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View Full Version : How many JumbleTown Admins does it take to change a lightbulb?


Chris P
21-03-2007, 11:10 PM
Answer: None. Sure, everyone knows we burn the midnight oil.

But seriously...

Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche, is thinking of introducing a levy on traditional light bulbs (like the one that currently exists on plastic bags). This levy is aimed at encouraging people to switch to energy-saving/long-life bulbs, or to give them their proper name, Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs).

"We all know that the traditional light bulb is very inefficient," says Minister Roche. Modern CFL bulbs save 80% of the energy and last 15 times longer, so they help the environment and our pockets at the same time. Using long life lightbulbs, or Compact Fluorescent Lamps, for one year would save Ireland more than €32 million and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by several hundred thousand tonnes.

"The German Presidency of the EU has suggested an outright ban. However, this is likely to take some time. Because of the Single Market, Ireland cannot ban inefficient bulbs unilaterally but we could consider an environmental levy to change behavior, in advance of a ban, the same way we did with the plastic bag levy. I propose to include this proposal in the Government's new Climate Change Strategy which I will be launching shortly.

"Old-fashioned bulbs may be cheap to buy, but they work out more expensive in the long run because of their short life and inefficient energy use. Any incentive to get people to buy energy saving bulbs, even a levy, will save people money in the long run."

Source: Department of the Environment Press Release (13-3-07)
http://www.environ.ie/DOEI/DOEIPub.nsf/6fb57b90102ce64c80256d12003a7a0d/42e0a2dd958d63a98025729c005e5bc2?OpenDocument

Chris P
22-03-2007, 01:25 AM
See here for a BBC vox pop on the pros and cons of the traditional lightbulb and the new energy-saving bulb:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4837728.stm

Little Chip
22-03-2007, 09:03 AM
Where I can use them I do but (as some people have commented on in the links provided) what about light fittings that do not accommodate these bulbs...?

Looks like other countries have energy saving bulbs of all shapes and sizes…I have only seen one type here (please correct me if I am wrong)…I think this issue needs to be addressed first; otherwise some light fittings will become obsolete. What will we do with them? Send them to land fill?

jumblequeen
22-03-2007, 12:23 PM
I agree, they need to have more choices, shapes. Also, why dont they reduce the price of the energy saving light bulbs, and make them more affordable? Its always the same with the government, they put the price up on the bad stuff (for our own benefit), but dont reduce the price on the good stuff.
I use them where I can, but because of light fittings in the house, there are a few normal bulbs that I cant replace.

acket
25-03-2007, 12:16 AM
I agree in principle with the use of energy saving bulbs but an outright ban on conventional tungsten bulbs would be a bit misguided and jumping the gun. I have replaced almost all the bulbs in my house with CFLs but they are not practical for everywhere. Any lights that are turned on and off regularly or require dimming should not be replaced with CFL. While they may in principle last longer they dont if they are switched too often.
Another advantage not often mentioned is CFLs run much cooler than tungsten, so less skin burns and fewer fires from charred fittings or accidentally covered lampshades should also result.
As I often forget to turn off lights, I feel less guilty as you are recommended to leave them on.
We are very poorly served in this country with variety and quality of CFL. I have searched high and low to find a compact daylight variety to replace one for a reading lamp that died on me and what I found 3 yrs ago is just not available here.
CFLs are not the only answer, LED technology has leaped and bounded in the last very few years and I am sure these will eventually fill some of the gaps not served by CFL. But they are still way over priced here. High power LED torches can already replace conventional, I bought 3 in Asia for less than 2 euro each, the equivalent here is 40, yet they all come from China, so markup is the problem, not base manufacturing price.
So whatever the recommended replacement, make it affordable and people will follow.

Chris P
25-03-2007, 12:32 AM
I notice that An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, announced today that all Government Departments and Public Service offices will have switched to CFLs by 2008 (or thereabouts) and that this would knock 5% off their annual energy bill.

jumblequeen
25-03-2007, 10:53 PM
Why not now? Why in 2008 or thereabouts. If they got off their ar@es, it could be done quicker, or maybe its an election issue, if theyre voted in , then they will change the light bulbs...if they feel like it!!

mondubics
10-06-2007, 12:35 AM
Its probably wise not to just rip out working bulbs and replace them. Let them run their time and replace as and when required with the new ones. That way, they won't be throwing out working product, which would be wasteful.

ThroughCycle
10-07-2007, 10:10 PM
Today is the best day to remove those old light bulbs that should really be called heat bulbs.

Replacing all your bulbs in one go is the cheapest way to invest in lower electricty bills and longer living bulbs.

Just to give you an idea of the range of CFL bulbs out there then I suggest some inspiriation at:

http://www.bltdirect.com/products.php?cat=15&nm=Energy+Saving+Light+Bulbs

Philips are very good but Solus are Irish made and are also very good value.

