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Thread ID: 76908	2007-02-20 05:51:00	why don't they have the lower wattage energy saver bulbs	Morgenmuffel (187)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
526198	2007-02-21 21:51:00	That article was also in the Dom Post this morning.	Erayd (23)
526199	2007-02-22 00:48:00	The article mentions halogen and LED lamps. Halogen lamps aren't necessarily more efficient. They are still incandescent and produce a lot more infrared than visible light. The conventional transformers create a lot of heat too. I'm surprised that there aren't a lot of fires caused by halogen downlights. The dichroic reflectors mean that half of the IR (heat) goes straight up into the insulation of the ceiling, and the hot transformer is often inside the insulation too. They are "brighter" than conventional incandescents, but you still need "X" watts of visible light for a given area. LED lamps are coming along ... 1W and 3W LEDs are being used in torches now. 5W ones are available, but still expensive. But LEDs still produce a fair bit of heat, and need to have heat dissipators. I'd imagine that a 100W equivalent LED lamp would need to be fan cooled. :D	Graham L (2)
526200	2007-02-22 01:22:00	It all seems a bit of nonsense, I thought NZers had a higher IQ than Aussies?? I mean, to talk of replacing microwave, fridge and oven lights with fluorescents is real nonsense, and for those places where a light is switched on for a short time. The total electricity consumption due to domestic lighting is a very small percentage, 0.14% has been quoted somewhere. During wartime in UK we had double summer time (ie daylight saving) introduced as an energy saving measure amongst other reasons. Having permanent daylight saving all the year round, with double time in summer, would most likely save very very much more nett power than going to energy saving bulbs. The extra costs of manufacture and materials including extra energy to produce the extra parts, has not really been mentioned. Then there is all the mercury going into landfills from dumped lamps. When my energy saving bulbs fail, they just go into the rubbish sack, and they do seem to fail at the same rate as incandescent, maybe as Graham says, through bad soldered joints.	Terry Porritt (14)
526201	2007-02-22 20:28:00	Yes I agree it hardly seems worth it considerting the very small saving. 0.14% And as they say higher manufacturing costs and I hard not heard about the mercury ! (don't tell the Greens - isn't mercury one of the worlds worst posions ?) I keep telling my wife that when it comes to our power bill, its not the lights I leave on ! but the oven and electric heaters. Turn on your electric jug and then go and watch your electricty meter spin like mad ! Regards Digby	Digby (677)
526202	2007-02-22 20:41:00	Why can't they just make a nicer designer.Our house is fitted out with ones that look like the pearl colored soft-tones, only slightly larger. We use to blow one bulb a week, after switching to the energy savers haven't had a bulb blow in about a year or so.	Rob99 (151)
526203	2007-02-23 06:45:00	Turn on your electric jug and then go and watch your electricty meter spin like mad ! Regards Digby Boiling a full jug of water from cold will cost in the area of 1 - 2 cents. Yes it uses a bit of power, but it is on very infrequently and for a very short time, each time it is used. Put it into perspective, compare it with a 100 watt conventional lamp, which will cost the same amount for 1 hour of use, and you will see that the lights will outweigh the jug use, there are far more lights than electric jugs in the house and the lights are on a lot longer.	godfather (25)
526204	2007-02-23 08:16:00	It all seems a bit of nonsense, I thought NZers had a higher IQ than Aussies?? I mean, to talk of replacing microwave, fridge and oven lights with fluorescents is real nonsense, and for those places where a light is switched on for a short time . The total electricity consumption due to domestic lighting is a very small percentage, 0 . 14% has been quoted somewhere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I didn't really mean to imply that the use of energy saving bulbs was a nonsense, though it does read like that . I have them in all the light fittings that are switched on for more than the odd minute or two . I should have emphasised that it was the idea of legislating their compulsory use and banning incandesants that I consider a nonsense . I'm sure the government should have better things to do than waste their time on this sort of thing,(along with time wasters like anti-smacking bills :) ) What the Aussies get up to shouldn't overly concern us	Terry Porritt (14)
526205	2007-02-23 10:34:00	I didn't really mean to imply that the use of energy saving bulbs was a nonsense, though it does read like that . I have them in all the light fittings that are switched on for more than the odd minute or two . I should have emphasised that it was the idea of legislating their compulsory use and banning incandesants that I consider a nonsense . I'm sure the government should have better things to do than waste their time on this sort of thing,(along with time wasters like anti-smacking bills :) ) What the Aussies get up to shouldn't overly concern us You are right Terry in terms of logic . But governments have to show leadership . While the energy saving is small, the change in public conciousness is huge and leads onto more people thinking about other ways of saving energy . I see the bulbs thing as a gesture to direct public thinking in a positive direction - energy saving and efficency . Roll on nuclear fusion . :D	Winston001 (3612)
526206	2007-02-23 20:18:00	Any legislation will have to have exemptions. They simply do not make CFL's for fridges, microwaves, oven lights, many specialised fittings etc. Terry's mention above of 0.14% seems at odds with published figures, which put the figure for all lighting at 10-20% of consumption. I doubt that household lighting is only 1/10th of total lighting, but remember that utility lighting (streetlights) are already energy efficient and have been for many years. The typical streetlight or motorway light is only 70 or 90 Watts	godfather (25)
526207	2007-02-24 05:00:00	"The typical streetlight...... is only 70 or 90 watts." So how do I get one of those, godfather? The streetlight across the road from me seems to be doing a far better job than the energy-saving 100 watt equivalent I've rigged (temporarily while fiddling with placement) on a kitchen wall. Suppose there'd be snags for home consumption? (And old house wiring certainly wouldn't help...)	Laura (43)
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