In December 2008, the Ecodesign of Energy-Using Products Directive was passed by the European Commission and as a result, incandescent light bulbs are to be phased out completely by 2012. Currently, it is estimated by Greenpeace UK that these account for 80% of the bulbs currently used in domestic settings, even though they lose around 95% of their energy as heat rather than useful light. Consequently, switching to more energy efficient bulbs will not only help you save energy, but also save you money.

So what are the alternatives?

Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs)

Commonly referred to as “energy saving light bulbs”, these bulbs were developed in the 1980s and are the most accessible alternatives to incandescents bulbs. They use only 20% of the energy that incandescents do, and with new improved technology, they now emit the same light as traditional bulbs [1]. This means that overall your house uses less energy, and therefore less carbon dioxide which contributes to climate change. The Energy Saving Trust predict that changing just one incandescent bulb for a CFL will save you around

£2.50 a year, so changing all the lights in a house could save you up to £37 per year. As CFLs last 10 times longer than incandescents, you could save up to £590 over the life time of the bulb.

Energy Efficient Halogen Bulbs

Halogen bulbs have been considered to be more beneficial to the environment as they use approximately half of the energy of normal incandescent bulbs . However, as these bulbs are smaller and usually used on spotlights, there are a greater quantity used in each room and consequently approximately the same amount of energy is used as in a traditional bulb [2]. Therefore, swapping to energy efficient halogen bulbs is the best option if you already have halogen spotlights in you home as they consume around 30% less energy than the standard types.

Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs)

These are the new generation of energy efficient light bulbs that are set to replace not only halogen and incandescent bulbs, but possibly CFLs in the future when they become more commercially viable. LEDs are now not just limited to one bulb, but can be clustered and encased to diffuse the light around the room. EarthEasy estimates that they use only 2–10 Watts of electricity, which is approximately 1/30 of the energy used by incandescents or 1/3 of the energy used by CFLs. LEDs are considered to last up to 10 times longer than CFLs and produce only 4% of the heat. Unfortunately, at the moment LEDs are very expensive to manufacture as they use sapphire-based technology, however they are expected to be available more cost effectively at the end of the year when they begin to be manufactured by Phillips [3].

There really isn’t any excuse

Over recent years there has been a massive improvement in the range and accessibility to energy efficient lighting. As incandescent lighting will be phased out by 2012, there will have to be an inevitable switch to alternative types of bulbs, however there are some common worries:

CFLs are bulky and an odd shape. They won’t fit my light shade or my light fittings.

This may have been true a couple of years ago, however there is now a large range of shapes and sizes to accommodate practically all types of lamp and light fitting. CFLs are now available in bayonet fittings as well as different sizes of screw fittings. You only have to look at Fig.1. to see the variety now available.

It isn’t possible to use energy efficient lighting on dimmer switches.

Unfortunately, very few energy efficient bulbs are compatible with dimmer switches, however these should be improved in the near future. The Energy Saving Trust recommend the Osram Dulux El Dim as the only fully dimmable light bulb available at the moment. There is also the opportunity to swap to a “staged” dimmer switch that has three different light settings [4].

Energy efficient lighting costs too much more than incandescents.

CFLs are now available at around the cost of incandescent bulbs so coupled with the energy savings possible, this should in fact make them cheaper in long run. Although LEDs are much more expensive, they should be more readily and cheaply available at the end of this year. The most cost effective use of these will be commercially, but overall the money should be recouped from the savings in energy costs you make [5].

Am I able to recycle energy efficient light bulbs?

Manufacturers of CFLs are required to provide information on the disposal of the bulbs as they contain traces of mercury. Most local councils should already offer recycling services for them and retailers should be required to provide CFL return and recycling facilities.

Still not convinced?

It has been predicted by Greenpeace UK that if all the domestic bulbs in the UK were exchanged for CFLs or energy efficient bulbs then there would be a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by over 5 million tonnes. Consequently, the European Commission estimate that there would be a saving of 37 TWh over the whole of Europe.

Phase out of incandescents in the UK [6]

[1] Greenpeace (2010)

[2] Energy Saving Trust (2009)

[3] The Independent, 2010

[4] Energy Saving Trust (2009)

[5] EarthEasy.com (2010).

[6] Energy Saving Trust (2009)