Madam, - So we are to have compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) in place of Edison's filament lamp from January 2009. CFL proponents claim the change will save €185 million a year in electricity costs, and cut CO2 emissions by 700,000 tonnes a year (Paul Cullen, Weekend Review, December 15th). Old-fashioned bulbs are all heat and little light, and CFLs vice versa, they say.
Methinks Minister for the Environment John Gormley has been taken in CFL producers' propaganda. Here in Ireland we have to heat our homes somewhat for most of the year. Heat from old-fashioned bulbs simply displaces some of the heat we would have to generate from other sources, typically the thermostatically controlled gas or oil boiler, or the electric heater. That the old-fashioned bulb's heat is wasted is false: it displaces the heat from the boiler, the fire or whatever. Hence the net energy saving of the CFL is negligible.
Proponents of the CFL ignore the additional energy costs of producing and disposing of their noxious product. The proposed Ministerial edict will make CFLs even dearer than they already are in Ireland.
Moreover, old-fashioned bulbs can readily be made to last much longer at no additional cost, but with a small reduction in light output, if makers wish to do so. Try the method out for yourself: if you are competent with electrics, put a 120W filament bulb in series with your Christmas tree lights and make them last much longer; they will be a little dimmer.
Rather than enforcing the use of CFLs, it would be better for the Minister to regulate the voltage at which the ESB grid operates, or to restrict the sale of gas-guzzling cars fashionable with shape-throwers. - Yours, etc,
JOHN COLGAN, Dublin Road, Leixlip, Co Kildare.
Madam, - I am a proponent of CFLs - I have 12 installed at home. However, there are places that are unsuitable for them - cupboards, under stairs, some toilets, attics, spare rooms, garages etc, where light is needed for short periods only.
The life of a CFL is dictated mainly by two factors: running hours, and the number of times the lamp is switched on from cold. A CFL needs 20 to 40 seconds to warm up to produce full light, and during this time it wears rapidly internally.
The use of CFLs in the places listed means the lamps never achieve full temperature and brightness, and results in a disappointingly short life and the waste of complex technology and materials.
Perhaps the solution, until CFL technology improves, is to use halogen lamps in these areas - halogen being about half way in the efficiency scale between ordinary lamps and CFLs. - Yours, etc,
KIERAN EGAR, Hollypark Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin.