I have used eco-bulbs in my houses for some time. However a couple of months ago we bought (without much thought) some nice light fittings to replace the horrible plastic shades we had. Can be seen at this link if you care: http://www.lightingdirect.co.nz/apps/product/productdetail.asp?prd=PC56&... Unfortunately our long eco bulbs stuck out the end of the nice new lampshades and looked really ugly. We couldn't stand it and as a somewhat keen greenie I'm ashamed to say we dug out the old standard light bulbs. This was always meant to be a quick fix until we found a solution. I've been feeling guilty ever since and then the other day I saw a picture of quite short eco-bulbs which I'm sure would tuck neatly inside the shades. Does anyone know where I can get these and whether or not there is now a decent availability of these shorter bulbs to deal with this kind of problem? Also would these give out less light than your traditional eco-bulbs? Any help would be much appreciated because sorting this out once and for all is very much on the to-do list!!
Submitted by ClaireH on 12 August 2008 15:21:30
Comments
Hi Claire, the original eco-bulbs had the tubes sticking out quite a long way - they were basically just a long U-shape. The more recent ones are kind of twirly... they have been described as looking like a soft-serve ice cream.
The modern twirly bulbs are readily available, and fit a space about the same size as the old incandescent bulbs. You can even get some with a glass 'bulb' around them so they look like the old-style bulbs.
The light output is not compromised at all. In fact the twirly style bulbs actually have a longer lighting tube than the old U-shaped ones, so they have the potential for a wider range of output.
Hope that helps.
Submitted by Lindis on 12 August 2008 16:19:36
I don't know if my attempts at a description were actually very iseful, so here are some pics!
Old style U-shaped eco bulb:
http://www.philex.com/assets/parts/1191/19354R_full.jpg
Newer twirly eco bulb:
http://www.fdsons.com/images/elect/eco-bulb_bpesl23tm.jpg
By the way, those are very pretty light fittings!
Submitted by Lindis on 12 August 2008 16:25:29
We put in some really cost effective eco-bulb down lights fittings (about $30 each)brought from lighting plus about a month ago. I had been wanting to change for ages and finally got my husband to let me buy them - I think he caved because the price of the fitting was cheap and they looked good, not for the environmental reasons!
We brought the new look ecobulbs to go into them, we specfically asked for the yellow soft tones (not the harsh blue tone). They are widely available now in all lighting stores and maybe even supermarkets
A couple of things to note is to buy a reputable brand of bulb and also that the lights take a few seconds to come on (not instant like the old ones)
We have both been really impressed with the finished look, really modern and gives out a good amount of light! My husband now wants to use them for the rest of our house renovations!
Submitted by mady on 12 August 2008 16:42:43
Thanks for the pictures Lindis. The bulbs we used to have were curly as opposed to U-shaped but definitely not as compact looking as the ecobulb picture you showed me, that's definitely more what I had in mind.
That's really good advice also from mady - I actually never even thought (silly as it sounds) of going back to lighting direct where we also got our light fitting and sourcing the bulbs there. I think I'll do that and hopefully they'll still have our light fitting in stock so I can hopefully double check the bulbs don't overhang!
Thanks for the help :)
Submitted by ClaireH on 12 August 2008 21:41:30
I just popped over to my local electrical retailer (I'm lucky to have one near where I work) and checked out their bulbs. They have one called the Phillips 'Tornado' energy saver bulb. And it's really really tiny! I held it up against an incandescent one and the 'Tornado' bulb was quite a lot smaller, so you should have no trouble fitting it in your new lights.
The bulb is 12 watt which gives a light output equivalent to a 60 watt incandescent bulb. The one I saw was in 'cool white' but the guy said they are available in 'warm white' too.
I'm really delighted to see so much of a range available now in the fluorescent lights. When the energy saver bulbs first became available in New Zealand I paid about $30 EACH for the really awful-looking long ones! Now you can get much more attractive looking bulbs for a fraction of the price.
There is an advantage to leaving your eco-bulbs behind whenever you move to a new place: you always get to upgrade to the latest, best-looking options. :-)
Submitted by Lindis on 13 August 2008 13:51:32
Awesome, i just googled it and that looks ideal. Hopefully this weekend I can hit the shops and stock up. Thanks again
Submitted by ClaireH on 13 August 2008 14:10:26