Traditional energy saving light bulbs create light by passing an electrical current through a thin wire, which then heats and lights up. The problem with this method is that as much as 95% of the power is used to heat the bulb (as you?ll have experienced if you?ve ever tried to change a blown bulb too quickly.)
Energy saving light bulbs work differently by passing the current through a gas-filled tube instead. This makes the bulb tube coating glow creating light in a sinilar way to fluorescent strip lights.
How Much Could You Save?
Clearly the costs vary depending on the size of your property, how long you use the bulbs and how much you pay for electricity. In most cases, an energy saving bulb uses 20% of the electricity of its traditional equivalent. As an example, using a single 60 watt bulb used for four hours a day on a tariff charging 15p per kW/h would cost ?10.51 per year more than an energy efficient equivalent.
Therefore, if all traditional bulbs are replaced with energy saving alternatives, an average family home could save more than ?50 per year. And whatever your situation, it?s virtually impossible that the higher cost of buying the bulb won?t be greatly outweighed by lower running costs within the first year.
Are Energy Saving Light Bulbs Now Required By Law?
Traditional pearl and frosted bulbs have already been banned in the UK, the logic being that they are the least energy efficient bulbs (as they intentionally block some of the light being produced.)
Major retailers have agreed to a voluntary ban on traditional bulbs of at least 100 watts. Over the next few years (to September 2012), this limit will be lowered. The aim is that from September 2016 only energy saving bulbs will be sold.
What About The Drawbacks Of Energy Saving Light Bulbs?
Many of the early drawbacks have been overcome. It is still comparatively rare for energy efficient light bulbs to be compatible with dimmer switches as, in the standard model, turning the switch down simply causes flickering. This is being addressed and dimmer-switch compatible models are becoming more available.
Early models took a noticeable time to reach full brightness. Again this is an improving situation and most newer models reach full brightness quickly enough that it isn?t a noticeable issue.
The first ranges of energy saving bulbs were only available in one size and shape, namely long loops. As well as being combersome to look at they were also too large for some fittings and lamps with the bulb protruding too far out of the lamp shade. Current ranges offer a much wider choice of size and shape to fit most lighting options.
Today, energy efficient light bulbs are usually sold with details confirming their energy consumption and wattage compared with that of a similar traditional bulb often labelled 13w/60w so you can guage the correct lighting equivalent for your room. This can be a little misleading as the glass in an energy saving bulb is translucent rather than transparent. This means that, in our example, the 13w bulb is equivalent to a 60w frosted glass traditional bulb rather than a 60w clear glass bulb. In some situations, therefore, you may need to want to choose the next largest energy saving bulb up from the labelled equivalent.
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