Light bulbs that last 8 years?

[gogoblender 3,070]

These are the new mercury bulbs, the ones that big companies forced on us saying that even though the mercury they leave behind will never go away, they're over all "better " for us.

 

Two light bulbs just blew in our kitchen, and we had to change them... whilst doing so couldn't miss the natty 8-yr guarantee on the box...

 

8 years!?

 

Is such a thing possible?

 

 

gogo

 

p.s. Cool thing is all we have to send in is the UPC and receipt... we've got an envelope now with these goodies in it, next to our lease... guess we'll see in a few years what happens.

[Dragon Brother 619]

8 years....maybe. I know that they can last along time if the circuits aren't throwing any nasty surprises their way, but 8 years does sound like a long time. THey definitely last longer than the old school incandescent globes however. Which is good because they cost more!

[Stormwing 40]

Hmm, I'd be a bit sceptic with that. That's hackuva long time for any lightning equipment. But if that's true, it'd be really handy purchase.

Getting all annoyed with normal bulbs which don't even last a year in worst scenario. And moreso as EU has denied the manufacturing the old types, leaving us with only energy saving ones. Sure, they're all nice and all, but still. Wouldn't even dream to put one in sauna... Or even kitched hood.

Those are nasty ones, by the way. Once broke a fuse when it went off...

[chattius 2,526]

IMUO (think that stands for in my unholy opinion) EU made a mistake. They should have jumped 2 steps instead of one. With the money this stupid law costed, they could have spend it into researching next generation LED lamps and leaving the old light bulbs for 3 more years.

As a firefighter I like energy savers. Many fires started if a lamp had a socket reading up to 40W and people put 60W or 100W bulbs in. Started to replace bulbs with LED whenever an old one breaks.

But you have to carefully choose: dimmable, colour temperature, brightness ...

Living room would be like dimmable, 3000Kelvin, 900 Lumen

Work room not dimmable, 5000Kelvin, 1100 Lumen

Kids rooms not breakable, not dimmable, 3000K, 900 Lumen

...

[wolfie2kX 528]

These are the new mercury bulbs, the ones that big companies forced on us saying that even though the mercury they leave behind will never go away, they're over all "better " for us.

 

Two light bulbs just blew in our kitchen, and we had to change them... whilst doing so couldn't miss the natty 8-yr guarantee on the box...

 

8 years!?

 

Is such a thing possible?

 

 

gogo

 

p.s. Cool thing is all we have to send in is the UPC and receipt... we've got an envelope now with these goodies in it, next to our lease... guess we'll see in a few years what happens.

 

If you're referring to CFL (Compact Fluorescent Light) bulbs, then yeah, they're supposed to last a ridiculously long time. Tho in practice, I dunno if they'll last quite 8 years. Been using a few bulbs around the house here - and one of them has been working for at least 3 - 4 years now.

 

The thing is - regular fluorescent bulbs (the big office style tubes) seldom last quite that long. Similar technology - different scale. The jury's still out on them, I think.

[masteff 64]

Don't put a CFL in a garage door opener... it'll burn out in no time flat. Took me ruining two bulbs before I researched on the web and figured that one out.

[podgie_bear 184]

I know that the new bulbs are really bad from my point of view, they don't seem to last as long as the old ones did, they don't give as good light (speaking as someone who sews) and they put out less heat, which means we had to turn out heating up to compensate. I notice that since we were forced to switch over, out electricity consumption has gone up!

[gogoblender 3,070]

Don't put a CFL in a garage door opener... it'll burn out in no time flat. Took me ruining two bulbs before I researched on the web and figured that one out.

I've never heard about this before, is there a reason this happens?

 

 

 

I know that the new bulbs are really bad from my point of view, they don't seem to last as long as the old ones did, they don't give as good light (speaking as someone who sews) and they put out less heat, which means we had to turn out heating up to compensate. I notice that since we were forced to switch over, out electricity consumption has gone up!

 

 

hmmm, podgie, are you claiming that incandescent add to "efficient" heating? Cool that you sew! hobby?

 

gogo

[masteff 64]

Don't put a CFL in a garage door opener... it'll burn out in no time flat. Took me ruining two bulbs before I researched on the web and figured that one out.

I've never heard about this before, is there a reason this happens?

 

 

Two problems from what I read about it... 1) vibration and 2) the light switching circuit in many openers is not compatible even w/ dimmable CFLs. Basically, one way or another, it damages the CFL's circuit.

 

I would assume that manufacturers are fixing this in new garage door opener models (if not, it's a class action lawsuit waiting to happen).

[podgie_bear 184]

I know that the new bulbs are really bad from my point of view, they don't seem to last as long as the old ones did, they don't give as good light (speaking as someone who sews) and they put out less heat, which means we had to turn out heating up to compensate. I notice that since we were forced to switch over, out electricity consumption has gone up!

 

 

hmmm, podgie, are you claiming that incandescent add to "efficient" heating? Cool that you sew! hobby?

 

gogo

 

I know that when we were using the old style bulbs to keep the temperature we liked we actually set out heating 2 degrees lower, but since we had to change to to the new ones we had to turn the heating up those 2 degrees to get the same temperature. Checked against it against a thermometer to be sure and it's fact. So much for 'unwanted waste heat' huh?

 

And yes I sew, though not as much as I used to since my hands are more arthritic now. But I have always sewn since I was 5 years old, my grandmother taught me. I still do sewing repairs, button, rips etc, some alterations such as hems etc. I would like to keep doing crossstitch pictures , but it is harder for me now.

Edited December 7, 2012 by podgie_bear