Incandescents - do you still use them?
- Thread starter FoxEye
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ES bulbs heavily release phenol and styrene while switched on. Both chemicals are seriously toxic, phenol can kill you and styrene causes cancer. Those are facts that we already know.
ES bulbs are also filled with mercury, the most toxic substance to humans, known to cause cancer and autism.
And for those reasons, I still use incandescent bulbs. If they are eventually phased out, i'll switch to LED.
Their banning had nothing to do with how efficient they were either. It's all about money.
I'm in the "meh, why change" camp, but wow.
No worse than many other electronic devices and generally not to a level that is likely to have much health impact except in very specific situations.
The only way you'd have problems with the mercury really is if you inhaled the dust from a bulb that used it breaking (and you'd probably need to combine that with other mercury accumulation).
Are you also in the "wi-fi is cooking our brains" camp?
And the fact you're meant to clear the room and open windows when one breaks.
It's all a con anyway to make money for big business who lobbied European politicians. Suddenly an essential item that cost you pence now costs you far more made by one of a small number of companies for an inferior product bar the marginal energy saving.
LED are an improvement on CFL but I've still not been able to find anything to match the light given by an incandescent.
We have LED's throughout the house, but we do have a couple of lamps with Karbon bulbs in (not sure what they are called in the UK - probably a brand name)
Soldato
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Ive got 4 par 38's in my kitchen. Each one is 120W but ive not found a reasonable cost replacement for them.
Soldato
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Gradually replacing our house lights with LEDs and halogens where practical.
The "warm white" of the LED GU10s (5W equivalent to 50W incandescent) takes a little getting used to as they're way brighter than the incandecents.
The "warm white" of the LED GU10s (5W equivalent to 50W incandescent) takes a little getting used to as they're way brighter than the incandecents.
Incandescents cast a much nicer light than any of the CFL bulbs I've tried. It's a struggle getting a high enough rating on them to actually light the area they're supposed to. The 20w CFL in my living room is worse than the 60w incandescent that it replaced, for example. And they get a lot worse over time (I have to buy them a bit too bright so that they are still acceptable after 6 months). Plus, they take so long to warm up - I have incandescents in the places where lights don't stay on long (under-stairs cupboard, for example).
I've swapped almost all my Halogen GU10 bulbs for LEDs (going from 50w down to 5.5w), and the light temperature is fine on those (different, but not unpleasant), but there is a detectable strobing effect - mostly I can see it around the edges of my vision.
I've not tried LED bulbs for standard ceiling lights. I'm a bit dubious about them due to limited angles of light.
Frankly, if I could still get standard bulbs for ~50p each, I would probably go for those for ceiling lights. It's not worth the standard of living drop (in terms of living with dim lighting) just to save a few pence each month on electric
I've swapped almost all my Halogen GU10 bulbs for LEDs (going from 50w down to 5.5w), and the light temperature is fine on those (different, but not unpleasant), but there is a detectable strobing effect - mostly I can see it around the edges of my vision.
I've not tried LED bulbs for standard ceiling lights. I'm a bit dubious about them due to limited angles of light.
Frankly, if I could still get standard bulbs for ~50p each, I would probably go for those for ceiling lights. It's not worth the standard of living drop (in terms of living with dim lighting) just to save a few pence each month on electric
You can still get standard bulbs for that, 50p if anything is too much for a std halogen/filament bulb.
I get through quite a lot of gu10 and ses candle bulbs, I always buy them in packs of 10 from eBay, they are always £3.99 delivered for 10 (I bought 50 ses candles the other day, they are status branded and seem fine.
I get through quite a lot of gu10 and ses candle bulbs, I always buy them in packs of 10 from eBay, they are always £3.99 delivered for 10 (I bought 50 ses candles the other day, they are status branded and seem fine.
I always found the cheap GU10s would blow too regularly - would need to replace every 6 months, where the better quality ones lasted a couple of years. Though I'm happy enough with LEDs for the spotlights, so won't reverse on that.
