Retailers have found a way around a “ridiculous” ban on traditional light bulbs by the European Union which comes into force this week.
It is the final phase of the European Union’s long campaign to ban traditional light bulbs.
First it outlawed the 100W version, then the 60W – to the frustration of many, who find the old-fashioned, incandescent bulbs cheaper and brighter than the energy-saving variety that are intended to replace them.
Now, from this week, a ban on all remaining traditional types, including the 40W bulb, is being phased in.
But there could be hope for those wanting to keep using the incandescent variety – as retailers have found a loophole which allows them to get around the new rules.
The EU directive banning the 40W bulb, which comes into force on September 1, refers only to those meant for “household lamps”, meaning shops can continue to supply bulbs intended for “industrial use”.
I strongly disagree with the ban, but the technology has evolved to a point where incandescent bulbs can no longer compete with LED assemblies of equal size on any parameter except price. Picking the right ones is still not a straightforward business, but the best of the best are far better than any incandescent bulbs except perhaps krypton bulbs which are too hot to be used at home.
This is what I settled on after some trial and error.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Long-Life-Lamp-Company-replacements/dp/B006UR5IUY
They produce the same luminous flux as the bulbs they replace (I measured it myself), while the spectrum they emit is well-balanced, making them appear much brighter.
“incandescent bulbs can no longer compete with LED assemblies of equal size on any parameter except price.”
Uh . . . price is good enough for me! 4 for $3 or one for $10. Easy decision.
I’m in agreement with GC. Especially for a hall light, attic light, or secluded closet light that is used only a few hours a year. Incandescents are cheap, useful, and don’t degrade when they aren’t on. While CFCs are useful in the commonly used lamps and overheads, the seldom-used lights are all incandescents, and I am still on the original light bulbs for over half of my house’s lights five years later.
Gene: You are not quite right yet – unfortunately. The led is, to be sure, a fine source of light but there still prevail problems related to its use.
FIrst, because of the directionality of the light you get light only in the forward direction sort of below the chip (if the led shines downwards) and absolutely nothing above it. You must have a bunch of leds shining in different directions if you want to have general illumination like you get from an incandescent lamp shining roughly uniformly in all directions.
Second, the incandescent lamp is designed to run directly on 230 or 115 volts alternating current without any voltage-converting stuff in between (except for small halogen lamps). The led needs basically around 3 to 3.5 volts direct current to light up, meaning that you have to have some kind of electronics producing that voltage from your AC supply. That voltage is so low that you cannot reasonably wire your home for 3.5 volts DC without considerable extra cost, but it must be provided separately in each piece of equipment using a power led. In your stereo or TV it is O.K. because they use very low power leds, but for illumination you must have a reasonably complicated setup integated into each luminaire separately. Lately there have been several cases of led equipment sold with voltage sources with inferior electrical safety. 230 volts into your hand is usually thanks and bye bye!
Third, opposite to what seems to be generally believed, the led runs hot as h-ll (almost literally). It does not radiate a lot of heat like the incandescent lamp, but the led itself gets really hot. Already the smallest power leds of 350 mA and 1.2 watts power dissipate something like half of that as heat in the chip (of 1 square millimeter surface area!) and into the circuit board. For the led not to lose its power and finally boil off and die, that heat must be transported away through a separate heat sink of some kind. That means that the simplest piece of equipment has to be provided such a heat sink. Mind you, it is possible to put it into the rest of the stuff very close to the led, but all the same it must be separately figured out and built. The incandescent lamp does not have that problem because it radiates most of the power away (85 percent) and can stand higher temperatures than the led anyway.
Fourth, the abovementioned circumstances contribute to a very high price of power-led based illumination setups for home use. The need for a necessary power supply and the heat sink problem constitute unsurmountable problems pricewise and are not likely to be solved very soon. Of course, for special setups of particular aesthetical value like wall or painting illumination, bathroom lamps etc., leds are fine and the price is seldom an object.
Don’t get me wrong, there are numerous rough places where the reliability, low power consumption and lifetime of a well-designed led source makes it an obvious and indispensable replacement for earlier designs using incandescent lamps. However, the price and complexity of these designs cause that they do not yet easily translate into household items of the same simplicity and low price as efficient modern incandescent lamps.
Johan,
If you factor in the longer life of the LED bulb and the lower energy usage, it could be just as economic or maybe even better than the incandescent bulb it replaced, even though the initial cost is higher and probably always will be.
Paul,
Hmmm…you may be right if you count only cents or pennies for the anticipated life cycle, but the technical complexity of the led setup always remains: a voltage converter of some kind – the heat sink problem – nonuniformity of leds etc. As all semiconductor components, leds come out at manufacturing time with pertinent properties such as, total flux varying between, say, 60 and 150 per cent of the average. They are then binned and labeled in several categories according to output and color temperature. This means that if you buy 10 pcs to hang in your Maria Theresia chandelier you are forever stuck with that particular bin – provided it even is specified in the final product. 40 W incandescents have been remarkably uniform for decades. A further problem is that manufacturers sometimes just discontinue led types at very short notice, as happened a few years ago with a power led that suddenly turned unprofitable (?). Many industrial customers had to perform expensive redesign of equipment using that led. Well, that is perhaps not the problem of an ordinary reading light or your sauna led band.
Thanks for bringing up an important point!
I like to make my choices, not have it regulated by governments. And the “light” from the LEDs are hard to read by….
$0.50 each vs. $50. I get 100 incandescent bulbs for the price of 1 led. What a deal!
But the European Commission is getting on to it..
Trying to get local state German authorities to make sure stores stop the sale of such bulbs,to the general public – which the authorities are resisiting…
http://tonn.ie/2012/08/germans-dim-view-of-light-bulb.html
Will a led light work in my oven?
TIm,
The led chip will up to over 100 centigrade or so but should run much cooler to be efficient. Your oven runs at about 150 to 250, so at least with present-day led materials leds are out. People work hard to increase the maximum allowable temperature, but for the time being we have to stick with good old incandescent. We can imagine putting the led behind some kind of efficiently insulating glass, but it may cost a bit again to make it good enough
Johan:
I believe all the points you bring up have been adequately addressed. The unit I have chosen to replace *all* incandescent bulbs in my house consumes 5W, gives off a luminous flux commensurate with that of a 50W halogen bulb, dissipating the rest as heat (which I estimate to be less than 3W).
The beam angle is better than it was with the bulbs it replaced and the intensity is more uniform. With 8 evenly spread recessed ceiling lights, there are no bright or dark spots anywhere in the room.
Conversion from 230 volts is not a problem even where it is needed. The solid-state inverters are now very efficient (>95%), but in this case I don’t think it is necessary. There are just many enough LEDs connected in series.
Finally, even though I am a frugal spender, cost is not an issue in this case. I simply can’t stand the atrocious yellow colour of the incandescent lighting. It depresses me. It is not just me. Bad lighting is known to hurt people. Now, having spent only about $120 to replace all my bulbs, I can enjoy a never-ending day.
Cambridge University Network under Sir Alec Broers, Chairman of the
House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, Scientific Alliance
newsletter on the occasion of the start of the EU Ban September 2009,
similarly repeated since by them and other reputable institutions
“The total reduction in EU energy use would be 0.54 x 0.8 x 0.76% = 0.33%
This figure is almost certainly an overestimate…
Which begs the question: is it really worth it?
The problem is that legislators are unable to tackle the big issues of
energy use effectively, so go for the soft target of a high profile
domestic use of energy…this is gesture politics.”
http://tonn.ie/p/deception-behind-banning-light-bulbs.html#energy
(don’t know why got it spaced that way… my excuses)