Low energy lamps on an electric fire.

[Harry Stottle]

I recently purchased a Dimplex Cheriton electric fire, (mainly for the coal effect display), and didn't like the idea of two 60 watt candle lamps burning continuously to provide the glow. The lamps are E14 SES type, 110mm long and 40mm diameter, so I nipped down to my local Nottingham Ikea with my tape measure to see if there was a low energy replacement available. I found a pack of two 7w SES lamps for £5.59 which fitted the fire, although the diameter of the lamps was slightly more than the originals. The glow seems adequate, even though the 14w combined output is less than the equivalent

120w from the fitted lamps, and the electricity savings, (and cost of frequent 60w replacement lamps), should far outweigh any lack of display performance.

The Ikea item number for the lamps is 603131404 17990, but they don't seem to be on the Ikea website, so it looks like they are only available for personal shoppers at the moment.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I hope they don't get hot. This kills CFLs in short order.

[Harry Stottle]

They do get warm, but not too hot to touch, so it is experimental at the moment. The 10,000 hour stated life of the lamps doesn't mention where they can be fitted, so this should provide a comeback if they do fail early ;-)

[Mark]

I'd like to see the reaction you'd get if you tried to take them back if they failed after 3 years, say.

[Harry Stottle]

I make that just over 9 hours per day, every day, for 3 years, (highly unlikely), so it might be reasonable to expect a replacement if they did fail within this time, finding the receipt would be a different matter :-) If they only last one year, they would still be a lot cheaper to run than their 60 watt equivalents.

[damduck-egg]

Dimplex do a low energy version which uses LED lighting taking 14 Watts. Sods law probably means it came out just after you purchased yours or you weren't offered it. Perhaps it is possible to obtain the whole lamp assembly as a spare and swap it over.

G.Harman