Reply to: Energy Saving Bulbs

[IT_Contractor_Agent]

energy saving bulbs?

bah humbug, stick it in the garden and watch it grow (bulb that is)

[Charles Foster Kane]

Windows?

XP.

[gingerjedi]

Yeah, and they installed solar powered lights I heard.

Windows?

[Charles Foster Kane]

Ah - missed that one.

There was an Irish church being done up, where they dug out loads of earth to put down cables to provide the electricity geothermally.

It was nice, though.

Yeah, and they installed solar powered lights I heard.

[TheFaQQer]

Don't think so, I think it was some lunatic doctor who built a mini mansion out of oak and had a windmill as well... though I may be wrong on that.

Ah - missed that one.

There was an Irish church being done up, where they dug out loads of earth to put down cables to provide the electricity geothermally.

It was nice, though.

[TheFaQQer]

I'm thinking of the 50ft x25ft x 10ft deep hole I saw on the Grand Designs programme... how much energy did it take to shift 400 odd tons of dirt & put it back again...

Was that in the Irish church?

[TimberWolf]

I'm thinking of the 50ft x25ft x 10ft deep hole I saw on the Grand Designs programme... how much energy did it take to shift 400 odd tons of dirt & put it back again...

I don’t like imperial (Roman) units. Depends how/what moved it. Human muscles are only about 25% energy efficient (could be wrong about the exact figure), but a diesel engined digger might be 40 odd percent (again could be wrong about the figure).

In pure physical terms (100% efficient, no losses, minimum) moving 40 metric tonnes (40,000 Kg) to a height of 2 meters takes (40,000 Kg * 10 m/s^2 * 2 m) = 800 KJ. Or enough energy to power a 1KW electric fire for 13 minutes. But in pure physical terms that energy could be recycled by putting it back in the hole!

[Pinto]

I think they are a false economy, they output barely any light compared to a 'proper' lightbulb, and make me mismatch navy blue socks with black ones under their weak 'glow'. It's like 'low fat' crisps, whereby you get about 6 crisps in a pack.

That's the problem with them. The light they emit is just too yellow.

[TimberWolf]

It's like 'low fat' crisps, whereby you get about 6 crisps in a pack.

And low sodium salt. I have to use bucket loads of the stuff.

[Charles Foster Kane]

Anyone else taken the leap and replaced all their bulbs with the new energy saving ones? I've just sat down and costed it up. I reckon I'll see a break-even after about 40 weeks with our usage.

The "normal" BC bulbs from Tesco are dirt cheap these days, and they have a 3 for 2 offer. Great, but only a fraction of my bulbs aren't candle, golf ball, R50's or dimmer driven..... Difference is massive.

Tesco 60W (11W) bulb - £1.68
MegaMan 9W Dimmable candle bulb - £10.52

Best place for "non-standard" bulbs I found was ebulb, Tescos for the rest.

Anyone found a cheaper supplier that might do a bulk discount ?

I think they are a false economy, they output barely any light compared to a 'proper' lightbulb, and make me mismatch navy blue socks with black ones under their weak 'glow'. It's like 'low fat' crisps, whereby you get about 6 crisps in a pack.

[TimberWolf]

Oops, I pumped 2 Kg (~2 litres) of water above, not 1.

[TimberWolf]

I wonder how much energy it takes to dig the 10 feet deep hole to bury the pipes?

It's easy enough to integrate in terms of potential energy (mgh), but humans aren’t particularly efficient diggers. Pumping one Kg of water from 2 metres would take around 40 Joules (2Kg * 10 m/s^2 * 2 m) working at 100% efficiency; so perhaps double that in practise. If done in one second continuously it’s about the power of a 40W bulb, and about what’s used by the human brain IIRC. Humans aren’t particularly efficient thinkers.

[PRC1964]

I wonder how much energy it takes to dig the 10 feet deep hole to bury the pipes?

Just tell the kids that you've buried some sweets down there and get them to dig it for you.

[BoredBloke]

We have a relatively large garden - does anybody have one of those heat pump things? Are they any good and how much did you pay for it?

[TheFaQQer]

I save energy by huddling round a hand-made candle formed from my own earwax.

HTH

Are you milan?