I might look into ebay, then, for filament bulbs for normal ceiling lights. CFLs are a total fail - I've tried, but they're useless. Perhaps I should give LED a go first, though...
I might look into ebay, then, for filament bulbs for normal ceiling lights. CFLs are a total fail - I've tried, but they're useless. Perhaps I should give LED a go first, though...
Yeah be careful with brand, status is a proper one and they last as long as any other just avoid the shops/diy sheds, I think b&q/screwfix were charging something like £2 each last time I checked. I'd be spending more on bulbs than I would on the actual power for them at that rate 
just avoid the shops/diy sheds, I think b&q/screwfix were charging something like £2 each last time I checked. I'd be spending more on bulbs than I would on the actual power for them at that rate 
I predominantly use filament bulbs for several reasons.
The house came with them and I had large boxes of spares.
They are way cheaper to buy than ES bulbs.
I hate the dim light you get from ES until th things have warmed up.
I prefer the white balance of filament bulbs.
I have dimmers on several lights and this is just way cheaper with filament bulbs
That said in the future I would probably upgrade to high end LED but it is a big investment.
The efficiency side is also not as bad as one wicked think. In winter the wasted energy is heat, you would have your heating on anyway.
I am also very careful to switch off all lights where not needed. So at most I have a few hundred watts of lights on, typically less. Compare that to people that have computers drawing loads of power, people that have huge TVs left running 8hrs a day, people with old inefficient boilers, people who live in poorly insulated houses, people who commute to work in their private car.
Our energy footprint is quite low. We have lower energy bills than people who live in small old houses with poorer insulation despite the fact they have ES bulbs everywhere.
The house came with them and I had large boxes of spares.
They are way cheaper to buy than ES bulbs.
I hate the dim light you get from ES until th things have warmed up.
I prefer the white balance of filament bulbs.
I have dimmers on several lights and this is just way cheaper with filament bulbs
That said in the future I would probably upgrade to high end LED but it is a big investment.
The efficiency side is also not as bad as one wicked think. In winter the wasted energy is heat, you would have your heating on anyway.
I am also very careful to switch off all lights where not needed. So at most I have a few hundred watts of lights on, typically less. Compare that to people that have computers drawing loads of power, people that have huge TVs left running 8hrs a day, people with old inefficient boilers, people who live in poorly insulated houses, people who commute to work in their private car.
Our energy footprint is quite low. We have lower energy bills than people who live in small old houses with poorer insulation despite the fact they have ES bulbs everywhere.
Soldato
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The reason you can see flicker is that the corner of the eye is much more sensitive to movement then the central bit. From avoiding other predators. Ive got a couple of gu10's but im not sure the angle of the current ones and i dont want them to be anymore spotlighty than they are already.
just replaced all the lights with LED's. All are much brighter and at a tenth of the wattage.
wide beam 9w led's for the main rooms with warm light > http://www.ledhut.co.uk/9-watt-b22-high-output-standard-shape-led-bulb.html
these spiral fitting ones for the kitchen in cool white. So bright I could do with half the bulbs but gotta replace them one for one..
http://www.ledhut.co.uk/5-5-watt-r63-reflector-led-bulb.html
and these led gu10's for spotlights in the bathroom
http://www.ledhut.co.uk/new-4-5-watt-gu10-led-350-lumens.html
ledhut always have 20 to 30% discount codes off which drops the price a fair bit and has a 5 year warranty at the shop. They should last 15 to 20 years though.
wide beam 9w led's for the main rooms with warm light > http://www.ledhut.co.uk/9-watt-b22-high-output-standard-shape-led-bulb.html
these spiral fitting ones for the kitchen in cool white. So bright I could do with half the bulbs but gotta replace them one for one..
http://www.ledhut.co.uk/5-5-watt-r63-reflector-led-bulb.html
and these led gu10's for spotlights in the bathroom
http://www.ledhut.co.uk/new-4-5-watt-gu10-led-350-lumens.html
ledhut always have 20 to 30% discount codes off which drops the price a fair bit and has a 5 year warranty at the shop. They should last 15 to 20 years though.