More Lightbulb Deprivation

Daily
Mail



Anyone who
has tried to track down a replacement for a traditional light bulb
recently will know how frustrating a task it has become.

Since the introduction
of EU rules to curb their use and encourage much-criticised ‘energy-saving’
alternatives, the popular pearl bulb, known for its soft sheen and
mellow glow, has become the scarcest of all.

One woman was
so desperate to find the old-style bulbs that she is said to have
spent £7,000 on them in a single shopping trip.

Research by
The Mail on Sunday has found the new regulations have plunged
the market into chaos, with a bewildering array of options and wildly
fluctuating prices and availability.

In some cases,
the cost of a low-energy equivalent to a pearl bulb has soared by
more than 150 per cent in a year. And the bad news is that finding
a traditional bulb is set to become even more difficult.

The EU legislation
in 2009 made it illegal to make pearl bulbs in the UK or import
them from abroad, leading to the scarcity. Clear bulbs, however,
escaped the ban because energy­saving bulbs fail to reproduce
the dazzling light they emit.

But under a
voluntary agreement which came into effect this month, chains including
SainsburyÂ’s, Tesco, BQ and Asda have agreed to stop selling
traditional bulbs altogether.

This will potentially
leave the few remaining traditional bulbs being sold only by small
shops at prices almost three times the 90p they cost before the
restrictions came in.

To highlight
the confusion in the market, The Mail on Sunday took a 40W
and 60W old-style pearl bulb to ten retailers and asked for the
closest possible low-energy replacement.

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the rest of the article

January
9, 2012

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Mail