Lightbulbs
I'm not generally a believer in conspiracy theories, but has anyone else noticed how much it costs to light your house nowadays? I never had an issue with the environmental argument for banning incandescent bulbs but the sheer cost of the replacement, whether dim low-wattage halogen bulbs or the even lower-wattage long-life twisty things is, by comparison, eye-watering.

Halogen bulbs cost at the least a quid each and you generally need three or four of them for one single rack - we don't have a huge kitchen but it's an L-shape so there are two racks of four bulbs each, plus a single socket. There are rarely a full rack of bulbs in working order - generally at least one out on each rack and they never seem to last very long. We have three single halogen bulbs in a small bathroom - same thing there.

And the large bulbs with the halogen inserts are even more unreliable. The slightest nudge can break the filaments - easily done if they're used in a table lamp or suchlike. Another couple of quid down the drain if that happens.

The long-life eco-friendly spirals are even worse - they start off really dim and never really seem to emit that much light. They are also nowhere near as long-life as they claim to be. It's yet another way of the public being palmed off with sub-standard goods at inflated prices.

Someone is making a killing out of this radical alteration to the fabric of our existence. I'm convinced that the whole thing is nothing more than the fiendish brainchild of a shadowy group of big businessmen bent on global domination through the economic stranglehold of the supply of artificial light.

And who would be behind such a devilish plan?

Well, I'd have thought it obvious - its the Illuminati, innit...
(zebideedoodah likes florence but prefers venice, Sun 28 Apr 2013, 2:59, 9 replies)

I hate you with a passion you can only dream of.

( The Awful Puppy Bakery is still bored, Sun 28 Apr 2013, 6:15, closed)

Oh, you...
The answer's still no, though.
(zebideedoodah likes florence but prefers venice, Sun 28 Apr 2013, 23:08, closed)

Golf clap.
Although it's all about LEDs now. Halogen and compact fluorescent are soooo last century.
( Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Sun 28 Apr 2013, 8:53, closed)

Probably because you're replacing 1880s technology with 1950s technology
CFLs and other fluorescent bulbs are not the solution. LEDs are. They're a drop-in replacement for any incandescent up to 50 watts with equivalent brightness, vastly increased life (up to 50,000 hours) and about 1/3rd the power consumption of a CFL or 5% that of an incandescent of the same brightness

Also, they're instant-on at full brightness and can be ganged-up easily (4 of 2.5watt GU-10 LEDs in a 4-way mount screwed into a bayonet fitting will replace a 100 watt incandescent while only drawing 10 watts, you need a 20-watt CFL for the same brightness)
(Carpe Cyprinidae, Sun 28 Apr 2013, 11:53, closed)

You fucking idiot.

( Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Sun 28 Apr 2013, 13:56, closed)

LEDs all the way!
I put this to the test a while back and made my own lamps from 3w LEDs wired in series with a cheap driver.

...and Fcku me! They are as bright as the sun (well, ok, I've been known to exagerate on occassion), but emit very little heat. I used 36 to start with, although I've had to skim that down to three lots of 12 as they were just far too bright - through a welding glass I could still see everything in my living room clearly!

In total they would consume 108 watts, but are far far brighter than any 100w bulb I've ever seen.

The best part is, that with a microcontroller (I've been using an Arduino), I can change the colour to anything I want (I used an equal number of Red, Green and Blue).

LEDs are most certainly the way forward, plus when you get rid of them they don't contain mercury.
(dchurch bah, Tue 30 Apr 2013, 12:54, closed)

CFLs have horrible power factor...
... so the energy you "save" is dissipated in huge banks of coils and capacitors at the substation.

You can measure how inefficient CFLs are compared to normal incandescents by running them off a generator and seeing how quickly it gets through fuel.
(gordonjcp, Sun 28 Apr 2013, 16:24, closed)

www.b3ta.com/questions/controversialbeliefs/post1947001
( Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Sun 28 Apr 2013, 16:36, closed)

I'm absolutely.....
fluorescent with rage!
( The Lone Groover has mal des nuts., Sun 28 Apr 2013, 19:22, closed)