Just got back from doing the shopping at Tesco in Slough and spotted their own 'value' brand 15w energy saving lightbulbs at 34p each. That's cheaper than normal bulbs for god's sake. They're stated to have similar light output to a 75W soft white normal bulb. I bought five and I've just fitted one in a desk lamp and one in a 2 bulb chandelier next to a 100w incandescent to compare them. They light up instantly unlike those very early energy saving bulbs which took forever to warm up although it takes another 30 seconds for them to reach full output. I'd say they fire up at about 1/2 output which is plenty to see what you're doing if you just want to flick a light on in a dark room to check something for a second. I've still got a couple of 10 year old energy savers in the hall and landing which flicker for a second or two and then light up so slowly I have to stand still for a minute before starting down the stairs. Those are now getting chucked cos clearly they're never going to do the decent thing and die of their own accord. I think these things actually last forever. They cost about a fiver each too and that was when a fiver was actually worth a fiver.
I can't actually see any great difference in brightness between the Tesco
15W bulb and the 100W normal one next to it. If anything the energy saver is brighter. They're rated at 10,000 hours life so if they get anywhere near that they're about the biggest bargain of the year. The 100W bulb is now coming back out immediately and going into the stockpile. I just wish I'd bought 10 of the things instead of 5.I'd been grumbling about the government banning incandescent bulbs but at
34p a shot for energy savers that last 10 times longer that's me converted. Better fill your boots before Tesco put the price up. I reckon I've been spending £10 a year on normal bulbs plus the much bigger electricity cost they've been wasting. They don't last very long and I usually buy packs of five and seem to need a new pack every couple of months.I've just written a spreadsheet to see what these will save. If you have 5 bulbs on for 8 hours a day, swap 60W normal bulbs for these, normal bulbs cost 60p each and last 1000 hours and electricity is 12p a kWh you'll save £87 a year. £79 in electricity and £8 in bulb costs. For the whole country that's nearly 2 billion quid a year. Even more interesting, playing with the spreadsheet, your break even cost would be the same if the energy savers cost £60 a bulb. Anything less than that and you're winning. It rather puts into perspective the £5 a bulb these things have cost in the past and which has no doubt put many people off using them. At 34p each it's a no brainer.