Puzzled ?

The light fittings in my living room and kitchen both take tiny little "bulbs", flattish, about half an inch square. I don`t seem to be able to buy high wattage ones, consequently my living room in particular is much too dim for my liking.

If you go by what the suggested comparison wattage is on the LED packet, you will probably be disappointed. I always go up a level - where it says equivalent to 60w I use it where I would have used a 40w tungsten bulb, and where it says equivalent to 100w I use it instead of old 60w bulbs. For LEDs you still save a lot of electricity over the lifetime of the bulb even doing that.

I did something similar when the older energy-saving bulbs came in, but LEDs save you even more. We have a standard lamp which has a 20w energy saving bulb which we put in in 2001, and it is still being used regularly, but I'll change it for an LED when the time comes.

If you are looking at halogen bulbs, they are much higher wattage than LEDs and I have never used them, so can't help with them.

Thanks so much Farmore I now know I won’t start a fire if I forget to switch it off any time that’s really helpful

We swopped our energy provider to Utility Wharehouse and a nice couple came round and changed EVERY bulb in the house to a LED one. If one “blows” (haven’t done yet) we just call them up and they come and replace for free.

I have bought "old style" light-bulbs from Home Bargains, and I believe that B&M stock them too.

What's also annoying is when a bulb has been discontinued and you can't find a suitable replacement so you end up ditching the entire thing. I'm not sure how that is 'green' living.

There are also lamps made with non-replaceable bulbs so again, the whole unit has to be thrown out. www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-partners-saint-led-flush-bathroom-light-opal/p1875354 I know LED is supposed to last longer but I note the info says they last 'up to' 20,000 hours. That doesn't mean they will last that long.

I think I can answer your original question BlueBelle about whether it would be all right to use the low energy 11w in a lampshade which says max 60w. The lampshade guidelines are related to the heat given out by the old style lightbulbs. The low energy ones give little or no heat, so 11w one will be fine.

But I also have problems with the amount of light from newer lightbulbs - it's hard to find the equivalent of 100w. Just to add to the confusion, some of them are now labelled in lumens.

I had a quick look for sites with conversion tables and the figures seem different on each. This site may be somewhat helpful: www.energuide.be/en/questions-answers/which-new-generation-light-bulb-corresponds-to-my-old-bulb/205/

I've found some of the new LED ones in Ikea with the equivalent of 100w which give a decent amount of light.

I would like a bulb that gives out a soft white glow.
Mine all seem to give out a yellow hue.

Furthermore are we not to call a lightbulb a lamp nowadays? (Always thought the lamp was what one stuck a lightbulb in).

Mr P has typed up a list of each light and lamp in the house, along with the type of bulbs they take (bayonet, small screw, large screw, golf ball etc) and the wattage for each, printed it off and taped it to the inside of one of the kitchen cupboards. Saves a lot of confusion!

Oh, Bluebelle I chuckled at your 'what the xxxx is it?

We have the same problem here. Where we once kept kept three spares, a 40w for bedside lights, 60w for living areas and 100w for work areas I now have two drawers full of spare bulbs, none of which will likely fit the next bulb that expires and I'll have to buy yet another one.

Oh this is giving me so much hope to know I m not stupid
I have a spare bulb in a box which says 11W = 52W on the box
my daughter has a different make which says 11W =60W on the box
I Google’d an electrify site chart and they had 11W = 65W
Please what the xxxx is it ?

Oh - me too! I've recently been trying to track down a lamp bulb which I assumed was 60 watt. After faffing about in different shops for what seemed like hours, I finally bought the ones I HOPED were right. First question - if they are supposed to last for 15 years - why did they only come in sets of two? I imagine by the time the first one needs replacing, the powers that be will have come up with something else. Or I will have changed the lamp! Of course they didn't fit, but as you have to cut your way into the shrinkwrap packaging to get them out, they can't be returned either. Grrrrr! Wouldn't it be helpful if the shops selling them had a chart showing different wattages, compared with the old equivalent? Or is that me being too simple?

I'm not going to be brow-beaten into using something alien to me. It's still the same electricity that kept Osram and Thorn bulbs lit so I'm continuing to use them-----hang the cost, which is minimal anyway compared to sodium lighting or whatever it is.
You should see the pathetic " light " coming from the new street lights, it's abysmal and you'd still need a torch in parts if only to see the kerb when crossing the road.

It's a nightmare isn't it? I am usually not a terribly organised person, but I do now always keep the box the bulb came in and write on it which light it is for. Usually I end up buying online (which I object to) because it is so much easier than trawling the shops. I only have a small flat but have seven different kinds of bulb! It's ridiculous.

I haven't a clue what all the abbreviations etc mean.

I'm afraid light bulbs are one area that I just can't make any headway in understanding. I have now graciously accepted defeat and handed the purchasing over to The Wonderful Man who loves the dratted things.

It recently took us three days to find a bulb for a table lamp in our hall. It was almost worth getting a new lamp to stop the stress . Ridiculous.

I buy the original lightbulbs off ebay. I hate those new fangled things it's like living in the dark ages.
I have 60w in lamps and also living room.

I am completely bewildered by the choice on offer and which blessed bulb is right for what. When I have to live on my own it will be by candle light at this rate. (Is the sorry saga about light bulbs as a result of EU regulation? Can I blame them for this too?)

I have just ordered a touch-controlled bedside lamp to replace one that doesn't work any more. I was just doing fine when I noticed that one of the reviews of it said that LED bulbs flicker when used in it. I looked for non-LED versions of the required bulb - they don't seem to exist any more.

Light bulbs drive me mad mad mad ?.

I have whole box full of different types and still end up in B&Q with the glazed look.
Searching through shelf upon shelf of light bulbsl.

Bayonet size or screw fitting ok but now there are GU10s or A19s, A21.

Then its incandescent lights or compact florescent (CFL) or haologen or maybe intergrated LEDs.......
Some are measured in watts other in lumen.

My only option in the end is going up and down aisles chasing a shop assistant,
customer service usually has a long queue of equally perplexed customers.

We also had a little electrical store in the village, its probably the bonkers bulb situation that helped to finish them off.

Ohh I m so relieved of course it hasn’t answered my question but I don’t feel half so ignorant any more
I do try to keep up and not be an old gal that says ‘it weren’t like that in my day’ but I m truely puzzled and feel ignorant
I have eight spare bulbs in the cupboard and I don’t think any will be any good grrr

And having to buy them on line ?

Nope, not just you; it all completely confounds me too.
Throughout my house I have various lamps and light fittings, all of which need different bulb types. Some are small bayonet, large bayonet, small screw fitting, large screw fitting, candle bulb, golf ball bulb, 60w, 100w, 75 watt, clear, pearl, warm light, bright light. It doesn't matter what spares I have put by, there is never a replacement for the bulb that has just popped.
I long for the days of 100 watt for ceiling lights and 60 watt for lamps, life was much simpler.

No, it’s not you, it’s us as well! We had a very handy DIY shop down the road where we’d just take the things and ask the helpful owner for the new equivalent. He’s retired now, so there may be trouble ahead....