A flash of light

Aha, an answer to all of you who claim you don’t use energy-saving light bulbs because they are so bulky and unattractive. Let me introduce to you online lighting shop tp24 and its LI low energy bulb. It is exactly the same size as a conventional bulb but it claims to last for 8,000 hours. It is one of several bulbs that make up its Kyoto Low Energy range. Exciting stuff, I hope you'll agree.

To see how much effort it takes to power one non-energy saving bulb, watch Newsnight’s Ethical Man making this point. Here (I hope, if my file downloading is up to scratch) you can watch him sweating on the Rinky Dink, the world's only mobile bicycle powered sound system (pictured above in Hyde Park).
I don’t suppose I should be wafting you over to the antics of a rival eco-journalist but I have faith that you will return to me…

Comments

[Ben Mackay]

Anna - you don't say how expensive the tp24 light bulb is. That's usually the thing that stops people from buying them, isn't it?

[tp24 Lighting - Tracey Unwin - Sales & Marketing Manager]

Our light bulbs retail at £4.60 inc vat. Yes more expensive, but each bulb has lifetime of 8,000 hours (typically 3-5 years use) Lamps also use upto 80% less electricity. Check out our Kyoto range at www.tp24.com or email me personally at tu@tp24.com

[Jason Petty]

I have been in the lighting business for 20 years and have witnessed the evolution of the CFL. What I have found that the key to liking the bulb is directly associated to the brand bulb you buy. It is all about color temperature. Some brands cast a “white” light that is not easy on the eyes - what you want to look for are bulbs that truly produce 2700K.

We sell nearly every brand out there, but I can absolutely say that what you want in your house is TCP brand. Whether you buy them from us or not is your choice but it makes me sick when I go into someones house and their yellow walls suddenly turned green - simply because of the color temp that the CFL produce.

We all want everyone to convert to CFL’s or LED’s or even the newest technology Cold Cathode Lamps (which are really cool) BUT we all need to have a good experience when we plug them in AND actually like the light output. If any of you need or want to learn more go to www.soslightbulbs.com then click the home icon - we have put some pretty informative stuff on there.

[Jim]

I recently bought low energy light-bulbs that claimed to be equivalent to 100 watt output and the same size as a standard bulb.

OK, I agree they are the same size. 100w equivalent light output they were definately not, so I've swapped back to standard bulbs in the living room and study.

[Anna Shepard]

Jim - which brand was it that let you down. can i not convince you to try out another to see if the light output is better?

Jason - thanks for the tip. Sorry to be a scientific ignoramus but what do you mean when you say 'bulbs that produced 2700K?

[BabyBarista]

Sorry to ask what might be a really easy question but whre would you recommend I go to offset flights?

[Anna Shepard]

BabyBarista - i've always liked the fact that Climate Care (climatecare.org.uk) has independent auditors checking its acounts and invests money not just in planting trees but renewable energy projects in developing countries. There's also a new one that is considered promising, set up by the tourist industry, called TICOS (http://www.ticos.co.uk)

[Jason Petty]

Jim -

2700 Kelvin is how color temperature is rated and that is what we are used to when we turn our our lights - the problem with CFL's are that they produce a higher color temp. which is hard on the eyes.

Most people want a warm light - not a harsh fluorescent light like you see in office buildings.

Hope that helps...

[Jonny]

How do you properly dispose of these energy saving bulbs!? The information available online is limited and US-centric. It tells you not to put them in the bin but does not say what your options are! :(

[Shanep]

I have had a 94% reduction on my lighting bill at home.I use a 48led bulbs/4.5watt. I replaced 85 bulbs. the light is fine from them. They dont hurt my eyes!Neither does the electric bill. Actually, I feel that the light gives me greater clarity of thought!

[Roger James]

TP24 low energy bulbs cost £4.60 each and last for 3000 hours.
Sainsburies 'basics range' tungsten light-bulbs cost only 8p each and should last around 1000 hours. Multi-packs of standard bulbs sell for around £1 in most supermarkets.
So apart from the ethical consideration to save energy, it doesn't make economic sense to switch to low energy lighting. The saving in electricity doesn't pay for the low energy bulb.
The other disincentive to switching is the energy that goes into manufacturing a low energy bulb, compared with a simple tungsten one.
Roger

[Geoff Botting]

We've replaced all our filament light bulbs with low energy bulbs which, with switching off lights not needed, has cut our February electricity consumption by some at least 40%. This is encouraging. What is not is the fact that the life of these low energy bulbs seems to be far from that claimed. Yesterday a low energy bulb from Homebase failed after less that 3 months. It's not the first that's failed so early albeit the other was not from Homebase. Am I unlucky or are some of these claims exaggerated?

[Alex]

T8 and T12 Fluorescent lights are being replaced by T5 tubes. http://8to5.wrennsite.co.uk/ and http://www.ecolight8to5.com

Save money, save electricity, save the planet.

[Graham]

We changed our whole fittings for tp24 ones from http://www.litebulbs.co.uk/ seem a bit cheaper than elsewhere

[Duncan Munday]

Our compmay sells heaps of low energy light bulbs to consumers but have a concern these all contain small amounts of mercury and although we have the WEEE directive in place the government are not doing enough to promote this and help people recycle these lamps so they just go into landfill to add to the growing pollution.