My first LV 50W newey and eyre bulb has gone!!!

[The Natural Philosopher]

It only lasted 2 1/2 years..:-)

In the usptairs corridor that is used daily, and has no windows...

For those of you who would also like a 70p bulb that lasts two and a half years (minimum) its part number is NL258M

38 degree wide angle dichroic and quoted at 2000 hour minimum life.

Run of newey and eyre toroids that have some form of thermistor soft start I think.

Hmm. At 2000 hours I make that 2.2 hours a day for 2.5 years. Sounds about right actually. I'd say I've had em on more like 4 hours a day average...

Let's see 2000 times 50W is 100 Kw/h. So its probably burnt about 6 quids worth of electricity in its lifetime. I think per light they cost ten quid or so - fitting and transformer.

Well for an incandescent, this has to be the cheapest light ever.

Ok, not up with compact fluoros - or is it? How much capital cost in THEM?

[Christian McArdle]

Say 80p for a pendant fitting and 4 pounds for the bulb. It will have used only 20kW/h. So the total cost over the same period would have been 4.80 capital and 1.20 in energy. It will also continue to operate for another

8000h.

Therefore, a CFL would have about half the capital cost and a fifth of the running costs. Bulb replacement costs will be similar over a long period.

Christian.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Yup. About what I suspected. Shame they all look crap really...

[usenet]

But a sample of one is hardly enough to base a buying spree on is it?

[Pete C]

Hi,

If you have had them on for 4h/day that's more like 3650 hours, so maybe 10 or 11 quid.

cheers, Pete.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Well, lets put it this way, none of the other 15 have gone yet......so a smaple of 16 ain't bad.

[Doctor D]

Tesco were selling Status branded 11 watt CFLs for £2.99 for three. They are very good. Instant start and they reach full light output within a few seconds. Ikea ones take a long time to reach full light level but they have a good choice of caps, sizes and wattages. The "compact" one sold by Screwfix (11865) was huge and poor value for money.

[Christian McArdle]

You can get cheap bulbs. However, I prefer ones with bulb shaped enclosures and a good light spectrum. These are rarely represented around the 1 pound each mark.

OTOH, some well branded expensive ones I've found disappointing when compared with unbranded cheap ones, so it doesn't necessarily follow that cheap ones are always bad. It is sometimes luck of the draw, though.

Christian.