Regards, Simon

bluecurlygirl
10-10-2008, 10:12 PM
Chris you said in a previous post that the government were going to change their bulbs to energy saving bulbs by 2008. I work in a govt dept and we still have the huge ugly flourescent bulbs and recently there was renovation work done and a big electric fan was installed in a small room that didn't really need it (plenty of windows)!! Just another promise not delivered on. You wouldn't think I was a civil servant the way I give off about the buggers would you?

Chris P
10-10-2008, 10:22 PM
I work in a govt dept...
Did you write this press release, bluecurlygirl? :)

Government Press Release - Today -10/10/08
Minister Gormley Launches Consultation Paper on Light Bulbs

John Gormley, T.D., Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, today (10 October 2008) launched a consultation paper on a proposed energy efficiency and performance standard for light bulbs.

The consultation paper outlines details of the proposed standard that will be introduced on a phased basis over a number of years.

The Minister said "An important step in achieving this objective is to remove the most energy inefficient light bulbs from the Irish market as early as possible. With more energy efficient alternatives now widely available, the proposed standard is a sensible and timely measure in terms of reducing both the carbon intensity and cost of general lighting".

More details here:
http://www.environ.ie/en/Environment/Atmosphere/ClimateChange/LightBulbsPublicConsultation/News/MainBody,18646,en.htm

bluecurlygirl
10-10-2008, 10:24 PM
Too much of a chicken to leave the last post on. Don't wanna lose my job. But I don't think they'd let me have any input into a press release. I don't write bull - although I do talk it sometimes. But if they want to make a change I think they should open a thread on here and ask for suggestions. I'm sure we'd help them out wouldn't we - if they'd listen.

HappyHunter
10-10-2008, 10:48 PM
Fair play to you bluecurlygirl, if politicians can spout off without losing their jobs then why can't you? Whose going to know who you are anyway?

I think all government buildings and offices should be fitted with these energy saving bulbs, also hospital's, clinics, libraries, council offices, fas offices, dole offices, the list goes on, after all it is we the tax payer who is paying these bills.

I use energy saving bulbs all around my home and notice a huge saving in the cost of my electricity and the bulbs definitely last a lot longer.

Has anyone thought of sending our politicians a link to this site?

Chris P
10-10-2008, 11:10 PM
Has anyone thought of sending our politicians a link to this site?
Hi HappyHunter,

JumbleTown personnel have been in touch with the Dept of the Environment on several occasions over the past two years. Our annual 3-week long promotional campaign on local radio and in local papers is funded by the Local Authorities who support us and by the Department itself under the Local 21 scheme.

Labour Councillor Oisin Quinn (Rathmines, Dublin) was kind enough to put our case forward in Dublin City Council.

Green TDs like Ciaran Cuffe in Dun Laoghaire have links to us, as do a few Green Councillors in Clare and Fingal. (There may be more but I'm not too sure.)

So, some politicians know about us and actively support us, but we've a lot more to do in order to make JumbleTown a household name. The promotional efforts of Members at local level remain key to our success.

Regards
Chris P
Admin

bluecurlygirl
10-10-2008, 11:14 PM
I just went onto www.environ.ie and posted a link - don't know if it'll help though. Any chance rte would do a feature and invite the minister on too!! That'd be fun!

bluecurlygirl
10-10-2008, 11:24 PM
I do think that there are a lot of things that should be outlawed and one is ordinary bulbs and flourescent bulbs. It should be mandatory to have energy saving bulbs. Also, why is it that new council houses still have coal-burning stoves installed (they're being built round the corner from us at present)? If you replace the heating system you're forced to return it to it's "original state". Where's the progress lads? You'd love to shake them up sometimes wouldn't you? And you know when the politicians are having these meetings about climate change - why do they all have to fly out to a nominated location - I can talk to people in australia from my sittingroom (provided they've got a computer). Don't they know about webcams and video conferencing? Should we let them in on that secret do you think? What are their collective air miles doing to the environment that they're supposed to be trying to protect? Oh Lord help us all.
Like Mary Coughlan's album I'm "Tired and Emotional" so I'm gonna have a cup of tea (I know bad idea at this hour) a fag, put the dog to bed and then I'm gonna bed too (not with the dog though). Talk to you all tomorrow sometime. Sweet dreams.

Chris P
10-10-2008, 11:28 PM
I just went onto www.environ.ie and posted a link - don't know if it'll help though.
Thanks for that, bluecurlygirl!

Any chance rte would do a feature and invite the minister on too!! That'd be fun!

We almost had a Sky News feature in our early days but it fell through, and we've been in touch with a few TV shows on RTE but we've really only managed to get radio and press coverage over the past two years.

A bit off-topic here -- back to the bulbs!

Regards
Chris P
Admin

Ben888
12-10-2008, 11:26 AM
changed my houses bulbs last year and ive saved about 100 euro on electricity... a good solid investment imho.

Fizzywitch
12-10-2008, 05:32 PM
And it doesn't help when shops like Argos & B&Q sell lots of modern lovely light fittings but they take an arrangement of different bulbs. The energy bulbs like SES fittings and such have only started to become more widely available.

