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

I got some of these free, I get WFTC (working family tax credits) and they were free, anyways they are not as bright as the normal bulbs, not worth the effort really, I had to change them all back to normal bulbs so I could see

Answer 2

I really don't know about the manufacture of them, but we have them all through our house,we think that they are great,they really do last longer than a conventional light bulb!

Answer 3

i have lots round my garden to light it up and they are rubbish to be honest they light up the 1 or 2 meters in front of it with a little bit of orange but that is it they do not do any good job at lighting up a garden!

Answer 4

i dont and wont use them as they are far too dim.a complete waste of money.

Answer 5

No, they do not use more energy to make than they save in use. If they did, then they would cost more than they do, because the companies that make them have to pay for the energy used to make them. If they save $50 of electricity over their life, and if they really use more energy than that to make, then they should cost more than $50 to buy. But they cost much less than that.

Answer 6

soldier 1. I am in total agreement with you I have replaced 4 of these so called long life lamps in two years,  a fluorescent tube 4to 8 feet "great" but these things are c**p

retired electrician

Answer 7

Its the same as the saving in fuel made by new cars. The carbon footprint for the build is huge takes years to claw back, which makes old cars more environmentally friendly. Same with modern lamps more fuel to make but after years of use, they last longer, the footprint is less than continuously replacing the normal incandescent ones.

Answer 8

I do not know the answer to your question, but some Yahoo Answers baffle me, like crossword clues.

I wondered at first in what language superst was attempting to communicate.

"Tye amount of heat the normal light bulds... "

On reflection, if you will pardon the expression, it reads a little like Finnegan's Wake.

Answer 9

no idea, but i brought one 11 years ago for the lounge and it still works.

Answer 10

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 11

if they are energy saving why dont they fit themselves ?

Answer 12

It takes minutes to make one, but they last for years, so the energy savings is very real.

Answer 13

I think we should use them. They create less green house gases, they last longet, and it's worth it at the end.

Answer 14

Bloomin c**p 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 15

I have had a couple of bulbs that don't last as long as they claim to last.

Sometimes I wonder if this 'be green', 'save the planet ' etc is a big marketing ploy!!!

But I am naturally mean (frugal) and agree with other aspect of being careful with resources.

Answer 16

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.

Answer 17

well we will be told the answer is yes to try to justify the cost .personally i would rather do without than waste my money on the useless things they don;t give of any light

Answer 18

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 19

it doesn't matter a watt is a watt  you get billed on kilowatts used in a month

Answer 20

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 21

Just to mention why they aren't as bright... the reason is they take a while to "warm-up" and get brighter. If you have patience and leave them a while they get much brighter.

Answer 22

no. as though they are more expensive. they are more expensive to make. but they do last much longer than the cheap ones and they save you energy so you use less.

Answer 23

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 24

Most UK energy saving light bulbs are mercury free.  Look for the little symbol.

Answer 25

Dont worry just use them and save the enviroment and having to go up ladders if the cieling is high  mine are

I think there are soon to be the traditional ones that save electricity or so I read in the Newspaper about 3 weeks ago

Answer 26

No! Tye amount of heat the normal light bulds emit is soo much compared with the little energy saving ones give out! The company would use just as much, or even less to make them and ship them!

Answer 27

good point - i would imagine they must use more energy to make them.  however, until they make them more attractive - i certainly wont be having them 'hanging' from my ceilings...they are so ugly.  oh - i do have one in the garage - but nobody can see that!

Answer 28

Good question but don't know the answer. At least we are thinking about the whole problem of energy savings.  It is quite a complex matter

Answer 29

I personally find the energy saving bulbs pointless as they don't give out much light . i had one that could barely light a room so i could read a book at night. the room wasn't even that big.

Answer 30

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 31

Dunno! But don't they take ages to warm up!!!!!!!!? They're no good if you just want to pop in a room to find something. You would have more light from a candle!