Guide to low energy lighting

If you are interested in but confused by low energy lighting, this guide is for you!

There are two main types of low energy bulbs:  LED (light emitting diodes) and CFL (compact fluorescent lamps).

LEDs are widely used in computers and on car dashboards and other digital displays.   Their use in residential lighting is more recent.  They tend to be expensive, but both their light quality and energy consumption are excellent. We make an LED picture light (the Drummond light) and stock an LED spot bulb, which we use in the spotlights in our showroom.  CFLs are more widely used in residential lighting and therefore the rest of this guide is concerned primarily with CFLs.

Traditional bulbs (or "energy guzzling" bulbs as the government likes to call them) waste a lot of energy by turning it into heat rather than light.  CFLs work in the same way as fluorescent lights (those long strip lights): an electric current passes through gas in a tube, making the tube's coating glow brightly.  This means they use less energy and are cool to the touch, avoiding the problem of scorching shades and ceilings. 

CFLs use approximately 20% of the energy used by traditional bulbs.  For the energy saving bulbs that we stock, the equivalent traditional bulbs are as follows:

CFL		Normal bulb
7W		35W
9W		45W
11W		60W
18W		90W
20W		100W

If you are concerned about the phasing out of conventional 100w bulbs, we suggest you look at a 20 or 18w energy saving replacement.  From September last year manufacturers were unable to sell 100w traditional bulbs.  Other traditional bulbs will be phased out as follows:

75w - September 2010

60w - September 2011

40/25w - September 2012

C class (low efficiency) halogen bulbs - September 2016

CFLs last on average between 6 and 15 years (depending on wattage, product type and usage), making them very convenient for difficult to get at locations.

For most people the environmental and cost benefits of energy saving bulbs are attractive, but their concerns are whether they work as well, whether they can use them with their lights and what they will look like.

Do they work as well?

Provided you use good quality CFLs (look for the Energy Saving Recommended logo on the box) they emit a similar warm light level as traditional bulbs and will reach at least 60% of their full brightness in 60 seconds.  All our energy saving bulbs are warm white on the colour spectrum and very different from the colder light of cool white bulbs.  With the spot bulbs we find there is a second or two's delay before the light comes on, but in practise this quickly becomes unnoticeable.  The principal drawback of CFLs is the delay in reaching good light levels in walk through situations, such as hallways. You may wish to keep one regular bulb in these situations, and replace the others with energy saving bulbs, so that you don't have to stand still for a couple of seconds! 

Where can they be used?

CFLs are available with small bayonet, standard bayonet, edison screw and GU10 fittings, so can be used on any light with these fittings.  You do not need special lights to use CFLs.  Because some CFLs are broader than ordinary bulbs you may need to replace your candle tubes to fit the bulbs - we can supply these if needed.

Traditionally CFLs could not be used with dimmer switches.  There is now a range of fully dimmable bulbs, including candle bulbs.  Because they are bulkier than the non dimmable bulbs, we would only recommend them on wall/pendant lights if you know you want to dim your lights.  They do need broad candle tubes (48mm diameter rather than our standard 28mm) to cover the bulb.  Low energy recessed downlighters and striplights are also now being manufactured.  Please contact us if you'd like more information about any of these bulbs.

If you need a halogen bulb you will not be able to use a CFL.  However lights with fittings for halogen bulbs (GU10 fittings) can be used with energy saving bulbs with GU10 fittings.   As well as CFL spot bulbs with GU10 fittings, we have a 5w LED bulb with a GU10 fitting, which we think gives a better light.  This bulb is undeniably expensive at £29, but worthwhile for lights that are used regularly and where good light is important.  We would recommend them for instance for desk lamps and kitchen spotlights in particular.  

All our lights can be used with CFLs.  We have added our recommendations on energy saving options to the description of each light, but these are not exhaustive and it's worth having a look at the full range.   

You can buy lights which only take pin based (as opposed to bayonet or edison screw) CFLs.  These can sometimes be required by building regulations in new builds and we can supply a range of these lights (for example our outdoor ship's light).  However if you are just replacing your lights or bulbs you will not need these pin fittings.  We're finding that bayonet or edison screw CFLs are increasingly accepted for building regulations purposes.  We don't recommend restricting yourself to a 4 pin fitting unless you really are required to.

What will they look like?

The latest generation of CFLs are no longer very large and are available in the classic bulb shapes, including candle and golf ball.  The CFL is a coiled strip within an outer 'bulb shape' coating.  They do not look exactly the same as traditional bulbs, but they have improved enormously in appearance. 

We stock candle bulbs in 7w (equivalent to 35w) and 9w (equivalent to 45w) sizes.  Both can be used with clip on candle shades that would be limited to 40w with ordinary bulbs. 

The 7 and 9w bulbs can be used with our standard candle tubes (which are generally 28mm in diameter and 70mm high) and shades.  The 9w bulbs are longer and therefore we adjust the fitting within the shade so that the plastic base of the bulb is not visible below the shade.  Please let us know if you would like your shades adjusted to use with 9w bulbs.  If you are not using shades, you may wish to consider a broader tube which covers the plastic base of the 9w bulb, as this is not particularly attractive.  However we would not suggest you use a broader tube if your light is fairly narrow, as the tube is 42mm in diameter and therefore quite chunky.  Some of our lights (eg the Ribbon wall light) cannot be used with the 42mm candle tubes as the candle tubes are broader than the base of the fittings. 

CFLs do not look and work exactly like traditional bulbs and there is an element of adjustment in using them.  The technology is also progressing all the time.  If you would like friendly advice on any aspect of low energy lighting, please give us a call.

PS A note on safety and disposal.  CFLs contain a small amount of mercury.  If you break one, the official advice is to ventilate the room for 20 to 30 minutes and use gloves to remove the debris.  All CFLs should be disposed of at a recycling centre, not in the household waste, however tempting!