Turn over for cpc's full range - CPC Ireland

Your guide to
Energy Saving Light Bulbs
Switch and Save!
Energy Saving Light bulbs have always been a bright idea - for your pocket and the
environment. They use up to 80 per cent less electricity than a standard bulb, but produce
the same amount of light.
These days, low-energy light bulbs are as good as traditional ones and they’re cheaper to run. In other
words, they can help you to save money and energy, all in one wise purchase. And by saving energy,
you'll be helping to fight climate change too.
Under EU regulations, from 1 September all pearl, frosted and white light bulbs will be phased out in
favour of energy-saving bulbs. The government is also thinking about phasing out traditional bulbs by
2012, so switching now will get you ahead of the game.
The Cost Benefits The Myths
Depending on how long your lights are in use every
day, just one energy saving light bulb could save you
on average around £6 a year. And because it will last
around 10 times longer than a standard bulb, it could
save you around £40 before it needs replacing. Fit all
the lights in your house with energy saving bulbs and
you could save around £37 a year and £590 over
the lifetime of all of the bulbs.
And before you ask, these savings take into account
the cost of energy saving light bulbs. At CPC, the
price of an Energy Saving Light bulb starts from as
little as 48p - so you'll recoup the extra outlay in
under a year.
Energy saving light bulbs use between a fifth and a
quarter of the electricity of ordinary bulbs to generate
the same amount of light. So where you would
normally use a 60W bulb, you'll only need a
11-14W energy saving recommended equivalent.
Ordinary bulbs Energy saving equivalent
25W 5-7W
40W 8-9W
60W 11-14W
100W 20-23W
Energy saving light bulbs take a long time to light up
Not true. Most modern energy saving bulbs take little
more than a few seconds to warm up to full
brightness. This short warming up process is due to the
way they work. An electric current is passed through
gas in a tube, making the tube's coating glow brightly.
In traditional bulbs, the current is passed through a
wire which heats up and produces light straight away.
What makes them incredibly inefficient is that 95% of
the electricity used is lost in the production of heat.
Traditional bulbs give a better quality of light
For technical reasons, the glass used to house energy
saving light bulbs has to be translucent - not totally
transparent. In other words, the light quality of energy
saving bulbs can't be directly compared with that of
clear traditional bulbs. Compare them with soft tone
traditional bulbs, though, and you won't see any
difference.
Producing an energy saving bulb is more inefficient
than making a standard bulb
Again, no. Because of its clever technology, an energy
saving bulb might take more energy to make than a
traditional bulb. But the energy saved by the bulb over
its lifetime far outweighs this energy consumption.