Hi guys, I'm sure I know the answer is "they're no 100% efficient", but just wanted to check whether I have got some really wrong readings...or whether I'm missing some vital text on the packet which says these bulbs don't consume what they imply they consume...
NOw I may have been given a trojan horse of a bulb of course, but npower sent me a load of energy efficient light bulbs a while back (Philips branded).....I then received a free energy consumption monitor more recently...so I decided to do the @nul thing and test every individual appliance, bulb, cat and dog in the house as well as 'combinations' thereof to try to avoid the monitor giving crap readings where the consumption was below a level it could read...or where the increment was too small for it to notice.
Anyways...I came around to the 3 energy efficient bulbs from npower that I'd put in a 3 way spot light in the kitchen. Turn the lights on and the monitor shows 90W...I was somewhat surprised given I'd put in an 11W + 11W + 8W bulb which according to the bumf would actually give me about 60W + 35W + 35W = 130W equivalent in light..which as we all know isn't quite true but either way...lumens aside...if the box says
11WATT IN (little green arrow saying "Energy" pointing INTO the bulb...and big 60 WATT inside the bulb and the words "Light") surely it's saying this is only supposed to consume 11 watts regardless of what output it claims..so should be a total consumption of 31W..not 3 times that. Similarly, I turn on 2 more 11W spots, and a further 2 x 12W softone spots..so expecting a total consumption of the original 31 + 22 + 24 = 77W...the monitor reads 230W !I know the energy consumption monitor thing 'could' be a bit rubbish but it does appear to be linear based on all the other things I've tested...so inclined to believe it's giving a fairly reasonable estimate...but maybe a numberof you will fall of your chairs laughing at me ;-) I know they're only supposed to be an indicator as opposed to a measuring device...but I'm sure it can't be 'that' far out....
Have npower just sent me a load of innefficient bulbs hoping I'd leave them on 3-5 times longer ? ;-)
Ant.