Is anyone using an energy saving bulb outdoors? I've had a bulb blow this week. Just a simple light fitting with an indoor switch, no PIR or sensor. The only suitable bulb I could find in that box under the stairs was a free one from the leccy company - a 60w equivalent, Edison fitting. When I switch it on it makes no difference! It takes perhaps 5 minutes to warm up, by which time it is as bright as, or brighter than, the old tungsten bulb but that's not a lot of use if I'm nipping out to put the milk bottles out.
Did the leccy company get a shed load of old stock or are they all like this? It's in a Philips box. I think I'll be buying an old fashioned one this weekend and I've checked up on what the other outdoor bulbs are too so I don't get caught out. Imagine one of these in a security light.
I seem to remember my parents kept two spare bulbs. A 60w and a 100w :-)
John
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Energy saving bulbs in our unheated garage last on average 18 months.. One frost appears to kill them..
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I have an energy saving bulb in my mock Tudor coach lamp outside my mock Tudor house. A mock Tudor candle would in fact be more useful for the short times it's needed. Bright enough by the time it gets going but I'm usually back in by then...sitting by my fake, gas fuelled, open fire.
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>>One frost appears to kill them..
I had the same problem with our outside welcome light until I installed an Osram 11w (just checked it!) about 3 years ago. It's still going strong.
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Well at least you dumped your fake fag.
I have two of the free energy saver bulbs. One in the open porch, one outside the back door.
they work fine, but its true they have a shorter lifespan than indoors.
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They used to produce energy savers specifically for outside use, but they didn't seem to last any longer than the others.
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...sitting by my fake, gas fuelled, open fire...
Sitting on your fake reproduction furniture, looking at your fake Georgian mantle clock, which sits beneath your fake Lowry print.
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I picture him witha fake tan, for his fake golden coloured medalion to rest upon.
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Never owned a medallion. Perhaps I should get one. Nearly right Iffy except the artworks are originals by my wife who for reasons she has never fully understood herself has a very good degree in Fine Art. Lots of nudes on our walls. You get used to them although it is mildly disturbing when you vaguely know some of them personally...
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Yes, A naked AC is a tad disturbing over canapes.
edit: specialy the little Charcuterie ones
Last edited by: Zero on Fri 26 Nov 10 at 14:23
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>>Well at least you dumped your fake fag.
He's seen the light...
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...oh and no need for the fake tan...panoramic roof on the squashy...real tan I'll have you know...
Sniffs haughtily.
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Have you dared throw away your fake Colt .45 lighter yet?
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...no I'm keeping that for when I take over from Ray Mears. I'm going to drive a coach and horses through his flint and tinder nonsense. Just use a lighter man. It's easier, they've been invented.
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...Just use a lighter man. It's easier, they've been invented...
Strange to relate, I thought of your smoking habit when I was driving the Ka loan car yesterday.
It was what I now know to be a Grand Prix special edition, and the inside was finished in red, white and black, resembling a Marlboro packet.
The effect was enhanced by the white letter K-styled interior door handle.
As you will know, capital Ks are supposed to be hidden on the Marlboro pack.
www.ford.co.uk/Cars/Ka/Individual
Edit: Click on the interior pic from the thumbnails on the righthand side of the page.
Last edited by: Iffy on Fri 26 Nov 10 at 14:37
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Re the KKK?
It was a myth
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...Re the KKK...It was a myth...
Yes and no.
I saw a bloke unfold one of the crushproof packs in a certain way to show the three Ks.
It may not have meant anything - probably didn't - but it could be done.
A bit like using an upside down LED calculator to spell Shell Oil, or whatever it was.
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I smoked them for 30 years. There was 1 k inside the flip top corner folds.
It stood for K ing size
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S'pose I could buy a packet purely for research purposes and report back?.....
Or maybe not!
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yes but he used the light er and he melted it
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Humph that made me laugh :-)
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Not quite a laughing matter yet this giving up malarky....I'm H.A.P.P.Y.....I'm H.A.P.P.Y......I know I am I'm sure I am...
