Energy Saving Lights

[donut88 1]

Maybe this guy installed 5W energy saving bulb for each downlight leh

Anyway, I have 2 light points in my living room & 2 in my kitchen. All are 23W energy saving bulbs. At any one time, I only switch on 1 bulb. It is more than enough to bright up most area in the room & for me to read newspaper under it. I have long living room & kitchen.

The next time these bulbs burn off, I might even downgrade to 20W only.

Lowest watt is 10W, as far as i know. no 5W downlight.

as for you, you are doing something good, to use 23W bulb and using only one bulb each time.

i think alot of ppl got the wrong concept.

i see so many of us putting L box or false ceiling and installing 10 over bulbs.

the only good thing about using downlights is that the light covers all areas and covers of the room. no dark shadow or corners, as compared to those normal ceiling lights.

it's no better energy saving at all. it eats up more electricity than a normal ceiling light, if 4-6 bulbs are switched each time.

and the owner will be scratching his head each time he sees the PUB bill.

[MaCe 3]

Lowest watt is 10W, as far as i know. no 5W downlight.

there are 5w bulbs - with ballast aka energy saving bulbs.

unless you have downlights that comes with ballast.

[dankoo 0]

It is true to use good energy saving bulbs...recently I was measuring my consumption when I switch on 2 10W down lights...it shows 50W! It seems the bulbs are not efficient or something wrong with my wiring that causes the additional load...

[jtek 0]

there are 5w bulbs - with ballast aka energy saving bulbs.

unless you have downlights that comes with ballast.

Hi, the 5W lamps are the so call energy saving type with built-in gear (ballast). Not those which need a external ballast to power-up type.

[thrashutd@hotmail.com 0]

ya. get those twisted lamps (E27)from philips or osram. Does not require any ballast. Energy saving, especially home use. As for the downlights no doubt you are using 2 x10w lamp you also need to add the power of the ballast which is 5-6watt for each ballast. Adding them all up is to 30watts?

Bright enough ? may be consider fluorscent T8 or T5.

Thanks

[Topspin 1]

There is a common perception that energy saving bulbs is only those compact fluorescent twisted type bulbs. If you are currently using a normal incandescent bulb (filament type bulb costing about $1), replacing them with one of those compact fluorescent bulbs will achieve significant energy savings...but you need to factor in the higher upfront cost of the energy saving bulbs.

One the other hand, if you buying a ceiling light for your new home, installing a standard circular 22W or 32 W fluorescent bulb (or even the long tube type used in offices) is by definition a energy saving light already. The standard circular fluorescent bulb is relatively cheap, costing about $4 but it needs to be replaced once the brightness diminish after about a thousand hours of operation...which is itself more durable than a normal incandescent bulb or halogen bulb.

From my own experience, the higher cost of a energy savings bulb (those Philips or Osram costing about $7 each) cannot justify its high cost compared to a normal $1 incandescent bulb if you do not need to switch it on for long periods like in your bathroom or store room. But from an environmental view point, yes, pay more upfront to save the world's resource if you can afford it.

Edited September 18, 2008 by Topspin

[donut88 1]

There is a common perception that energy saving bulbs is only those compact fluorescent twisted type bulbs. If you are currently using a normal incandescent bulb (filament type bulb costing about $1), replacing them with one of those compact fluorescent bulbs will achieve significant energy savings...but you need to factor in the higher upfront cost of the energy saving bulbs.

One the other hand, if you buying a ceiling light for your new home, installing a standard circular 22W or 32 W fluorescent bulb (or even the long tube type used in offices) is by definition a energy saving light already. The standard circular fluorescent bulb is relatively cheap, costing about $4 but it needs to be replaced once the brightness diminish after about a thousand hours of operation...which is itself more durable than a normal incandescent bulb or halogen bulb.

