Anyone know where I can get standard 100w light bulbs locally ? They seem to have disappeared. I've tried places like Sainsbury's, Wilkinson, and Home Bargains but to no avail,

My mum is in her 80s and her sight is not that good at night. The stairway needs to be properly lit and 60W or low energy bulbs just don't go bright enough.

Are'nt 21 or 22w energy savers the equivalent?

They have been out lawed and are to never be seen again in this contry, get em where stocks last!

Is that right ? Lunacy. The people who have brought in this legislation have no idea that people with poor sight need their stairs properly lit for the time it takes them to go up or down.

The problem with low energy bulbs is that they take a while to achive full brightness and I personally find that they aren't as bright as their old fashioned equivalents.

Oh well. There seem to be plenty available online anyway.

Highly recommend getting a twin lamp adaptor and using two 23Watt power savers, still uses half the eleccy of a 100Watt and gives MORE light.

I have had the occasional 23Watt that is near enough equivalent to 100Watt but most aren't. The GE (General Electric) 23Watt are pretty good, a few seconds warm up time to full brightness in a warm room, these have four thin loops (ie 8 thin tubes).

I am yet to find a power saver bulb that lasts anywhere near the claimed life - they either fail or loose their brightness.

Also available are the halogen low voltage bulbs with an inbuilt transformer, not tried them yet but being a filament bulb they may give a better quality of light than a fluorescent - and they can be used with dimmers. These are the same order of efficiency as the CF lamps.

I tried them bud, same result as when the first low energy bulbs came into play.

The halogens are you talking about?

Yer, There are brighter alternatives. Moreton alarms have a few good ones on display atm

I think it funny that they banned the domestic bulbs but I don't think they have banned those highly inefficient 500W security lamps.

Thanks for the heads up shall grab the old type when i see any

So stupid isnt it, those alone are the same as lighting 5 rooms in a house...

Same as 25 rooms in power saving bulbs

TJ's had hundreds of 'em last time I looked. A quid for 4

Tesco have a halogen one a that's near equivlent straight plug in BC, believe it or not it's still possible to get the 100w as they haven't been banned for business,the ones I have at home are a GE 75w = 100w, 1340 lumen halogen ,please make sure your fittings will take them as halogen do run hot.

The 100W old (filament) type are not banned from SALE - but IMPORT is now banned. That means the limited supplies available will eventually be depleted (except of course sneaky imports will continue for years yet)

NO WAY do the 21W modern type equate to 100W filament. My personal estimate is that the stated rating of the modern type (which is a power consumption rating NOT a light output rating) understates by about 30% ie really you need something like 35W modern to equate to 100W filament in terms of light output.

I have also tried the halogen type with built in transformer - awful. Took it out within a few hours and stuffed it in a drawer. Not bright enough and the colour of the light was poor.

The way forward is surely LED technology. The only issue for that and domestic lighting is now how to get the colour of the light satisfactory for domestic. That IS AVAILABLE for the security lighting type of lamps and they do give very bright light. As my security light bulbs need changing I will be moving to LED type lamps (despite 2.5 times the cost for the lamp) because that will save in the long term.

SNOD

Rightways were still selling 100w bulbs until quite recently. Could be worth phoning your local store, they're normally very good about ringing around on your behalf and seeing what they can get for you.

Am I right in thinking the new energy efficient bulbs are actually quite bad for the enviroment? They may save energy but don't they contain mercury or something?? Nobody ever explains how you're supposed to dispose of these things.

Like a lot of unmittigated crap that is forced upon us by "Europe", the CFL sketch is just that... crap. Snod is right insomuch as it's the light output that matters to me and thee. Lumens per watt. The equivalent to 100w - or whatever is misleading to say the least.

YES geekus, they are bad for the enviroment. VERY BAD. The coating on the inner walls of the tube is full of nasties in a FINE POWDER FORM that is bad for YOU should you inhale any of it. ie. accidental breakage in the house. Mercury is one of the fun products ! Then of course there is the manufacturing processes involved in making the ballast inside the body of the lamp.

One thing to bear in mind is when the supply of all wattage incandecents has stopped..... just watch the price of these CFL efforts rocket !! When there is no alternative to CFL's, the manufacturers will hike the price up until the pips squeak - and some. They are cheap to buy at the moment. That is temporary I assure you.

The mains frequency flicker on CFL's ain't too good for folk with a type of epilepsy. Reportedly causes headaches in some to.

The sooner we get away from that shower of syphallitic sh*te in Brussels the better !

Oh yes, the "Global Warming" bit, oh sorry, they've changed it conveniently now to "Climate Change". Do you honestly think for one moment, changing to the CFL con bulbs makes any difference to countrywide energy consumption ?? Gimme strength !! Your council and most others enjoy flood lighting public buildings, spaces etc. for no good reason at all using THOUSANDS of watts (kw). This goes also for private companies who turn night into day in and around their buildings. Bloody Nora !!

Sorry. I haven't had a good rant for a while.

Interesting stuff mate. Thanks for that. Who needs nuclear weapons when we can just throw CFL's at each other, eh?

Im pretty sure that the ozone and pollution was cause by the vast number of nukes they let off in the atmosphere thb.

Agree. Likewise a good rant is good for the soul !!


Just back from shopping. They have 100 watters on the shelf, but you'll have to come to Sussex to get them !!

Another thing with these horrors is disposing of them. You can't put them any of the normal bins, they have to be disposed of separately as they contain toxic elements (mercury, amongst others) so you should take them to the recycling centre.
If you break one you can't just sweep it up !! Evacuate the area for at least half an hour to allow the vapour and particles to disperse. Don a face mask, gloves and googles and SWEEP up don't use a hoover as that puts everything back in the air.
Put the broken bits etc in a separate bag and take to the tip !! (Same with flouescent tubes)
They don't tell you any of this of course !!
Add to this the cost of the recycling and you have a really wonderful eco friendly product that they are forcing onto us !!

I've used halogens for years now but you don't seem to be ale to get 100w versions any more, though 75w is as good as a 100w tungsten in my opinion and they last a bit longer.

Using the mean time between failure of CFL and incandecent bulbs, and that the UK is still ~30% coal generated power, CFLs release less mercury into the atmosphere - even taking into account the manufacturing process. (Of course the world's oldest bulb is an incandecent and 110 this year.)

Remember; a faulty light fitting can cause premature expiry of bulbs (regardless of type).

Pinzgauer is correct in saying that CFLs should be disposed of the same way as the florecent tubes rather than general waste. The wheelie bin with a line through it on the packaging indicates this. However, they are covered by the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive, as such some stores will take them from you (e.g. Ikea).

IMHO the best CFL bulbs are Ecozone's Biobulb range. They give a more natural light, closer to that of daylight, and are quick to warm up. However, rather than the usual 50p-£4 price tag, these cost closer to £10 as they are aimed at SAD sufferers.