On 05/04/2013 06:41, MM wrote:
Tesco online groceries only have ONE type of candle bulb with standard
bayonet cap and that is a 7W fluorescent type for £3.60. Three pounds
and sixty pence for ONE friggin' bulb!

Have look elsewhere and you can probably do better buying in packs of
10, but now is a very bad time to invest in CFL candle bulbs. They are
intrinsically difficult to make and LED ones that are *much* nicer are
only just around the corner. You can always buy remaindered CFLs cheaply
after the LED units become more widely available. Afraid the LED ones
will be a fair bit more than £3.6 though - more like £9.

I was recently caught out by a 10W LED nominal 60W lamp I substituted
for a nominal 60W CFL on my parents stairs where the slow start was a
hazard. It was *too bright* I had to get a 40W LED equivalent instead!

But on Amazon I can find loads of the "old-fashioned" element 60W
bulbs at a fraction of the price, e.g. Sylvania pack of 10 for £4.99
(or 20 for £7.99). Given that I have just replaced one "old-fashioned"
bulb for the first time in 9 years, £3.60 seems an excessive amount to
pay when I could fit the old style for around 50 pence for another 9
years. These are the wall lights in the front room and are not
switched on much.

You have to factor in the lifetime electricity consumption before the
pricing makes any sense. Most people are unable to do that which is why
new printers are dirt cheap and the ink costs more than pure heroin.

How come the "modern" fluorescent bulbs are so expensive? Or is it
just the supermarkets finding yet another way of ripping us off?

MM

Given their complexity tricky glasswork and the difficulty getting the
control circuitry into the space it is astonishing they can be made at
all for the price. The one saving grace is that as candles they tend to
have enough free air movement around them not to cook the electronics.

CFLs hanging down or inside glass globes tend to have a short life.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown