Saturday 15 March 2014

Eco Light Bulb Review

Being in charge of a household isn't always about the exciting and fun, actually most of the time it's the humdrum and day-to-day.

My shopping list has plenty of 'household' on it and as time's gone on it's been lovely to see how everything has become more considerate and thoughtful of the impact it has on the Earth.

When I was young I used to trek miles to buy Eco-friendly products from independent shops, but as people have become more aware and understanding over the past 20 years the products I used to pay a fortune for - when I could find them - are now everyday. Eco-friendly options are available in supermarkets eveywhere. And dare I say it, they actually work a lot better now too....

One of the most news reported changes that's affected everyone is the simple light bulb. My first 'low energy' light bulb cost me £15 as opposed to 25p for a standard bulb. Everyone could see it made total sense, but the outlay was massive. Thankfully nowadays if you want eco-friendly lightbulbs then  you have a far easier and cheaper task.

 

We rarely used our kitchen ceiling lights because we have 9 spotlights up there which were ancient. You could practically hear the dial on the meter spinning round when you switched them on. It's been a standing joke in our house that we use them for birthdays, Christmas and embroidery only....

I was given the opportunity to review Lightbulbs.co.uk and I realised this was really an ideal time to change my spotlights for the lower energy Halogen Spot Lights (currently £1.99 each).


These Halogen Spot Lights use 35 watts of energy to give an equivalent to 50 watts with an old-style incandescent bulb, and last around 2000 hours, whereas the old bulbs were only expected to last half that.


We also chose a replacement bulb for my bedside light costing £9.99. This is an LED bulb, and it really is the future. It works in an entirely different way to incandescent bulbs and my 3.5 watt bulb gives the equivalent light to 25 watts and has an expected lifespan of a stunning 25,000 hours.


Rather than passing electricity through a filament to make it glow, LED's work by movement of electrons within a semi-conductor material. There's no filament to eventually burn through and no wasted energy forming heat and escaping into the air. They're far more economical both financially and with the planet's resources.

All of the bulbs arrived safe and sound and we're pleased with them. The LED light is slightly whiter than my previous light, and the kitchen bulbs are so much brighter than the old ones that the room is really amazingly light with them on now.

Lightbulbs.co.uk sell bulbs in any size and shape you can imagine and stock all of the big brands. One of the things that impressed me most of all was the easy navigation around the site despite my having hardly any prior knowledge about bulbs. I was able to find what I needed very quickly.

I was sent my bulbs for review. Prices start at under £1 per bulb and orders over £15 have free UK postage. 



19 comments:

  1. We are swapping over to the long lasting eco ones now when they go x

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    1. It makes sense doesn't it. It seems a big layout and a waste to just change them, we're changing most of our as they go too :)

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  2. I'm so impressed by our LEDs, a definite convert. What is it about those kitchen spotlights, our keep going!

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    1. Kitchen spotlights are a nightmare. They're great in theory, but they do seem unreliable!

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  3. We have all eco light bulbs in the house, but I notice that after a year or so light is not so bright any more... so we swap them when they still work :-(

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    1. Oh really? Hopefully the LED's won't do that, although I haven't noticed it with the ones we have :o/

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  4. We've got some LED's to replace some of our halogen lights - they are fab

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    1. I think really we would have gone for LED's in the kitchen if we'd realised just how much of a difference they make! :)

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  5. These look interesting as I have so many lights might be something I need to look into

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  6. This is interesting! Not seen or notice them before. I will look an eye out when my bulb bast.

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    1. Really? How can you not have spotted them? You nutter! :D

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  7. I've been looking at replacing ours with LED as they go

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    1. It's definitely the best course of action in my opinion too :)

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  8. We have halogens in our kitchen and I love the light. Not seen the LED's before, they seem quite interesting, would be good to see one in action.

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    1. I know, that was a bit poo of me, but it's really hard to show light bulbs in action on photo's :D

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  9. We had halogen lights in our old kitchen. They took ages to light up properly so we had to leave them on for a while before we needed to go in there! Do these light up properly immediately?

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    1. Yep :D
      They do actually, no problem at all - but then I think my old ones did too...

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  10. Mummy of Two, yes ... LEDs light up instantly. To be totally accurate, you might notice 1/4 to 1/2 second delay after hitting the switch (very subtle), but then they are at full brightness. I'm in the process of switching over at my house and prefer LED lighting over incandescent lighting. LEDs also dim on MOST dimmer switches, but it is possible you'd have to swap a dimmer if using one because older technology might not always work with LED.

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    1. Thanks Steve! You obviously know your stuff! I don't have any dimmers, so it wasn't something I considered. Cheers for your comment :)

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