From my own experience, the higher cost of a energy savings bulb (those Philips or Osram costing about $7 each) cannot justify its high cost compared to a normal $1 incandescent bulb if you do not need to switch it on for long periods like in your bathroom or store room. But from an environmental view point, yes, pay more upfront to save the world's resource if you can afford it.

the problem is tat most home owners install 10-15 energy saving lights in the hall or room, and switch on 4-6 bulbs at the same time.

this is NOT energy saving. one bulb is average 10W. switch on 6 bulbs will be 60W!! where got energy saving???

switch on 8 bulbs will be 80W!!

the normal flourcesent one is only 32W.

there is a serious misconception about using energy saving bulbs, same as using Inverter air cons.....

[icemann27sg 0]

bought megaman bulb and less than 1 week spoil liao. so pls remember buy philips and osram... slightly more ex but won't blow in a week....

[henrywoo1978 0]

Well actually this really depends on luck one, the bulbs which comes along with my downlights went busted just after a few days of installation. Think this is really a matter of luck.

[lawry 3]

Is there such a thing as blue color energy saving bulbs?

I saw them in the fitness first in amk, it's not the shade that's giving out the blue hue, but the color of it comes from the bulbs itself, it looks like a energy saving one to me.

[carelinwen 0]

Got a question about energy saving fluorescence lights. My ID advised me to use 2x13W downlights in my living/dining room and I can control two downlights with each switch button. However even when with only 2 downlights on, I still find that it's a bit bright when I am watching TV.

If I buy 10W fluorescent bulbs to fit into the current 2x13W downlights, will there be any energy saving since the ballast is still for 13W bulbs? Will it cause the 10W bulbs to 'blow out faster'?

Hi lawry,

I saw some bulbs in Japan, I think it's still about 20+W each bulb, the colours is like those neon/argon light tubes. Not as energy savings as the normal fluorescent type. Think we can't use japan bulbs here though as they are made for use at 100V not 230V.

Note that some bluish bulbs are with UV light for attracting insects/disinfecting.

Edited October 2, 2008 by carelinwen

[Topspin 1]

If I buy 10W fluorescent bulbs to fit into the current 2x13W downlights, will there be any energy saving since the ballast is still for 13W bulbs? Will it cause the 10W bulbs to 'blow out faster'?

Should not be a problem and there will still be energy savings. One other alternative is to remove one 13 W bulb if you already have bought a double downlight and 13W PLC bulbs. Some of my 2x13W downlights have been operating with just one bulb since I moved 1.5 years ago. The other bulb is still going strong. I understand that the ballast for 13 w or 10 w is the same.

[carelinwen 0]

Should not be a problem and there will still be energy savings. One other alternative is to remove one 13 W bulb if you already have bought a double downlight and 13W PLC bulbs. Some of my 2x13W downlights have been operating with just one bulb since I moved 1.5 years ago. The other bulb is still going strong. I understand that the ballast for 13 w or 10 w is the same.

Thanks for your suggestion, that's a good alternative too. But I am not sure how much the light fixture inself incld ballast contributes to energy usage, and whether final energy used is determined by the ballast and/or bulb?? Coz if there is no energy savings, i just don't want to switch to lower watt or remove one bulb then get false impression that I am using less energy. Any lighting experts can comment?

[nts 0]

Thanks for your suggestion, that's a good alternative too. But I am not sure how much the light fixture inself incld ballast contributes to energy usage, and whether final energy used is determined by the ballast and/or bulb?? Coz if there is no energy savings, i just don't want to switch to lower watt or remove one bulb then get false impression that I am using less energy. Any lighting experts can comment?

The ballast is use to regulated the current flow to the lamp. I did a test some time ago, using 36W ballast vs 18W ballast on a the same 22W lamp. The 22W lamp on 36W ballast is very much brighter. Therefore I believe that using 10W lamp on 13W ballast may not use less electricity than using 13W lamp on 13W ballast.

If your objective is to save energy, you need to change the ballast, changing the lamp without changing the ballast will not save much. Use electronic ballast if possible.

[LGG 0]

Will it be ok to use energy saving light for altar table ceiling?