http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/News/Article...articleID=10923

Yep, Illuminating article eh!

Personally I can't tell the difference with the low energy lights.

Light is light - isn't it?

I know people who cannot see the need for the new type of bulbs and consider that they give a poorer light than ye olde 100w bulbs and who also think it's another government conspiracy. They also, of course, do not believe in global warming.

I think it will take more than a swiz set about by the EU to tackle Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGM). The light given off by Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) is quite poor also.

I tend to think a lot of it is the natural human instinct of resistance to change.

Also, global warming or not, they use less energy for the same amount of light so that can't be bad.

Fluorescent tubes, which use the same technology, have been around for years.

A local businessman profiting from global warming?

He's gone right down in my estimation.

And mine. I went there and bought something last Saturday; I wish I had not now.

SHAME ON YOUR BARRY FORKIN; WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HELP DEFEAT CLIMATE CHANGE??

I know where I'm going tomorrow.

Good old unelected European bureaucrats. The logic does not stand up.

A 100w CFL gives out the equivilent of about 60w filiment light. The wattage revers to the power as light is measured in Lumens. Therefore you need more to provide the same light levles

Filiment tubes do not contain mercury and other heavy metals. If a CFL breaks, that mercury (in dust form) goes everywhere.

Filiment bulbs can be recycled easily. CFL's require special treatment as they are classed as hazardous waste.

People with certain photosensitive conditions cannot use CFL and even normal tubes can cause painful migranes. Filiment bulds do not as the light is constant, not a series of rapid flickers.

Dimmer switches cannot use CFL as they are designed to work at a set power level. Dimmers can cause them to explode.

A £1 each!?!

for something costing him about £0.10? Naked profiteering at its capitalist best.

Mr Forkin said that, in his experience, the low energy bulbs were a “con” because they still required regular changing and often cost 12 times the price of a normal bulb.
£12 ? I don't think so. We have nothing but energy saving lamps ( A bulb is something you plant ) in our house.

Yeah - but what would you do if, as one of the very few indies left in Newbury, you wanted to stay in business?

Charge a fair price. Not hike the price just because he has the only supply.

Not rip off my customers to such a large extent and help destroy the planet in the process, that's for sure.

You call them lamps, - just to be different - so good for you. In Oz, they call them globes, witness going to a shop and asking for bulbs the first time - that's just what you were offered - flower bulbs. In the UK think they will be known as bulbs for a long while yet, though.

Since he's local - why not go round and tell him?

The wattage i.e.100W in an incandescent lamp refers not to the light output but to the electrical power consumed by the device.

The 100W equivalent given for a CFL refers to the amount of light given out by the lamp is equivalent to a 100W incandescent.

A 100w equivalent CFL uses approximately 20W of electrical power.

Dimmer switches cannot cause the CFL to explode.
They just need a certain voltage to light and this is not achieved at the lower settings of a dimmer switch.
They just give out a constant level of light and will trigger when the dimmer is turned up to reach a sufficient voltage.

One thing I've noticed though is that most, if not all, of the boxes my low energy bulbs have come in say they cannot be used in enclosed light fittings.
So we have a problem there unless we get rid of all such fittings!

Well said.

I know several people, who because they find the initial quality of light from energy saving bulbs so poor, leave lights switched on all day to avoid the first few dim minutes. If this happens nationwide, we could be doing even less to save energy at the end of the day.

I'm afraid I'll also be stocking up.

And energy savers take a lot more manufacturing, and have a higher carbon footprint, so anyone not using the old style lamps are as guilty of destroying our earth, for us and our children.

Same advice to you, I'm afraid - if you feel that strongly about it, and we're definitely not talking about the Tesco's of this world, what's stopping you taking a few minutes out to go in and tell the geezer what you really think?

Very intersting report on CFL

http://www.thebriefingroom.com/archives/20...ry_in_cfls.html