TV's The One Show shines a light on Carl’s lightbulb debate
It’s a debate which has now raged for years: Which is better – those new energy saving light bulbs or the old-fashioned ones most people grew up with?
The Shropshire Star’s assistant editor Carl Jones was in little doubt which side of the fence he was on and will be in the national TV spotlight tonight for a debate about new laws banning older light bulbs.
Just under a year ago, he wrote an article - Why I'm hoarding the 'proper' lightbulbs -arguing that most low-energy bulbs on the market at that time provided an inferior quality of light.
Carl said he did not see why he should be prevented from continuing to use old-style bulbs in some parts of his home if he wished.
The piece sparked a huge response from readers in print and online.
Carl said: “For every person who branded me a Luddite, another supported me, including ex-pats from other parts of Europe.
“Most of my home is lit with low energy bulbs, but if I want to continue using a bright incandescent bulb in a reading lamp until I find a suitable alternative, why should I be legally prevented from doing so? It’s no different from choosing to drive gas-guzzling fast cars.”
As a result, The One Show’s presenter Dan Donnelly and camera team chose the Shropshire Star as the base for a report on the big debate, interviewing Carl and reflecting on the mountain of online comments.
They then recruited six volunteers to take part in a very un-scientific blind test, hoping to show whether it is possible to tell the difference between traditional and energy-saving bulbs.
European Union legislation comes into effect this week, banning shops from ordering new stock of traditional 40-watt lightbulbs.
It is part of an effort to cut energy consumption of all household products.
Instead, customers are being urged to fill their homes with more modern, low-energy alternatives.
* So did Carl choose correctly? The One Show is on BBC1 at 7pm
Comments for: "TV's The One Show shines a light on Carl’s lightbulb debate"
The Original Jake
Carl has the right to buy as much petrol as he likes, set fire to it and watch it burn to keep warm in winter, if he wishes. But he'd be a bit daft if he did, not to mention a bit irresponsible and a few quid poorer. So why burn more energy that necessary just to read a book?
Michael Wilkinson
Id like to see an accurate comparison of energy used to make the two types of bulb plus how much they will use during their estimated lifespan.
That would include of course the energy used in their disposal and the energy used to build the new production machinery required.
I doubt we will ever be told,it is after all an EU edict and they are unanswerable to the public.
green guru
If you want to do a whole life analysis and include disposal then it must make low energy light bulbs even better then because they can be recycled and the old fashioned ones cannot
Ian Fursland
Michael Wilkinson 13:50! You are correct that is a figure you will never see. I know that CFLi's are 91% recyclable and Fluorescent tubes are 93% recyclable. I also know that, as of 2 months ago, one of the largest recyclers of lamps in this Country is stock piling LED lamps for recycling waiting for the Manufacturers to advise him the components. Many LED lamps are being recycled under "General WEEE" recycling basically meaning they are only recycling the glass, if any, plastic and aluminium which, whilst this does prove to be the bulk of the product, means an awful lot is going into landfill! Not, in my opinion, what the WEEE levy charges are about. Most LED's have approximately 300 compenents in them so 2/3 recycled is a pretty low percentage. Again what are these components that end up in landfill? Something I have asked all the major Manufacturers to answer to no avail. Anyway let's see how this story rumbles.
Edward Bevan
The energy used to light the bulb is only part of the story.
1. What are the resources required to make a light bulb?
2. What are the running costs of the light bulb?
3. What is the life of the light bulb?
4. What are the resources required to correctly dispose of a light bulb?
Only when all four factors are considered, can a sensible objective debate begin
Ian Fursland
Edward, Correct. Raw materials from the earths resources, Dirty Coal fired power stations to produce (China), Shipment from China by sea/air, Distribution thoughout UK, Distribution to end user, End-user to recycling point, transport to recylcing centre, Power used to recycle materials, distributiong recycled materials and dumping rest in land fill.
Does make you think eh!!!
green guru
if disposal is considered the florescents win hands down because they are fully recyclable where as the old fashioned ones all go to landfill
Ian Fursland
Green Guru, 91% of CFLi and 93% of linear fluorescent. Not quite fully recyclable!
dai jones
Thank god we have the EU or we would be having to do this alone whilst the rest of Europe continued to waste energy
Peter
I recently removed all my energy saving bulbs from my home. The reason being I could smell burning from one of my lights. The base of the bulb looked black and would have caught fire had I left it. The smell was noxious. The bulb is a lumineux slim full spiral. The circuit breaker did not trip as it would with a traditional bulb. Check your bulbs for this make.
lighthouse
Incandescents, CFLs, LEDs have different light qualities with different spectra,
the jagged CFL spectra are well noticeable depending on colours in surroundings
As for regulations, Energy saving is not the only reason to choose a light bulb you want to use.
Besides, whatever the Household savings- it is Society savings that might be relevant to legislators, not "what light bulb Johnny uses in his bedroom"!
As it happens, the society savings from a ban are next-to-nothing:
Reference: http://tonn.ie/p/deception-behind-banning-light-bulbs.html
Cambridge University Network, Scientific Alliance
" The total reduction in EU energy use 0.54 x 0.8 x 0.76% = 0.33%
This figure is almost certainly an overestimate...
Which begs the question: is it really worth it?
The problem is that legislators are unable to tackle the big issues of
energy use effectively,
so go for the soft target of a high profile domestic use of energy
...this is gesture politics."
Cambridge University Network under Sir Alec Broers, Chairman of the
House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, the Scientific
Alliance newsletter, involving Physics dept professors etc
Similar figures from other EU sources, and for that matter the US Dept
of Energy, grid electricity data breakdown (they use 4 categories),
again as linked above.
Also, the fact anyway that surplus electricity production at night (eg
from coal, for slow load operational reasons) means that it often does
not matter much what bulb you use at such times of low demand, the
same fuel is burned anyway, DEFRA, APTECH referenced!