 13:59

Ooh, must have a look at them. Must confess I really like the look of old-fashioned bulbs for reasons that I can't really work out. Much better to look at than a lot of the new ones.

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Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on July 13, 2009 at 16:03

Some of the newer new bulbs are indeed bulbs, or at least bulbous, but as Hugh says very pricey. While Homebase (and other similar outfits) stock them, they seem to be still at the stage of selling them as individual bulbs, not in the sort of 'value-pack' that would tempt one to refit the whole house in one go, or even as the old ones blow.
Then, too, I'd like to be sure that their "up to 8 years" means something like that - unlike BT's promise of Broadband speed where "8" = "3 - sometimes, if you're lucky"

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Permalink Reply by james walsh on July 13, 2009 at 11:57

(Pedants corner post)
Energy saving light bulbs are not bulbs they are tubes.

While i'm at it - i have noticed that i have picked up the annoying habit of saying o (oh) instead of 0 (zero) when reciting numbers out loud, as in 'oh two oh eight'
The 1471 (last telephoe number service) lady also says this.
Please slap me when you hear me do that again (this may interest Liz lol)

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Permalink Reply by RobertHarris on July 15, 2009 at 16:45

Well, on a modern phone, 0 (zero) is actually a different button to O (letter) which is the same as 6.

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Permalink Reply by james walsh on July 15, 2009 at 16:59

Robertharris - dialling is not the problem it's saying the number.

And another thing - 0 and o are next to each other on this keyboard.
one is 'oh' the other is 'zero' why can't we have the european model where 0 has a / thru it ?

I know this has nothing to do with the original post but speaking of symbols check this site http://www.sixtysymbols.com/#

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Permalink Reply by michael456red on July 20, 2009 at 11:46

I didn't know that, so thanks. However, one of my energy-saving light bulbs is now in its 15th year of service so as yet have had no need to throw one away!

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Permalink Reply by james walsh on July 20, 2009 at 12:00

Will new light bulbs last this long ?
http://www.centennialbulb.org/

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