What a ludicrous European law
By Koalemos
@Asylum (47893)
Manchester, England
February 29, 2016 12:04pm CST
The European Union has introduced many strange regulations over the years, along with several realistic ones of course. However, it seems that a ban on traditional light bulbs has been in place for around 6 years now, but I only found out today.
I find the energy saving bulbs to be useless and never emit the intensity of light that is claimed, so I will not use them. Light bulbs are something that I keep a stock of at home and usually buy from one of the pound shops here in England.
About a week ago I ran out of bulbs and ended up having to borrow one from my lamp to use in the living room. Today I discovered that one of the pound stores had a fresh stock, so I bought 4 to last for a while.
Wondering why they were so hard to find I checked online and came across this very odd European law. I have no intention of changing my light bulbs to the energy savers for anyone.
14 people like this
14 responses
@ElizabethWallace (12069)
• United States
1 Mar 16
We have the same law. Have had for some time. I hate the curled florescent ones. The others do not fit well and are very expensive. We have been told that they last for more than five years, but I know that is not true. All of the bulbs in this house were brand new and of this type when I moved in two years ago. I have had to replace several already.
2 people like this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
1 Mar 16
@ElizabethWallace The difference in power consumption has to be quite minor.
1 person likes this
@ElizabethWallace (12069)
• United States
1 Mar 16
@Asylum I have heard people say that their electric bills went down, but I find that hard to believe.
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61463)
• United States
1 Mar 16
I hate them too and they are getting hard to find here as well.
2 people like this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
1 Mar 16
@BelleStarr I did notice that Amazon sell packs of 10 at a reasonable price, but have reservations concerning how delicate they are for such transit.
2 people like this
@BelleStarr (61463)
• United States
1 Mar 16
@Asylum order them online. I had to look at several different stores too find an old type 3 way bulb. I suspect you can order all you want if you find the right website..I always try Amazon first and then mover on to others. I also find them dim and have seen no savings. They use so little electricity anyway compared to appliances.
3 people like this
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
29 Feb 16
I knew about it some time ago and always thought it was our government that introduced the law, not the EU. I have mixed feelings about it. My desk lamp has an LED spot and is cool to the touch, gives a nice crisp light which is whiter than the old incandescent spot and altogether pleases me. I'm less happy with the halogen bulbs, which are somehow harsher for general room lighting, and don't like the glass egg-beater bulbs at all (I have never liked fluorescent light).
Of course, the fact that they use less energy is a plus. The less I spend on electricity, the better!
2 people like this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
29 Feb 16
It may have originated in either place, but the European Union introduced it to Britain. The energy saving bulbs offer too low a quality of light. The comparisons quoted are laughable.
I use bulbs to create light, so saving electricity by using dimmer lights does not appeal to me. I always use 100 Watt and will not even consider the 60 Watt bulbs.
2 people like this
@RasmaSandra (97990)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
29 Feb 16
@Asylum Here in Latvia we can get regular bulbs. They are usually much cheaper than the other kind and always available. I don't know if this is legal or not but at least we can get regular bulbs.
2 people like this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
29 Feb 16
@RasmaSandra They seem to be available from a few sources here, but not on regular sale.
1 person likes this
@Inlemay (17712)
• South Africa
1 Mar 16
we have the energy saving law in SA as well - the Electric supply company actually came around to supply the whole of the country with these bulbs first off, but now we have to replace, however they come around every 6 months and if you have broken ones, they will replace them for you. Florescent and other kinds of lighting are still working, but they are trying to get everything Energy Saving
2 people like this
@Jeanniemaries (8237)
• United States
3 Mar 16
They are hard to get here as well, especially the brightest ones for some reason. I think I'm low on light bulbs altogether, I will have to put them on my shopping list before one is needed.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
3 Mar 16
@Jeanniemaries I have never seen a 75 Watt bulb because here they are 40, 60 or 100 Watt
@Jeanniemaries (8237)
• United States
3 Mar 16
@Asylum It's the 100 Watt that is so hard to find here, one must do with two 75 Watt bulbs. I do use three way bulbs when I can though.
1 person likes this
@thea09 (18305)
• Greece
2 Mar 16
It is nigh on impossible to find any of the old style bulbs now and the 100W haven't been in the shops for years. I did a mass stock up on 60 watts as they were legal for longer but my supply is all but depleted. The energy ones are hideously expensive and don't give out any light.
1 person likes this
@allknowing (153544)
• India
1 Mar 16
I have those lights all over the place and have no complaints. They come in different sizes.
1 person likes this
@MarshaMusselman (38865)
• Midland, Michigan
3 Mar 16
This was talked about here some years ago too so much so that many customers were purchasing light bulbs by the cart load, so they'd have enough to last the rest of their life, lol. The first generation of energy saving bulbs didn't produce much light, but since then they've improved quite a bit. I think we now have both kinds available again, but many people will use the ones that last several years longer. Some are not buying LED lights and replacing their stock with that.
1 person likes this
@BACONSTRIPSXXX (18082)
• Torrington, Connecticut
1 Mar 16
First time I heard of a law soo bizzare
1 person likes this