:-(
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Oh hang on, I see now, you weren't replying to what I thought you were replying to but were in fact replying to something else, therefore my reply was never going to make sense when held in context with your post...
I'll get the hang of this forum stuff yet... Little arrows, that's the thing isn't it, little arrows...?
:-)
Couldn't half do with a fag...
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>> Couldn't half do with a fag...
>>
Don't believe your brain it can lie.
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Did you have to do that? I now have Leapy Lee in my head. :-(
'scuse me while I play some music as an antidote.
John
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>> Energy saving bulbs in our unheated garage last on average 18 months.. One frost
>> appears to kill them..
They'll probably come back up again in the Spring.......
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I've had energy saving bulbs in two PIR bulkhead security lights for the last seven years ~ still on original bulbs.
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But surely whatever triggers them is long gone by the time they're providing any light?
John
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>> But surely whatever triggers them is long gone by the time they're providing any light?
>>
>> John
>>
Mine come on quite quickly ~ not instantaneously but quite quickly nevertheless.
Last edited by: L'escargot on Fri 26 Nov 10 at 15:09
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I have a 15w light sensor energy saving lamp running during the hours of darkness outside the rear of our mansion, It has been working for several years, so many I can't remember when it was fitted, (probably about 4 or 5 years ago).
Last edited by: Old Navy on Fri 26 Nov 10 at 15:07
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I have a 60 watt filament lamp in our porch, switched by a PIR device above the adjacent garage door.
It's bright enough to see what's happening, and it has full brightness within milliseconds.
It has lasted so long I can't remember changing it, and we've been in the house 26 years.
Why an energy saver here?
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Exactly - unless they're on for an extended period pointless - Stick to filament bulbs. Far less hassle. It's like using a diesel for a very short run.
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>> It's like using a diesel for a very short run.
>>
At least the are not running under "choke" conditions.
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Well no too sure - do they use more power in the warm up phase ? Heard some tale...
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>> Well no too sure - do they use more power in the warm up phase
>> ? Heard some tale...
>>
If they are, at least the fuel is a lubricant, unlike petrol.
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>>Stick to filament bulbs. Far less hassle.
Unless you're selling up and need an EPC. Points lost if you don't have energy saving bulbs.
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I had this chat with the EPC guy - he said it was insignificant but was accounted for in the "possible improvement " column, he added that he didn't physically check the fittings - he asked me whether the 5 main ones in the lounge were energy efficient ones I was able to switch them on with my nose to show him !
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>>Unless you're selling up and need an EPC. Points lost if you don't have energy saving bulbs.<<
Tell me about it :(
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Staying in sunny Cornwall, Dog?
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>>Staying in sunny Cornwall, Dog?<<
Well Clk Sec ... I wouldn't see a Dog out in this weather :)
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>> Stick to filament bulbs.
I found that filament bulbs made our enclosed bulkhead fittings quite hot and probably shortened their life. I bet the fittings last longer with our energy saving bulbs.
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Because "The only suitable bulb I could find in that box under the stairs was a free one from the leccy company" which happened to be an energy saver. I'll buy a "proper" one at the weekend. Wonder how much longer they'll be available.
John
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>> Because...
Sorry, I'd forgotten your original comment...
Anyway, it looks like many of us will be incandescent by 2012....
ec.europa.eu/energy/lumen/faq/index_en.htm
I may have to stock up.
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I think that LED lamps will become common soon, I have one 3w GU10 LED in a display cabinet. It's brilliance is comparable with a 35w GU10 spotlamp.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Fri 26 Nov 10 at 17:02
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Interesting comment / practical experience ON. tinyurl.com/yj275qx I see there are now 7w versions available.
I notice that the light output, in Lumens, is still well short of the orignal article though - 355 v (I believe 500 ish) though this ad claims "as much light".
