Andy Hall wrote:

Of the disadvantages, the first is no longer a problem as many lamps
start rapidly enough to be used anywhere. The second disadvantage
is, I assume, impossibility to dim. That is no longer a problem as
dimmable lamps are now being put on the market. That just leaves the
price, which is not a problem if one considers life cycle costs,
they are cheaper to buy and operate than the equivalent classic
light bulbs.

There is also the point that the light produced is appalling in terms of
quality and that the claimed equivalent outputs are woefully over
optimistic. The so called energy savings (even assuming that that were
necessary in the first place) can therefore not be what is claimed by
the manufacturers.



Herein is the problem. Matters like these very often lead to invective
instead of listening and thinking.

Very few topics are completely black and white. The environment is very,
very grey, partly because it is so new we have not had the chance to
develop common-sense and experience and partly because it is highly
complex. Things that seem right turn out to be wrong. The law of
unforeseen consequences. For example bio-fuel. Though, in fact, very
often the consequences were foreseen by the informed and clever but they
were ignored or shouted down. I was teaching about global warming and
the greenhouse effect decades ago.

Lamps are a good example. 'They are a good thing and we must all be
forced to use them.' Well not quite. The lamps are not as efficient as
made out. You cannot use a lamp with one-fifth the power rating and get
the same light output. The light from high colour-temperature lamps is
harsh and horrible and the warm ones do not produce as much light.
Turning them on and off is not a good idea so you leave them on.

The fitting are really bad. I made the mistake of buying some
wall-lights with the new square bases. Discovered too late that I
couldn't buy lower rated lamps for them so they are too bright. These
are the only types so far that can be dimmed (not mine though). Dimming
is going to be a key matter to be solved.

That said, I have now changed all my lamps to LE apart from bathroom
ones which are switched on and off frequently. My electricity bill has
gone down despite price rises. Of course we must all use less energy and
lighting is one way of many. People should not be forced, and they
should be informed of both the good and bad points. When someone tries
to force me to do something I dig my heels in and I do the opposite.
This hateful government has forced much too much on us already. I don't
want to see people becoming antagonistic towards energy saving because
of government intrusion. They will do it because they can see the sense
in it.

Peter Scott