Free light bulbs from British Gas

shillelagh · 04-06-2008, 16:01

For all you that pay their bills to British Gas they've been advertising that all their customers are going to get 4 free energy saving bulbs from them. Well today came home from work and my free bulbs were on the doorstep. 2 60watt and 2 40 watt ones. Now i dont use 60watt bulbs or 40 watt bulbs but i do still have 9 100 watt energy saving ones from when mum was alive on the warmfront scheme. I have replaced the ones i use most with the energy saving ones and still have the other 9 up on top of the kitchen cupboard waiting for use... which will probably last me for the rest of my life!!! What a waste of money though sending me 4 bulbs - if they had contacted me i would have said i dont need them especially as they are 60 and 40 watt ones - i dont have any lamps!!!! I think i would prefer to have the money they spent on my bulbs knocked off my bill.

emamum · 04-06-2008, 16:02

my grandad's had the same problem...... i dont mind, he keeps me supplied with bulbs

pipinfort · 04-06-2008, 16:07

Yes elderly relatives pass their spare bulbs to us, our house is like an energy saving bulb circus......they are everywhere

accyman · 04-06-2008, 16:09

i would use these type of bulbs if they didnt take 20 mins to actualy reach the level of light they claim to be

Neil · 04-06-2008, 16:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by accyman

i would use these type of bulbs if they didnt take 20 mins to actualy reach the level of light they claim to be

Then don't buy the cheapest ones you can find. Good quality ones strike almost instantly and are almost at full brightness.

pipinfort · 04-06-2008, 16:58

The ones i have all strike up pretty quickly too.

forceten · 04-06-2008, 17:13

I haven't had mine from British Gas yet.

jaysay · 04-06-2008, 17:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neil

Then don't buy the cheapest ones you can find. Good quality ones strike almost instantly and are almost at full brightness.

Well Neil you've guest it the ones from BG take a bloody age to light up, so they must be cheapies

shillelagh · 04-06-2008, 18:01

Theyre Philips ones that ive got.

slinky · 04-06-2008, 18:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by shillelagh

Theyre Philips ones that ive got.

I hope Philip doesn't mind you having them!!

pipinfort · 04-06-2008, 18:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by slinky

I hope Philip doesn't mind you having them!!

Hee Hee, very good.

shillelagh · 04-06-2008, 18:07

Dont think he minds slinks - as long as he got the money for them....

Bonnyboy · 04-06-2008, 19:03

We have a surplus of these bulbs too. Have to say, they do come to full brightness in an instant.

Silly sod me put a light fitting in the bathroom that takes a screw in bulb…I had to buy one

jambutty · 04-06-2008, 22:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by shillelagh

For all you that pay their bills to British Gas they've been advertising that all their customers are going to get 4 free energy saving bulbs from them. Well today came home from work and my free bulbs were on the doorstep. 2 60watt and 2 40 watt ones. Now i dont use 60watt bulbs or 40 watt bulbs but i do still have 9 100 watt energy saving ones from when mum was alive on the warmfront scheme. I have replaced the ones i use most with the energy saving ones and still have the other 9 up on top of the kitchen cupboard waiting for use... which will probably last me for the rest of my life!!! What a waste of money though sending me 4 bulbs - if they had contacted me i would have said i dont need them especially as they are 60 and 40 watt ones - i dont have any lamps!!!! I think i would prefer to have the money they spent on my bulbs knocked off my bill.

Don’t kid yourself, the bulbs are not free. BG customers paid for them in the recent price increases.

This is just a ruse to mitigate those recent price rises and those yet to come later this year.

I wonder how much energy is used to make an energy saving bulb, compared to a normal hot filament bulb? Then there are the costs and energy to dispose of them. You can’t just chuck them on a tip. Not when they contain mercury you can’t.

I wonder what the profit margin is on an energy saving bulb. If these bulbs sell at say £10 each the profit margin is likely to be at least £2.50. Traditional bulbs sell at no more than £1 each and their profit margin is going to be about 25p. Who’s conning whom?

Motability sent me two the other day. Megaman Compact 2000 rated at 11w with a claimed life of 10,000 hours. The blurp that came with them reads:
“The enclosed bulbs last up to 6 times longer than a traditional light bulb and could save you up to £28 per year in electricity costs – that’s nearly £190 over their lifetime.”

It is supposed to be the equivalent of a normal hot filament 60w bulb. But it ain’t. This energy saving bulb is rated at 650 lumens. A normal 60w bulb is rated at 700 lumens. Thus it is not quite as bright.

You might think that the difference is hardly noticeable but I can notice the difference.

When you consider that a TV gobbles up electricity as if it is going out of fashion and most houses will have a TV on for several hours per day, changing to low energy bulbs isn’t going to make that much of an energy saving.

Just think – how many hours in a day do you have a light on somewhere?

emzy · 05-06-2008, 07:36

I dont have energy saving bulbs (but do have flourescent light in kitchen and bathroom) I dont even know if they do energy saving bulbs for my living room light fitting (it takes 5 of those little screw in golf ball ones) cant say ive ever looked when im shopping though, I just always buy the ordinary ones. But in saying that I rarely have my TV on (if i can help it) and most other things get switched off at the socket etc when not in use so am not too bad for wasting energy in other areas.