Mind at these prices I don't think I can afford to save money!
John
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>> Mind at these prices I don't think I can afford to save money!
>>
>> John
>>
Ouch, mine was slipped into SWMBO's basket in LIDL, I think it cost her less than a fiver. :-)
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Thanks ON. The "standard" energy saver bulbs are available for a few tens of pence if you look around (good brands) or a few pounds if you don't. I think they started at MUCH higher prices. Presumably this is to encourage us to switch. I guess the LEDs will go the same way.
Meantime I have a stack of GU10s under the stairs and that daffy part of me says they have to be used up first :-) And they're lasting well.
John
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Some bulbs are free or very cheap because of how the energy companies had to achieve some targets. If they failed to meet the target there were huge penalties. So at one point they could achieve a government target by posting out free bulbs for example. The costs in doing this was less than the penalties. Madness really.
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I have a sensor energy-saver at the front door . The side and back of the house have been recently rewired to give 7 up-and-downlighters with gu10 LEDs shining up and gu10 CFLs shining down. The CFLs take ages to warm up in this weather but I like the house lit up so they are always on after dusk. The LEDs light up instantly but are a bit directional; I prefer the CFL flood effect. The maths are simple; 200w versus 850w with 30w tungsten lights. They have been working since February without failure; touch wood.
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If you have to turn them on well in advance of needing them, and then leave them on because next time you want to pop out you need an instant light, then you are probably not saving energy.
I've just been out to chip ice and salt the paths. I'd rather have a decent light before I venture onto an ice rink. So the low-energy bulbs I installed in the balmy days of summer are destined for the bin, and the trusty old incandescents are going back on.
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>> If you have to turn them on well in advance of needing them, and then
>> leave them on because next time you want to pop out you need an instant
>> light, then you are probably not saving energy.
>>
>> I've just been out to chip ice and salt the paths. I'd rather have a
>> decent light before I venture onto an ice rink. So the low-energy bulbs I installed
>> in the balmy days of summer are destined for the bin, and the trusty old
>> incandescents are going back on.
>>
Must be nice to be affluent. :-)
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A good old tungsten is back in. Rats to the planet. :-)
I've also checked that I have supplies for the other outdoor bulbs and those in the garage opener.
John
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" 60W Rough Service" bulbs are available and might last a little longer as Ii think they have thicker fillaments.
www.wickes.co.uk/60W-BC-Rough-Service-Bulb/invt/187067
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..." 60W Rough Service" bulbs are available...
I thought the sale of incandescent filament bulbs had been stopped in favour of energy savers.
Have I missed something?
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Only 100watt bulbs iffy. I used to work with a girl her nickname was forty watts...
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Bit dim and not much good for reading?
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As dim as a Toc H lamp was the shout in my day.
Never did understand what it meant. ;>)
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When the mines were working in County Durham, someone who liked staying at home in the evening was known as a Davy Lamp.
Never goes out.
Last edited by: Iffy on Sun 28 Nov 10 at 23:00
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>> As dim as a Toc H lamp was the shout in my day.
>>
I certainly recall that expression in the more gentle era.
>> Never did understand what it meant. ;>)
>>
I had a vague idea but more here
www.bsswebsite.me.uk/Local-history/Toc-H.htm
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>> I used to work with a girl her nickname was forty watts...
Did she wear any jewellery? A pendant for example?
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How strange.... we have 9 energy saving bulbs outdoots and so far over 3yrs none has failed. However I have just upgraded all of them from the 11/14w to 20w which gives far better light and it seems the new ones start up faster.
We tend to leave them on much of the evening/night so they are at max brightness all the while. Cost theory being.... one of them for example replaced a 500w sensor light which we would also force on for parts of the evening so for about 1-2hr total per night. Compare with a 20w low energy bulb which can be on 3-6 nights for 8rs at the same cost.... and the light is better for security too.
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Now that you broach the subject....
John
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Energy saving bulbs outdoors - madf
