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Thursday 11th December



The end of traditional light bulbs …?


A European Union report wants to ban all traditional light bulbs by 2012. It reckons this will save roughly £8 billion in energy bills. To take effect, the report needs the backing of all 27 member states the BBC reports.

Originally invented by that man who invented almost everything, Thomas Edison in 1879, traditional light bulbs haven’t changed much in 50 years. If approved, the phase out of conventional bulbs would happen between Sept 2009 and Sept 2012.

Figures undertaken by the Euro guys estimate approximately £45.00 could be saved by each house. Cash that could be better placed in the economy.

New style energy saving bulbs can save up to 80% of energy usage and have the ability to last much longer. The total carbon emission reduction across the EU block is estimated to be 13.20 million tonnes a year. That’s the energy equivalent of around 11 million households.

If the deal does get signed – it will be interesting to see the pressure from traditional bulb manufacturers, who have always relied on bulbs blowing for regular repeat business.

The BBC indicates that a number of nations have already said they’ll phase out (or restrict) sales of traditional bulbs – including Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the Philippines. For the full story click on the link here.

As ever – comments and views welcome. Is this phasing out not soon enough? Should halogen bulbs also get the chop? Are there people out there who find the light given off by energy savers not good enough? Should other obvious energy sapping products be dealt the same fate – and if so what would these be?

cheers .... Mark

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Nick Comment by Nick on December 12, 2008 at 2:07pm
Quite right Adrian!
I commented on this exact point to the Wandsworth Borough Council, who say in their Green Pledge scheme:
"I pledge to replace all light bulbs in my home with energy saving bulbs when they run out".... I asked them to remove the last four words, as it was really counter-productive to the message they should be giving. See for example, my post here.

On the main site this has been changed, but it is still not changed in the form that people have to fill out online (i.e. the actual pledges that they make!). I know, I know... sometimes I've been known to get a bee in my bonnet. I'll email them again now.
Adrian Audsley Comment by Adrian Audsley on December 12, 2008 at 12:35am
Quite a few people are wairting for their old incandescent bulbs to fail before they replace them. This kind og thinking though understandable needs to be challenged ,.... it is like continuing to use dangerous chemical pesticides or eat contaminated food just because we hate waste. Sometimes we have to rethink our priorities and the old adage "waste not want not" whilst basically valid isn't the only principle we need for living sustainably.
Nick Comment by Nick on December 11, 2008 at 1:35pm
Well, Gordon Brown announced last year that we would be phasing all our inefficient lightbulbs out by 2011. And Hilary Benn kicked-off a voluntary initiative for retailers to start phasing them off their shelves (see here)... The aim was for traditional 150W light bulbs to be phased out by Jan 2008, 100W bulbs in 2009, 40W in 2010, and all high-energy light bulbs by 2011. What I don't know is how well this programme is going. Heartening news is that my local Sainsbury's is now selling 5 energy efficient lightbulbs for a pound, and I think Tesco's has something similar.

Another question is are we "over-doing" it? I know several people who have received free lightbulbs from different energy companies as well as the local council, but it's a different matter to get them to install them! Meanwhile they're just sitting around doing nothing, while the 'old' bulbs blaze on! Any ideas, stories, tips on how to encourage people to actually change them, once they've dropped through their letterbox would be really welcome!
Sue Comment by Sue on December 11, 2008 at 10:46am
2012 is not soon enough. We should demand that the UK independently ban incandescent light bulbs before then, as Ireland has. Using them is a pure waste of energy.
Greenpeace has a campaign on this - write to Joan Ruddock and demand legislation. http://e-activist.com/ea-campaign/clientcampaign.do?ea.client.id=18&ea.campaign.id=357

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