100W bulbs?

[nuttycyclist]

Yes, I do prefer the whole room lit, even if only at a low light.

It's a slightly funny shaped room, so can get lots of very dark shadowy areas; some of which have no plug socket near or are in doorways, so I can't put a table lamp there.  Sitting in a gloomy room with these dark areas is not very friendly/relaxing (and no I'm not afraid of the dark  ).  If it was pre-electricity I'd have candles/oil lamps everywhere to banish these shadows.

As it is, one centre light turned down to a low level provides a warm friendly and relaxing atmosphere.

One centre light with proper bulbs turned down low = a few watts.  8 to 12 table lamps with CFLs throughout the small room = more watts and less light.   I know which I, and the planet, would prefer.

[The Seldom Killer]

Come on Osram, Philips et al. - just make energy bulbs the same shape and physical size as the old-style ones. Can't be that hard, surely???

So have you actually expressed this opinion to the manufacturers or are you seeing where posting them on cycling forums gets you.

[The Seldom Killer]

As a result I'm now sitting in too much light* and using more power than before as I can't dim the lights as we used to

Unless you were dimming 100W bulbs to less than 25% of they capacity you would still have been using more electricity.
Conversely, if that was the case then might I suggest that you consider refitting with 60W bulbs and dimming them to less than 30% capacity. The good news is that you will still be using less electricity. Win all round I reckon.

[nuttycyclist]

As you'll see upthread it is a holder that takes 6 bulbs, and we use 25W ones.  That gives a range from 0W to 150W of light.

[The Seldom Killer]

Not actually true. Use of multiple bulbs doesn't result in the direct multiplication of the power of the bulbs used. Yes, you'll be using 150W of electricity but the resulting output in lumens (a real measurement of light output rather than wattage, which is merely an issue of power consumption) will be lower than that of single 150W bulb. 0-120 at best.

[rafletcher]

Are they going to stop making ALL filament bulbs..

Yes, if you're meaning the "normal" types we've been used to. Not sure about halogens, but tungsten filaments are I believe targeted for removal by 2012.

[The Seldom Killer]

All tungsten filament bulbs yes. As yet there is no word on halogen bulbs. Thus far these are still considered a valid alternative to tungsten filament bulbs by the government.

[Morrisette]

Come on Osram, Philips et al. - just make energy bulbs the same shape and physical size as the old-style ones. Can't be that hard, surely???

So have you actually expressed this opinion to the manufacturers or are you seeing where posting them on cycling forums gets you.

Erm...yes actually. They didn't reply to my email.

[The Seldom Killer]

Surprising. I wouldn't stand for that, keep at them until they at least give a reply. If you do get an answer, let us know, it would be interesting to know the answer.