low energy lightbulbs suitable for antique chandelier

[njr_26]

Does anyone know of any low energy lightbulbs that look exactly like candle shaped bulbs which would look decorative when exposed in a chandelier? Also I need very small golf ball bulbs to go in original converted gas lights. The ones I have seen have been either too big or looked very cheap and tackywith a plastic outer covering. If I can't find any decent ones I will be buying up as many of the clear screw in bulbs as I can find before they ban them.

 

[Mark]

I've seen candle shaped ones. Couldnt give a link but they certainly exist.

 

[NT]

Candle CFLs arent hard to find, but theyre bigger than filament lamps and are diffuse sources, which is not what's wanted for chandeliers. Diffuse light sources mean the colour splitting effect of glass pieces doent work. I'd stick with clear filament bulbs if you want to retain the look of the thing.

A lower energy option is to reduce the bulb powers in the chandelier and add some background cfl or fl lighting to bring the light level up again.

Replacing 25w filament with 5-10w halogen can work, but the bulbs do look totally different.


NT

 

[AMc]

All kinds here (CFL, filament, even flickering filament) - add VAT and shipping so might be cheaper to look locally.
I wouldn't buy a discountinued line of Compact Fluoresent as when you eventually have to replace them in a few years time you won't be able to easily match the colour temperature and you may have to replace them all to get an even light from the fitting.

http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/search/results.jsp?N=411+500001+1002159&Ntk=gensearch_003&Ntt=candle+bulb&Ntx=&isGoback=false

 

[Nigel Watts]

I rasied this question last week with the director of a well known chandelier restoration firm when I took one of mine in for a make-over. His only comment was that he intended to stockpile thousands of traditional bulbs before Wedgewood-Benn junior bans them.

 

[Pford75]

Is there any reason why it wouldn't be possible to import the lightbulbs? Surely the gov't can't prevent you purchasing abroad and bringing them into the country....in which case....are European bulbs the same?

 

[CHRIS]

You could try New Zealand in a few years as they are thinking of banning the new type ones as they cause more green house gases than the old ones in the manufacturing - and they hate the ideas of all these nasty factories over the road in China.

The Kiwis are quite good at the Eco stuff as well so may have a point (our local council expert is one anyway) - better than us muppets anyway.

 

[NT]

Is there any reason why it wouldn't be possible to import the lightbulbs? Surely the gov't can't prevent you purchasing abroad and bringing them into the country....in which case....are European bulbs the same?

French bulbs are 220v, giving brighter output, better energy efficiency but significantly shorter life.

I daresay import will be illegal.


NT

 

[NT]

Its going to be a farce when the law does come in. This one will get about as much respect as.... well, a totally ignored thing.


NT

 

[Pford75]

Agreed...the wording of the legislation will be interesting.

I'm assuming that the govt will not make the bulbs themselves illegal (this would mean replacing all of the bulbs in circulation, working or not).

They are far more likely to make the sale of the bulbs illegal. In my opinion, to make the import of bulbs illegal would be impractical.....how do you stop visitors bringing appliances with incandescent bulbs into the country?

I sense a business opportunity here.....black market bulbs anyone?

 

[Cloudscape]

I'm a bit of a lightbulb obsessive and I collect interesting light fittings.

Once upon a time, all you needed was a stock of regular and small bayonet bulbs. Clear bulbs for some lamps and pearl or white bulbs for others.

As my lamp collection grew (no, I don't have them all going at once :lol: ), I started needing screw bulbs, SES bulbs, 15-watt bulbs, 5-watt bulbs...

I already have trouble finding 25-watt bulbs - you could almost get a suntan, if you use 40-watt bulbs in multiple-bulb fitiings...

Then along came the quite-often-ugly low-energy bulbs. I've managed to source them with bayonet, SBC, screw and SES... and they mostly look terrible and spoil the whole look of lamps.

The light is diiferent, is quite often strangely diffused and the bulbs are obtrusive. A couple of mine make a slight buzzing sound too.

I look at an old bulb with a bit of glass and metal, and seemingly not much more. Maybe a few noxious chemicals. Then I look at a low-energy bulb, with glass, metal and plastic. So much more seems to have gone into making it. And there seems to be so much more to throw away.

Maybe the answer, for me, is to go down the 12-volt route and dismantle old bulbs to create fake bulbs. 8)

 

[Ian Bond]

I've got 11 lighting points in my house, mostly 5a round pin sockets for table lamps switched at the doors.

Additional table lamps are used for supplementary lighting.

I wonder how bright the wall lights will be with the CFL bulbs, I will have to try some. I hope I don't have to start adding more wall lights to compensate....

 

[NT]

> I wonder how bright the wall lights will be with the CFL bulbs, I will have to try some. I hope I don't have to start adding more wall lights to compensate....

Best ignore the stated equivalent powers


NT

 

[NT]

Maybe we'll become a nation of Frankenstein lights, where every ceiling has a bell jar with its vacuum pump, and people replace the filament itself, since buying tunsten wire will still be legal. Then you can have any power you want.


NT

 

[njr_26]

Then along came the quite-often-ugly low-energy bulbs. I've managed to source them with bayonet, SBC, screw and SES... and they mostly look terrible and spoil the whole look of lamps.

This is what I am afraid of. Modern lights would look OK with the ugly low energy bulbs but antique lamps would look silly. I have 13 antique lights in total (I only have modern lights in the kitchen and bathroom) so bulbs may be a problem in the future. I think I might just buy loads of traditional bulbs for my antique lighting, so I will have to find a lot of storage for them!!!


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[NT]

Lot of people are thinking of doing that. As stocks begin to dwindle people will start adding series impedances to make the bulbs last longer, and energy efficiency will nose dive even further.

Isnt the lower lamp happy with a cfl?


NT

 

[njr_26]

I haven't found one with a small enough screw in fitting to replace with low energy ones.

 

[Lime]

The newer CFL lamps are smaller and a bit better looking than the earlier versions...they often looked as if they'd be more at home in a public convenience.
The latest ones with a very much smaller base and a sort of cork-screw tube look ok in many of the small glass shades of my lights.
(I haven't tried them in the chandelier or candle wall lights as clear glass incandescents take a lot of beating for looks.)

The problem I have is that I'm building up a store of spare old CFLs.
They still work but I won't use them as they are big/dirty/worn or are no longer a matching set.
Perhaps I should donate them to Oxfam.

I'm also fed up with the slowness to light of some of the old ones still in service.
One big advantage of CFLs is that they don't burn shades.

I have always had a stock of incandescent lamp bulbs of all sorts, boxes and boxes of them.
There are some scandinavian bulbs from the 60s (the glass in the shape of two truncated cones) and some 1000w GES lamps that warm the room too.
I hardly use any of them now.
The only time I do is when I'm arc welding and wearing the auto mask.
They light the work and don't go out (as fluorescents and CFLs do) when the mains voltage goes up and down so I can still see what I'm doing.

 

[NT]

I haven't found one with a small enough screw in fitting to replace with low energy ones.

I dont know if youve looked at toolstation.com microspirals (9w) and screwfix.com 7w straight miniatures. Small CFLs dont have the output of 60w filaments though.


NT

 

[Pford75]

Isn't one possible consequence of this ill-advised piece of potential legislation, that more people switch to halogen lighting (or have I misunderstood and they are going to be outlawed as well?)

Halogen bulbs certainly give a bright, clear light....but how do they compare against incandescents for energy efficiency?