Recent Article (published by Green Living)

Click Here

Light Bulbs and Fittings                                               

A bright idea. Just one Energy Saving Recommended lightbulb can reduce your lighting costs by up to £100 over the lifetime of the bulb. And with a wide variety of styles and wattages available, it's now even easier to choose the energy efficient option.

How they work

Traditional bulbs waste a lot of their energy by turning it into heat rather than light. Energy Saving Recommended bulbs work in the same way as fluorescent lights, an electric current passes through gas in a tube, making the tube's coating glow brightly. This means that they use less energy and are cool to the touch.

Energy saving light bulbs use a quarter of the electricity of ordinary bulbs to generate the same amount of light. So where you'd normally use a 60W bulb, you'll only need a 13-18W energy saving recommended equivalent.
 

Ordinary bulbs Energy saving equivalent   Ordinary bulbs Energy saving equivalent 25W 6W 60W 13- 18W 40W 8 - 11W 100W 20- 25W

You can now also buy low energy light fittings which will only take low energy lightbulbs. These use a ballast or transformer fitted into the base of the light fitting. It controls the supply of electricity to the bulb, allowing for a small surge of power for a millisecond to light the bulb and then reducing the electricity flow to a very low level.

Low energy fittings require a pin based energy saving bulb. This is a different fitting to a conventional bulb but will ensure that the bulbs you buy in future will always save energy, money and the environment.

The savings

Energy saving light bulbs last up to 12 times longer than ordinary lightbulbs and can save you £9 per year in electricity (and 38 kilograms of CO₂ ) or £100 over the bulbs lifetime.

How the savings add up

If everyone installed just one energy saving light bulb the CO₂ emissions saved would fill 2 million double decker buses. And if each house installed three energy saving bulbs, it would save enough energy to run the country's street lights for a year.

Look for the logo

Always look for the Energy Saving Recommended logo when you purchase lightbulbs. It's your guarantee that these products are the most energy efficient in their category will cost less to run and help prevent climate change.

Other energy saving ideas

Always remember to turn the lights off when you leave the room. A 100W light bulb if left on for 1/2 hour creates enough CO₂ to fill a party balloon In the UK we waste £180 million a year by leaving our lights switched on unnecessarily. This causes 770,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions, enough to fill 150,000 hot air balloons.

Did you know that you should recycle your used energy saving light bulbs?

The producers of energy saving lightbulbs have co-founded an organisation that provides free of charge return facilities. Visit the Recolight website to find out more.

Energy Saving Lighting Myths

• Energy saving lights are too big and bulky to really be an option

Energy saving bulbs have improved considerably over the years and you can now get ones that look just like their non efficient counterparts. In addition to 'look-alike' products they also come in stick, candles and even halogen options. Search our Energy Saving Recommended database for a full list of the products available.

• Energy saving lightbulbs are much more expensive

The prices of energy saving light bulbs have come down in recent times - it is now possible to buy a bulb for as little as £2 and many of the major supermarkets and retailers sell them cheaply. In addition, because they use less energy they will lower electicity bills, in fact a saving of up to £9 per year per bulb is possible.

• Energy saving light bulbs take a long time to turn on

There have also been improvements in technology allowing 'instant start up' (as opposed to the traditional warm up period associated with low-energy bulbs), and warmer tones from the light itself which avoid the harsh white light traditionally associated with these bulbs.

• The wattages of energy saving bulbs are lower, does that mean the light is not as bright and which one will I need?

Energy saving light bulbs use up to four times less electricity to generate the same amount of light. So where you'd normally use a 60W bulb, you'll only need a 13-18W energy saving recommended equivalent.

back to: low energy lights   * facts on this page are taken from the Energy Savings Trust  © Green Living Ideas 2007 - 2009