Low Energy Lighting. The resistance.

Low Energy Lighting. The resistance.

Ok, let’s do another visit to low energy lighting.

A couple of my colleagues the other day were incensed that in the U.K, very soon, there will be no more incandescent light bulbs on sale, by law, so both these guys went out and bought dozens of these power guzzlers.

Now, in my experience, the life of an incandescent bulb is measured in weeks, or even days. The average 3 bed house probably has between 15 and 20 light bulbs, or more, so these guys might have enough bulbs to last them a year or so. At the moment, low energy bulbs are on offer in most super markets, and can be picked up literally for pennies. I recently bought 5 for £1 at Tesco’s supermarket. Bearing in mind that the low energy bulb, not so long ago, cost £3.50. So, what these guys should be asking themselves is, A; why would I want to continue wasting energy using incandescent bulbs? And B; What is going to happen to the price of low energy bulbs, once incandescent bulbs are no longer available? I think now is the time they should be stocking up on low energy bulbs, because very soon these bulbs will be back up to £3.50 a shot, which is what they still are in some DIY stores. Considering the average life of a low energy bulb is around 5 years, if you are starting from scratch, replacing all the incandescent bulbs in your house with low energy bulbs, and just buying enough extra bulbs for a one on one replacement, you shouldn’t have to buy another bulb for 10 years. Of course, there will always be the odd dud, that doesn’t go the distance, so buying a few extra bulbs whilst they are cheap would be a wise move. Personally, in our house, we changed to low energy bulbs 2 ½ years ago, and they are all still going strong.

So my colleagues would be much better off, and be doing something for the environment, if they changed to low energy bulbs now. I did mention the facts to them, but they do have some misconceptions about low energy bulbs, and have never seriously thought about energy conservation. I think most people fall into this category, mostly through ignorance, which goes hand in hand with lack of information. There is so much information on the internet about energy conservation, but it has to be looked for. Most people will only look for things that interest them, or things that they need, and I think that energy conservation is pretty low on the list of the most searched for, on the search engines.

Anyway, back to my colleagues, I’m not going to go into the inns and out’s of why there is such a lack of interest about the need for energy conservation. As I have said, I made them aware of the facts, and that’s all I can do. I’m not into the hard sell, and really pushing. Usually the harder you push, the harder the resistance. The green wave of energy conservation is growing, and will eventually, whether we like it or not, pick us up and move us all along to a greener future.