I got 3 SES energy bulbs from a cheapie shop a few weeks ago at a cost of €2.99 each but I needed them as the living room light is on a lot of the day as it is so dark in there! So I know running 3 bulbs using the equivilent of 12w instead of 120w is going to save us a fortune!

4eyes
12-10-2008, 06:44 PM
Hi fellow Jter's,

I have been trying to get a CFL bulb the equilivent of a 200 watt bulb for reading at night as my sight is poor.

To date I have not been able to get the equilivent of a 100 watt let alone a 200 watt, perhaps I am looking in the wrong places if anyone knows where they can be obtained please let me know.

If we all started using 15 - 25 watt bulbs we sure would save on our electric bills, I think the Government is trying to kid up on this issue.

I know the CFL's last much longer, as I have one in my hall for at least 5 years.

I have seen CFL advertised in Northern Ireland for as little as 29pence I'm off there to-morrow and will post the result to-morrow night.

Thanks for letting me, let off steam so to say.

misstake
12-10-2008, 06:53 PM
Iwas in Enniskillen last week yes the bulbs were cheaper but not by much and when you swap the money for sterling maby might be as cheep here My problem is they dont make those bulbs for fires or fridges as far as i know so i will have a dark fire glow lol will just have to use the bars Also i cannot see it been cheaper in the long run i can buy 6 ordinary bulbs for 5 euro

4eyes
12-10-2008, 07:09 PM
What I want to know is can you get the equilivent of a 150 or 200 watt in a CFL I have only seen much dimmer ones.

bluecurlygirl
12-10-2008, 08:40 PM
I have lots of golden coloured sweet papers in a tub here - you could cover your fire with them and it wouldn't be a dark glow then - tee hee! Although they might last as long with your bars as my "bars" lasted with the papers on!

smokeyeyes
12-10-2008, 09:36 PM
Does anyone know if you can get screw cap CFL's have looked and all i've seen are bayonet one's. As I have several lamps which use screw caps, CFL's not much to me. I know someone else mentioned the philips soft tone one's somewhere in the thread, have one of these in the kitchen and you'd need to put it on about 15-20mins before you need it as its so dim when you switch it on. Have another type of philips (the long bar type) in hall and it comes on practically straightaway!

Fizzywitch
13-10-2008, 10:02 AM
Does anyone know if you can get screw cap CFL's have looked and all i've seen are bayonet one's. As I have several lamps which use screw caps, CFL's not much to me. I know someone else mentioned the philips soft tone one's somewhere in the thread, have one of these in the kitchen and you'd need to put it on about 15-20mins before you need it as its so dim when you switch it on. Have another type of philips (the long bar type) in hall and it comes on practically straightaway!

I got my cheap CFL SES (small screw) from 'little Sam's' cheapie shop in Claremorris. I know that Woodies DIY do them too. Also, Argos and B&Q

smokeyeyes
13-10-2008, 11:25 PM
Thanks for that Fizzywitch, will have a look in Woodies for them.

misstake
16-10-2008, 01:58 PM
just had another flyer through my door this time worth looking at Homebase are having a sale tomorrow friday and sat Thet have Phillips energy saving bulbs at 71 cent also packs of 5 at 2 euro 3 cent Just thought i would let you all know so you can stock up

Chris P
27-01-2009, 09:04 PM
Dept of the Environment Press Release (26/01/09)

"Minister Gormley amends light bulb proposal following acceleration of EU plans."

The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, John Gormley T.D., has today announced changes to proposals for the phasing out of lightbulbs in Ireland.

Inspired by the plans from Ireland and other Member States the European Commission has accelerated its proposals in relation to an EU-wide phasing out of incandescent lightbulbs, which will now begin in September this year. Ireland will now also commence the phase-out process from September 1.

Details here:
http://www.environ.ie/en/Environment/Atmosphere/ClimateChange/LightBulbsPublicConsultation/News/MainBody,19379,en.htm

betsy10112000
27-01-2009, 10:04 PM
What I want to know is can you get the equilivent of a 150 or 200 watt in a CFL I have only seen much dimmer ones.
have you tried ebay?
i have mad small bulbs and cant find them anywhere except ebay and they are energy saving aswel.they are very cheap to buy and still way way cheaper even with the cost of p&p.
when i lived in the UK (and they still do it now)if you phone up your electric supplier they send you out loads of energy saving bulbs free.the council gave all council tenants the same too.
its a shame they wouldnt do that here.

TickTock
14-03-2011, 02:24 PM
I agree entirely daz38. I unfortunately never took note of when we put these bulbs in but most people wouldn't - well done you for remembering it! The shops and manufacturers know this and know no-one will come back in 1,2,3,4, years time complaining that they didn't last the 8 years promised, and we probably wouldn't have the receipt either. You have made me determined to take note in future and demand a refund no matter how long ago it is if it hasn't given me the promised lifepsan! Thanks for airing this - this is a right royal rip off!!