Halogen Bulbs Out, Led Lights In, The Eu Keeps Giving.

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6049349/EU-ban-halogen-bulbs-end-month-making-lighting-homes-TWICE-expensive.html

Remember those nice bright cheap incandescent light bulbs?

[douglas9401]

If only there was light at the end of the Brexit tunnel.

[Zacs-Master]

There is. But it’s probably a train coming the other way!

[Garaman]

Maybe there will be nice bright cheap incandescent light at the end of the tunnel, then we can pay the French more for electricity.

[douglas9401]

Doubtless that EU gravy train of legend.

[Zacs-Master]

Juuuus juuuus.

[fender62]

leds are not that great and the science behind them is conflicting
as for duration and brands, i like the older original bulbs.

[baza]

Whatever happened to the Osram 60 watt pearl bulbs?

[fender62]

baza, i agree

[Kromovaracun]

I vastly prefer LEDs.

[rowanwitch]

We changed to led bulbs because a) they are really cheap to run
b) they give a brilliant clean light, c) they had a 15 year guarantee so I may never need to change a bulb again. The price is coming down and over their lifetimes the money saved will pay for them many times over.

Apart from that the number of accidents prevented by idiots not climbing on inappropriate objects to change bulbs should be worth it.

They are so much better than the old low energy bulbs . I know any restriction of choice is seen as a bad thing but this is one time when the desired result has so many positives.

[youngmafbog]

I'd dispute the 'savings' being touted.

Firstly to really replace a bulb lumen for lumen you need to buy a powerful LED that are more expensive (ie circa 12w to replace 100W incandesent).
In addition if you want dimmable then you need a special LED and also need to change your dimmer switch to a leading edge to get it to work properly.
And for 12v systems you need to replace the transformer.
Another problem I have found it the fitting on a G4 is different and many holders wont take the LED one (LED seems to be a spike others a spade style). G9's are a problem too as they are too bulk to fit inside the fitting.

Having said that I have most of the lights on LED now as have been moving over for some years. it's not worth changing the remaining ones as they are used very little so no return and very little leccy used anyway apart from my chandeliers that have the incandescent candles that, at present are rather ugly in LED form.

As a last point remember you cannot stick LED's in the rubbish bin!

[youngmafbog]

Oh, and I dont think forcing people is the way forward.

[ferlew]

I have replaced all my previous bulbs with the LED ones on the advice of my son.
I like the fact that they are unbreakable, (not glass) no chance of burning your fingers when one does want changing because they just don't get hot.
I like that I can get low power candle bulbs for the lounge fittings, as well as lovely daylight ones for my craft room and bathroom, and the in between power ones for everywhere else.
Quite happy with the LED's here.
If memory serves, I paid between £2 - £4 for each

[youngmafbog]

Be wary of buying cheap LED's especially Chinese ones and always ensure they are CE marked.

[ferlew]

Will check for CE, but I think they all have it.

[Zacs-Master]

LED lighting has come a long way in the last 3/4 years. 3000k warmer lamps and filament lamps which give a ‘retro’ look and really warm glow are now widely available.
YMB is right about leading edge dimmers but there’s only a significant effect (usually flickering) when they are dimmed below 20%.

[bhg481]

Another situation where LEDs may have a problem is automatic lighting systems, since they usually rely on the leakage through the bulb to operate - LEDs have a far higher resistance so don't allow enough leakage current. We have replaced the light switch in the hall with one containing a PIR sensor which requires a minimum 15W bulb to operate, so has to have tunsten. A timed/photo-sensitve light in the living room switches a chandelier - this also requires 15W but 3 x 6W candle LEDs is OK.

[youngmafbog]

Great in fish tanks too. Just put a Fluval aqua sky in main tank, bit expensive for the 48" one but very impressive and totally controllable via bluetooth and an app.

[jourdain2]

Wouldn't a ban on Halogen bulbs render a massive proportion of cars illegal? I'm told that only about 20% are fitted with LEDs. (Sorry I'm a bit late.)

[hc4361]

You can keep using all your halogen bulbs, including those in your car, until they no longer work. They will have to be replaced with LED bulbs. No big deal