Consultation Document on Light Bulbs

Minister Gormley launches his consultation document, which can be downloaded http://www.environ.ie/en/Environment/Atmosphere/ClimateChange/LightBulbsPublicConsultation/News/MainBody,18646,en.htm (here).

Of most interest, perhaps:

The standard will only apply to lamps with Bayonet or screw in caps, so low voltage and GU10 downlights are ok, as are halogen floodlights.

Only lamps with outputs of 200 lumens and above are affected, so oven lamps and fridge lamps should be ok.

But if you've got screw in halogen 'halopar' or reflector spot lamps, then you're probably going to have to replace the fittings.

Not as bad as it could have been, really.

Well timed John, really, really well timed

ubiquitous said:

Well timed John, really, really well timed

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This makes complete sense. If you change over to all 'low energy' bulbs you will certainly notice the difference.

Ive had low energy bulbs in my house for the last 2 year and i havent had to replace any, and with savings on electricity the have more than paid their own.....

I see a good business opportunities on eBay opening up, for people in the UK.

The one bug bear I have is that CFL bulbs tend not to have their CRI (Colour Rendering Index) printed on the box (most are crap anyway), so you go into shop, are presented with a load of bulbs and don’t know which to pick from. The proposal seems to be putting an end that problem and appears to be banning bulbs with a CRI (Ra) of less than 80%. This is good one way for CFL, but will have a major effect on LED bulbs, which give out a very narrow spectrum of light.
I would also propose that they require CFLs to have their ‘Warm Up time’ and if they are ‘High Frequency’ / ‘Fast Start’ printed on the box.

Towger said:

I see a good business opportunities on eBay opening up, for people in the UK.

The one bug bear I have is that CFL bulbs tend not to have their CRI (Colour Rendering Index) printed on the box (most are crap anyway), so you go into shop, are presented with a load of bulbs and don’t know which to pick from. The proposal seems to be putting an end that problem and appears to be banning bulbs with a CRI (Ra) of less than 80%. This is good one way for CFL, but will have a major effect on LED bulbs, which give out a very narrow spectrum of light.
I would also propose that they require CFLs to have their ‘Warm Up time’ and if they are ‘High Frequency’ / ‘Fast Start’ printed on the box.

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The problem with these ideas is that if Ireland imposes unique branding requirements on products that differ from those in place in the UK or elsewhere, it means effectively that the products on sale in the UK cannot be sold here in that form and the product must either be specially adapted or packaged for the Irish market - which tends ultimately to drive through the roof the ultimate cost to the Irish consumer.

ubiquitous said:

The problem with these ideas is that if Ireland imposes unique branding requirements on products that differ from those in place in the UK or elsewhere, it means effectively that the products on sale in the UK cannot be sold here in that form and the product must either be specially adapted or packaged for the Irish market - which tends ultimately to drive through the roof the ultimate cost to the Irish consumer.

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That is very true, but there is already an international standard used by the very same manufactures for their florescent tubes. Look at any tube and you will see the likes of '830' printed on it. 8 = CRI >= 80%, 30 = 3000 Kelvin and so on. Why this can't be printed on CFLs is beyond me.


Anyway, I have just sent this to them:



Dear Mr Hurley,

I have quickly read through your consultation document on Energy Efficiency and Performance Standards for Light Bulbs. I am not an expert in the field, but just a member of the public who has an interest in this area.

I would like to make the following points:

CFLs
For a long time I have found that unlike Standard Florescent Tubes (T5, T8 etc) , CFL bulbs tend not to have their CRI (Colour Rendering Index) /Ra or, Colour (CCT) in Kelvin etc printed on their box or published on their datasheets/the internet. This results in the customer (ie. me) going into a shop and being presented with a large number of bulbs of similar wattage/efficiency, but of difference prices and no way of actually comparing the bulbs without buying a sample of each.

In order to reduce this problem I propose that all bulbs should have the following information printed on their box’s and/or body:

· Wattage.

· Energy Efficiency Rating.

· Light Output in Lumens : This value drops during the life of a florescent bulb. It should be given at 100 hours and as a percentage drop for each 1000 hours of use. Some cheap CLFs start off with a great Light Output and corresponding Energy Rating, but this drops off dramatically after a few months of use.

· Colour Correction Temperature (CCT) in Kelvin. They may also have ‘Warm’, ‘Cold’ or ‘Daylight’ etc to simplify this measurement. Using Kelvin should get around the problem of one manufactures ‘Warm’ not being the same as another’s.

· Colour Rendering Index (CRI) / Ra. : Allows the selection of CFLs suitable for Kitchen/Work area use.

· Warm up time : The time taken for the bulb to reach full brightness at normal room temperature.

· Expected Life of Bulb : Rated average life in hours.

· Ballast Type : Magnetic - Electronic – Fast Start - Instant Start – High Frequency (Low Flicker) etc.

· Dimming : State if dimming is possible or not, and if so the type of dimming: Eg Steps: 100%, 60%, 30% of output or Linear 100% to 10% of output.

Please note - All the above information is readily available from manufactures for standard florescent tubes.


LEDs
The consultation document (5.1.1.2b) appears to be banning bulbs with a CRI (Ra) of less than 80%. While I believe this will be a good step in removing substandard CFL bulbs from the market, it will have a major affect on the use of LED bulbs. LED bulbs by their nature and current state of technology give out a very narrow spectrum of light, resulting in a low CRI (Ra) rating. It would be unwise to implement this rule for LED bulbs. Although their CRI is low, their efficiency is an order of magnitude greater than a CFL bulb. This allows them to be used where energy efficiency is more important than the quality of light.

Nice idea and all that - I have some of these & find that after a year that they take longer to warm up & are not as bright as when I got them first.

The GU10's are not hitting the mark at all & I've swopped them back to halogens.