Originally Posted by
PhilChave
Hello,
As I understand it, energy saving bulbs are likely going to be compulsory some time in the next couple of years. And of course, because all petty government regulation must now be backed up with huge penalties, anyone caught not using one will probably have to be fined around 10K, and the money supposedly used to fund green energy research.
During a recent powercut, I was surprised to see how warm the candles kept the rooms they were in. And this led me to wonder how much heat is added to a room from ordinary ceiling and wall light bulbs.
In some poorer households, you read, where folks are wrapped in blankets because they can't afford to put the heating on, I do wonder just how much heat comes into a room from the lights they are using.
Just say for arguments sake, it is 5 degrees over the course of an evening. The benefits are, you get light and heat from the ordinary bulb.
Putting in 'cool' energy saving bulbs, takes away the second advantage. Now there really is a dilemma, because the house/rooms are much colder and you may get to the situation where the heating really has to go on, or you're going to be ill, or worse.
The smallest electric fire is say 1kw. A bright (and hot) light bulb 100W.
Now you are using 10x more power than you were when you had the little heat that came from your lighting.
I only bring this up because in households where this matters, they will be the ones that suffer most. Also, for the rest of us, the boiler, fire, heaters, will stay on that little bit longer to make up the difference. Consequence, more power used, not less.
(I realize we're talking autumn to spring here, not all year)
Comments?
regards
Phil