Can't believe I'm saying this ....

[RogerB]

.... bit it is so dark I've had to turn the lights on indoors. R-

[Steve M]

Is there no end to your extravagance, Roger?

[RogerB]

Yes, you are right - I'll turn one of them off. R-

[Tinker]

Replace all your light bulbs with LED bulbs, did mine some 5 or 6 years back, cost £300 roughly, save £30 a month, never had to replace any in this time, you do the sums its worth it....cost really depends on the amount you have to replace roughly 50 bulbs in my case...

[RogerB]

Thanks Tinker. I am replacing incandescent bulbs as they fail for LED. R-

[Brian]

I purchased 10 x 4 watt G9 LED lamps to replace the ten Halogen 33 watt lamps in our hall and upstairs landing lights. When Off the LEDs all happily glowed in the dark! Nothing wrong with the wiring or LEDs, its because the LED lamps only need a very low current flow to start glowing. The current comes from the long cable runs associated with two or three way lighting control wiring inducing power into the unswitched wire. Only two ways to over come this... A) Fit a special snubber across SWL and N in each light or B) Replace one LED G9 lamp with a Halogen lamp, the Halogen load then allows the remaining LEDs to become Off when actually turned off.
Also most LED lamps need special dimmer switches to enable them to work correctly. Average LED compatible dimmer switch cost is around at least twice if not three times that of a standard filament lamp dimmer switch!

It will probably take me more than ten years to gain any financial benefit, By them the LEDs will probably need replacing again!!

IMO LEDs are great, but do consider the problems and additional cost they introduce!

The EU has said all Halogen lamps are to banned and become unavailable. link to item

[bulleidboy]

I changed all of our lights, both inside and out to LED's some time back. The ground floor in our house is completely lit by down-lighters, I found that Wickes had a good deal on boxes of ten bulbs, so did the lot at the same time. I can't say I've noticed a reduction in the bill as I don't study it that hard, but do try and keep within the parameters the smart meter throws up. I do still have four tubes in the garage - these will be changed to new LED fittings before Christmas. BB

[Malcolm 0-6-0]

When the electricity supply in my home state was privatised nearly 20 years ago we had short period when power prices fell as we were assured they would - the bright new future of power supply. Then, as was inevitable, considering that instead of paying for power plus a margin for running costs and maintenance, we now had to support a whole group of parasitic shareholders, who contribute nothing to the cost of providing the power but who must be massaged by the newly privatised power companies with yearly dividends, power prices went through the ceiling. It was at that stage that I moved swiftly from incandescent bulbs to low energy alternatives.

That move caused a noticeable reduction in my power bills. I never at any stage considered halogen bulbs, even though for a time they were very popular. They might look attractive and modern but their power usage is massive and essentially wasteful. Currently I am using flouro alternatives but as these are used up I am moving to LED.

However I might add that all of this cost saving has been undermined by, ironically, the rapid spread of solar panels because the power companies still have to support their shareholders (still providing no capital) and as more people move to solar that means that there is less use of the power companies' product and the consequent need by them to keep raising prices to off set the fall in revenue which is needed to keep the shareholders happy. I don't mind shareholders receiving dividends if they are genuine venture capital investors contributing to start up costs, research etc. and provide capital on call.

But the purchasers of the privatised formerly publicly owned utility companies shares do none of that and still receive a dividend. Which of course is a financial accident waiting to happen because if their dividends decline shareholders will off load shares which deflates the market capital of the company to the point where it fails. So the name of the game is keep the shareholders happy even though progress in power generation and storage at the customer level is quickly rendering the old methods of providing and marketing electricity as obsolete as our beloved steam locomotives, and is accordingly eating away the value and amount of the electricity companies' product.

I envisage a situation in the not too distant future where even though people are meeting their own electricity through renewables and storage batteries and exporting their surplus power into the public grid they will still be charged exorbitant power prices. People now receive a fraction of the true value of the power they export into the public grid (based on the prices charged by the power companies to their customers), a neat swindle aimed at keeping shareholders happy. If I was younger I would have bought solar and appropriate storage batteries. But to do so now would only see a partial return on the investment.

But for the moment I will continue to use low energy alternatives where any electrical use is concerned.

[teedoubleudee]

It might seem obvious to the majority but the next best thing after replacing bulbs with low energy alternatives is to switch lights OFF when leaving rooms empty. When my daughter and partner come to stay with us I am forever following them round the house switching lights off. I also fitted movement sensors in our hallway a few years back when my MiL was living with us to save her searching for the switch in her hourly trips to the bathroom. They come on as you enter the hallway and off a few seconds after you leave.

I would also urge those who haven't done so yet to switch energy suppliers regularly. I joined the MoneySavingExpert energy club shortly after it started and have swapped suppliers almost on an annual basis since. It warns you when you are paying over the odds and you can set the threshold to whatever you wish.

[Forfarian]

After a friend told me about his reduced energy bills, we investigated Flipper, for £25/yr we have saved £597 in our first year on our bills. Living up here can be quite cold hence high heating bills, so a good saving.