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Light the way
What
Light up your life with LEDs or Energy Saving bulbs. Incandescent bulbs have brightened our homes for the last 100 years, but these days there are much more energy efficient ways to become enlightened.
Benefits
For people
Here's a little time saver for you. Energy saving bulbs last 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs, and LEDs last a whopping 25 times longer, so they only need changing once in a blue moon.
Low energy bulbs might be a bit more expensive in the short term, but you'll quickly earn your money back through lower electricity bills. Each halogen bulb you switch to an LED will save you around £2-3 per year or £75 by the time you have to replace it.
For planet
It's all in the name - low energy bulbs use less energy to achieve the same level of brightness as incandescent bulbs, which means less carbon heading up into our atmosphere.
And it takes less energy to manufacture energy saving bulbs and LEDs too. An all-round win for the planet.
How
Firstly, some bulb jargon:
- Incandescent bulbs: An overarching term for the type of bulb that's been around since Thomas Edison's invention in 1879. These bulbs have filaments that glow, producing both heat and light when energy flows through them.3
- Filament bulbs: a type of incandescent bulb. They've been kicking about for over 100 years, and it's time to move on…
- Halogen bulbs: a type of incandescent bulb. Essentially an enhanced filament bulb, and mildly more efficient. They're the ones that get really hot!
- CFLs: Compact Fluorescent Lamps – the twizzley twisty energy saving ones. They've massively improved over the last few years, and are the bulb of choice for most standard light fittings. But it's hard to find ones for spotlights and the likes.
- LEDs: Welcome to the future. Super efficient and available in all sorts of specialist styles for all your fancy lighting needs. They are also available in a range of tones (not just dentist surgery white) and there are dimmable varieties too.
- Choose your bulbs
With so much lighting jargon, it can be hard to decide what's best.
This guide to lightbulbs is a great start! Or there's even an NPR picking a lightbulb made easy podcast - who would've thought! - Buy your bulbs
You can find CFLs in most high street shops or department stores, but LEDs are harder to come by. The Ethical Superstore has a great stock. - Change your lightbulbs
Although the question of 'How many people does it take to change a lightbulb?' is often used as a joke, it can be a tricky affair with the many different types of bulbs. Wikihow has got our back! - Enjoy the hue!
It may not be obvious, but lighting can affect our mood. Find focus for work next to your neutral whiter lights, or cosy up and wind down next to the warm glow of your newly lit home - remember LEDs come in all kinds of colours too! - Recycle or dispose of your light bulbs
So you’ve replaced your light bulbs but now you have a load of old ones you don’t know what to do with? Find out how to recycle or dispose of them here.
References
