It so happened that I needed to replace a light bulb in one of the gîte toilets. The old one had failed after about 15 years, so it was time.
LEDs are the technology of choice these days, since they are many times more efficient at converting electricity to light than the old incandescent bulbs. So I was surprised to find that the LED bulbs that I had selected had an energy rating of F, that is the second-worst of all possibles.
I checked, and yes, the LEDs had a power consuption of just 7.8 Watts, a bit more than 7 times more efficient than a 60W incandescent bulb. 7.8W hardly registers on the electricity meter. Curious, I looked around, and the best energy rating I could find for a similar light bulb was C, on a 60W bulb that consumed only 5.9 W, and that, incidentally, cost twice as much. A quick calculation tells me that perhaps, over the 15 year life of the bulb, the more expensive one would pay for itself, just about. But hey, I'll take the saving now, thanks; I might not be around in 15 years.
You can still get incandescent halogen bulbs that are slightly more efficient (about 5% more) than the old standard incandescents. They get an energy rating of G, presumably because the scale stops at G and doesn't go on to Z. People could take that to mean that the halogens are only a bit worse than LEDs when in fact they consume 7 times as much electricity. On the other hand, the change from energy rating D to F in this case indicates an increase in energy consumption of about one third. Nuts.
(There are three bulbs in the €9.49 pack, one in the €6.59 pack)
3 comments:
The 'helpful' energy ratings have been changed. The foresight of those of our betters who set up the scheme means that too many products were achieving A* under the old system. So a new set of ratings has been implemented with no fanfare whatever.
France has always loved those barely able to be seen lights in public places such as hotel rooms.
The french energy saving system I most dislike is used in many camp site toilets. To save energy the light is automatic, movement triggered and illuminates as you enter. But then it automatically goes out moments later, leaving you in pitch darkness at the most inconvenient moment. The sensor is carefully positioned near the external door such that no amount of arm waving from a 'throne room' or shower cubicle will reactivate it. Nice country in many other ways though.
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