Light Bulb Ban Fail

Soldato
Joined
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Couvains, France
It seems the law to ban the manufacture and import of traditional 100w lightbulbs has failed.

They are still available to purchase for industrial use from wholesalers, and not illegal to make or import if marked "unsuitable for home use"

As a result they are still okay to manufacture and import as long as they are marked "unsuitable for domestic use"

Another epic fail on the govts part

The good news is, the industrial spec bulbs are both more durable and last longer than the home varieties!
 
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Recently had some renovations done by the council, which included a stupidly large light in the bathroom that wouldnt look out of place in a large warehouse type environment.

This bulb failed so I went to check the price of one on the highstreet.. £12... For a bulb :confused: I have since had to have the council send out a bloke with a bulb on 4 occasions, I refuse to pay this amount for a bulb, it was the councils stupid idea. Only to be told last time by the bloke that came, these will last a lot longer if you leave it turned on all the time as theyre designed for public areas =_= Muppets

Not always a case of the industrial one being more durable or lasting longer in this case :( Some for of CFL tube square thing tho not a standard bulb
 
I just dont understand this law, I dont have any traditional bulbs but there are many uses for them. Their has been a bloke on the radio who owns some sort of fair ground ride and he's had to buy a 10 year stock of bulbs as his rides are DC and you cant use energy saving bulbs.
 
Which is the more efficient? 1 x 100W lightbulb, or 6 "energy saving" GU10 spotlights like these: http://www.yourwelcome.co.uk/acatalog/GU10_50mm_Halogen___box_of_10.html?

Genuine question - is it simply a case of going off the wattage? i.e. 6 x 35W = 210W?

Reason I ask is that my last flat was a new build (2003) where the living room had 6 of these instead of a normal lightbulb. My electricity bill was astronomical, I always took 3 out as I suspected they were the cause.
 
Which is the more efficient? 1 x 100W lightbulb, or 6 "energy saving" GU10 spotlights like these: http://www.yourwelcome.co.uk/acatalog/GU10_50mm_Halogen___box_of_10.html?

Genuine question - is it simply a case of going off the wattage? i.e. 6 x 35W = 210W?

Reason I ask is that my last flat was a new build (2003) where the living room had 6 of these instead of a normal lightbulb. My electricity bill was astronomical, I always took 3 out as I suspected they were the cause.

Indeed it is, we had the same issue in our house until they found it was my 4x 50w GU10s :p
 
I don't use any 100w bulbs anyway. I'm sure, given time, ebay will be littered with them. Far too bright anyway. 60w is where it's at.
 
Which is the more efficient? 1 x 100W lightbulb, or 6 "energy saving" GU10 spotlights like these: http://www.yourwelcome.co.uk/acatalog/GU10_50mm_Halogen___box_of_10.html?

Genuine question - is it simply a case of going off the wattage? i.e. 6 x 35W = 210W?

Reason I ask is that my last flat was a new build (2003) where the living room had 6 of these instead of a normal lightbulb. My electricity bill was astronomical, I always took 3 out as I suspected they were the cause.

Err, they're not energy saiving bulbs at all. They are standard Halogen lamps.
 
Err, they're not energy saiving bulbs at all. They are standard Halogen lamps.

Ah fair enough, that website has them under a "Halogen and Low Energy" section, hence my confusion.

I conclude therefore, that GU10s would be a better target for a ban than 100W standard bulbs, however I have nothing against discouraging their use either.
 
Why would you get them anyway? Morrisons have 11watt (equiv to 60watt) Philips energy saving bulbs for 50P each at present!
 
Why would you get them anyway? Morrisons have 11watt (equiv to 60watt) Philips energy saving bulbs for 50P each at present!

Because 60w often isn't enough, and 100w type energy savers still aren't cheap.
 
Own brand ones are still 99p to £1.99 for a 100watt equiv one if you shop around. They still outlive normal bulbs even if they are own brand.
 
No level of incompitence comes a surprise to me when discussing this Government, although at least this time it may have benefit. Incandescents aren't all bad.

When I lived in a shared house I had a tiny room that heated up really quickly. In the summer I put in a low energy bulb because the room would heat up too much with a regular 60W. In the winter in goes the 60W incandescent for the better light and the heat.

It's true we will save energy by using the unrecyclable mercury impregnated flourescents but in the winter much of the "waste" of an incandescent actually goes to heat my home and so I need less central heating.

In addition traditional bulb technolgy is going through a revolution to increase effiencies by adjusting the surface properties of the tungsten filament.
 
The big problem with the CF bulbs is they are not dimmable, and that annoys me as I don't always want a constant amount of light. I believe the new halogen in incandescent form-factor bulbs can be dimmed though, but it's a whiter light.
 
There are now dimmable versions available, I believe.

My main issues with these bulbs, as was mentioned in the previous thread on this subject, is firstly that many of the 100w equivalent are no such thing and are markedly dimmer, and secondly that some of them take ages to reach full brightness.
 
It seems the law to ban traditional 100w lightbulbs has failed.

100W light bulbs were not banned.

They are still available to purchase for industrial use from wholesalers, and not illegal to make or import if marked "unsuitable for home use"

That's because 100W light bulbs were not banned.

Another epic fail on the govts part

Or on yours, for not reading the legislation properly?

The legislation only prohibits the importation of 100W incandescent bulbs to EU countries for domestic use. It does not prohibit the existence, sale or alternative use of 100W incandescent bulbs.

The good news is, the industrial spec bulbs are both more durable and last longer than the home varieties!

I wonder how long it will be before the price shoots up?

[DOD]Asprilla;14789445 said:
My main issues with these bulbs, as was mentioned in the previous thread on this subject, is firstly that many of the 100w equivalent are no such thing and are markedly dimmer, and secondly that some of them take ages to reach full brightness.

Agreed. This is particularly awkward when you only need to use then intermittently.
 
I'm sorry but this is just retarded!!

I use to use 60W Energy saving bulbs from B&Q. They say they are the same as 100W traditional bulbs.

To my experience they are still not as bright as 100W traditional bulbs so i changed from energy saving to normal bulbs. Had to buy of web as no shop had them.

Lets face it, energy saving bulbs are just lazy. I walk into a room, turn it on, find what im looking for and then leave all the while the bulb is waking up!

Maybe if they were as bright as traditional bulbs and didn't take so long in waking up i might use use them again. Until then, its to the tinternet for a bulk order of 100W traditional bulbs!
 
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