Can you tell CFLs from traditional bulbs?
The Energy Saving Trust conducted a bit of street research recently to see if the average shopper could tell the difference between light from low energy CFL bulbs and the traditional sort. As it happens, almost half of them could, which in itself is nothing to celebrate, but the trust also claims that '2 out of 3 prefered the energy saving sort. Now we're in business.
In the 'light bulb challenge', 761 members of the public tried to tell the difference between the two light sources, and 51% were unable to distinguish them. Philip Sellwood, Chief Executive of the Energy Saving Trust, said: "The public have had a light bulb moment! They now realise that they can save money and help the environment but without compromising on the look and feel of their homes.
While I don't know how significant this piece of 'research' really is, I do think it's fair to say that low energy lightbulbs have improved significantly in recent years, and would agree with Philip Sellwood when he says that "a few years ago light bulbs were pretty ugly looking and didn't provide good light."
But now, light quality is vastly improved in CFL bulbs, and sales of the energy saving variety have soared in the last year. From January 06 to December 06 the total number of energy saving light bulbs bought was just over 10 million compared to 21 million in 07.
