In this mania that has gripped the country, many people are changing to the new energy saving bulbs around here in order to save themselves money on their electricity. These bulbs purport to last between 5 and 10 years depending on which bulb you are buying. I am now getting reports from people of some of these bulbs failing after a matter of days. Since my business deals with people "teleworking" we fit these bulbs when asked and are now looking somewhat stupid with at least three clients since the New Year. These are manufactured by Ring.

Anyone else had problems with energy saver bulbs, and if so, which ones were they please? These are not cheap and this kind of failure rate negates any savings that they may make for the long term.

SHARK!

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For every positive action, there's an equal and opposite government plan.

Hi Shark,

And also with the scaremongering of mercury content in the energy saving bulbs what will be the cost of disposing of them? Minimal risk but maximum costs probably?? Isn't great to live in a country where Health & Safety has no boundaries in respect of the cost to Joe Public and small to medium businesses.

Just a moan about the tree huggers you'll never please them.

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Regards

Ian

I agree that there is a lot of scaremongering going on. I heard loads of reports about "a very small amount" of mercury being in the bulbs but not one single report saying how much "a very small amount" is. Are we talking grams, milligrams, or less and how does the quantity compare with the old thermometers (you could actually see the mercury in those!). My understanding is that the mercury is in vapour form so it will be in a much smaller quantity than would be found in an old thermometer but I would still appreciate some journalist taking the trouble to find out how much rather than just leaving it to the vivid imagination of Joe Public to judge.

The bulbs used to be a false economy as the saving in electricity would be offset by the high cost of the bulb. Today, however, you can buy energy saving bulbs from many places for under a pound. I've yet to spend more on one and I've yet to have one fail. Personally I find that I leave more lights on longer (for security) with energy saving bulbs. An energy saving bulb can stay on all night and still use less than a penny's worth of electricity.

If you are concerned about the cost of the bulbs, you should stop paying so much for them.

maxsteam:

If you are concerned about the cost of the bulbs, you should stop paying so much for them.

It is comments like this that really irritate me. When you live 15 miles from the nearest town, you don't have a lot of choice in the matter. Buying from the Internet negates any savings you make in the price AND you are not guaranteed to receive them in good order. Not everyone lives in villages, towns or cities, and you'd do well to remember that. With 3 packs costing anywhere between £5.99 to £24.99 (depending on bulb type) my concern was that people are being sold shoddy goods (nothing new there then) and having little recourse when they are faulty. Given that these wretched things are going to be the ONLY option in the not-too-distant future they need to adhere to their advertised 'worth'.

SHARK!

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For every positive action, there's an equal and opposite government plan.

Apologies to have upset. No offense intended.

The last ones I bought were 9W bulb shaped ones from Tesco - two for £1.68 - not really any better in my view than the bent tube shape 9W, two for £1.38 - both GE brand. Tesco also had some unbranded 11W ones that worked out at under 50p each if you buy a dozen. I'd stocked up on 11W ones so I didn't give those a try. I find that with a white lampshade, anything over 11W is too bright for most rooms. I've also bought from Home Bargains and Lidl but ther's less likely to be one of those near you than a Tesco. I've seen identical GE ones advertised on the internet at £5 or more each.

Whethere they are £5 or 50p, I'd still try to get them back to the shop if they failed within a few days.

Hoping that helps.

maxsteam:

Apologies to have upset. No offense intended.

Sorry to have bitten at the time - must learn not to post replies when I am irritated!

Spoke to local builders in the area and they have told me some horror stories about these bulbs. The biggest problem is that the retailers will not usually accept that there is a faulty bulb and given their price this leaves the consumer HEAVILY out of pocket. Obviously if the bulb has blown in three or four days and they state that they should last for 6 years, then you have a problem which is obvious, but with the retail mentality you have little hope of getting either a replacement or your money back.

I have written to the manufacturer involved and will post any progress later.

SHARK!

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For every positive action, there's an equal and opposite government plan.

Haven't studied this thread but I'd like to point out that these bulbs are only small fluorescents, we have had fluorescents about 6ft long for years, they naturally contain much more mercury, yet we managed to dispose of them without the world ending. BB

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Circumstances alters cases!!

BB:Haven't studied this thread but I'd like to point out that these bulbs are only small fluorescents, we have had fluorescents about 6ft long for years, they naturally contain much more mercury, yet we managed to dispose of them without the world ending. BB

No, this is nothing to do with disposing of these bulbs - it is all about their reliability against their over-inflated cost.

SHARK!

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For every positive action, there's an equal and opposite government plan.

Sorry to have interfered, I was trying to respond to maxsteams post BB

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Circumstances alters cases!!

Spoken to Ring today to see what can be done. Many of these are new types to the market and they will be taking the bulbs back for inspection. More as this unfolds.

SHARK!

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For every positive action, there's an equal and opposite government plan.

Further to the above sources of energy saving bulbs at a decent price, when I was last in Asda, they had the same bulbs as Tesco but without the 2 for 1 offer. I was in Morrisons today and bought a few of their branded (Philips) 8W bulbs at 4 for £1 which is the best price I've yet seen for low energy bulbs. They also had some 5W low energy bulbs (I don't like bright lights!) in large screw, small screw and small bayonet, but not in the standard bayonet fitting for £1.99. I'm quite keen to find some low watt, low energy bulbs if anyone has other suggestions.

As they become more of a "standard" bulb to buy, I'm sure that the price will come down everywhere - 4 for £1 was the normal price for the old bulbs.

Seems that Philips bulbs are now affected. I received 4 free energy bulbs from British Gas, 2 x 60w and 2x40w equivalents. Inserted the 60w bulbs and switched them on with no problems. Inserted the 40w ones, one of them lit up orange and then went ping. The other one came on flickered, then went out with a puff of smoke which smelt of burning electronics. Contacted British Gas who aren't interested as in their eyes it is a goodwill gesture for them to send you energy bulbs that don't work! Contacted Philips who managed to send out 2 replacement 40w bulbs. One of which worked, the other one flickers for the first 5 minutes of use before settling down - would be ideal in a disco! Obviously something majorly wrong with Philip's 40w genie bulbs, however they won't admit it of course!! Philips state on their feedback that 'some bulbs may have a shorter lifespan than others and may not last the full 10 years as stated on the packaging'. I accept this, but for them not to even last 10 seconds.............. Anyone else had problems with them......?

Linked to this question - Does anyone know of any Low Energy Bulbs that will work with dimmer switches ?

I realise that flourescent tubes won't - they need the volts to fire the starter - but there are different types of bulb available now........

I have seen some in B&Q that are energy saving bulbs which it stated on the packaging are dimmable. They didn't appear to be the tube type like most of them currently are. They seemed to have a small filament at the end, can't remember who they were made by, but think they were quite expensive, about £15 per bulb, but definately remember it saying that they were dimmable, they had them in screw and bayonet fitting as well. They were on a separate display away from all the other energy bulbs. One other thing I noticed was that they were slightly higher in wattage than standard energy bulbs. Where the Philips ones are approx 11watts equivalent to a 60w, these were about 17watts equivalent to a 60w, not that it makes much difference! Hope this helps.

Thanks - I will investigate