Green Energy

How we source and use energy

At Bedknobs B&B, you will find all of the following.

low-energy light bulbs both inside and out
an efficient condensing boiler
a British made 'White Knight' gas tumble-drier
thermostatic valves on every radiator
6m² of solar panels on the roof – see them on Google Maps/Earth (PL31 2DX)
roof space packed with insulation.
standbys turned off when not in use
all energy sourced through Npower’s Juice Tariff

This page will probably grow 'like topsy' as we add more detailed info on each different aspect of energy use. Suffice to say 'Low Energy Lighting' is first on the stage.

Low-energy Lighting

When we first met with the CoaST team back in 2004, we were introduced to Jonathan Edwards who came round for a visit to our crumbling pile for a cup of tea and a chat about low-energy light bulbs. At this time Compact Fluorescent Bulbs (CFL) were just starting to appear and though expensive, the pay-back time seemed reasonable. They seemed just the sort of bulb you could certainly use in service areas and spaces where fast start-up time - such as hallways - were not a problem, and colour temperature (cold light versus warm light) was not an issue.

We started to replace light bulbs with low energy CFLs as they expired and then as the price came down and 'warm-white' bulbs came on to the market we started to systematically replace most of high energy light bulbs with low-energy equivalents.

It's funny how issues migrate down the chain and now it became one of finding the right bulb for the right fitting as well as finding low-energy replacements for the profusion of light bulb types and fittings that exploded onto the market-place from the 1990's onwards. Now we're dealing with multiple types of light bulb tech - Incandescent | Fluorescent | Halogen | eco-Halogen | LED | CFL together with multiple fittings - SES | ES | SBC | BC. Enough to make a consumer weary and a profiteer very happy (oops there goes the cynic!).

Incandescent Lamps

A lamp consisting of a heated coiled filament in glass bulb where the air has been removed and or replaced by an inert gas. The filament is heated by electricity to a point where it emits light. The bulb may be of different sizes and usually comes in onion, candle or globe shapes with various types of fittings. Incandescent bulbs are very inefficient with generally less than 3% of the electical energy input being turned into light output.

Fluorescent Lamps

Typically a long glass tube with caps on either end for connection to a fluorescent light fitting that contains special components to start the lamp (the starter) and keep it running (the ballast). The bulb does not contain a filament running through it but but works on a discharge principle where mecury vapour is excited to give off UV light that is converted into visible light by fluorescing phosphors coated on the inside of the tube. Fluorescent lamps are low energy in that they are around 20% efficient in converting electical energy input to light output that is much higher than Incandecent lamps.

Halogen Lamps

Halogen lamps have become very popular with the rise of low-voltage lighting and are typically packaged as either a capsule bulb or in a dichroic reflector for use in down-lighters. They are actually a small incandescent filament inside a glass envelop containing a halogen based gas that allows the element to be heated to much higher temperatures than you would get in an ordinary bulb. A popular misnomer is that low-voltage equates to low-energy and this is not the case. A 35w halogen bulb will draw 35w of power regardless of whether it is connected to a 12 volt or 240v lighting circuit.

Eco-Halogen Lamps

Bulbs labelled as 'Eco-Halogen' have recently appeared in the shops. These are typically halogen lamps packaged in standard incandescent bulb sizes that are marked as saving 20%-30% energy so this means that they are actually using 70%-80% of the energy of their Incandecent cousins. The main advantage of these bulbs is the colour of the light they produce and that they give immediate light when turned-on. However the limited amount of energy saving makes the selection of bulbs even more confusing as you now get 70w 80w and 105w bulbs in the mix and thats just for 100w equivalents.

LED - Light Emitting Diode

LED bulbs use a semi-conductor material to emit light and are incedibly efficient, typically using just 10% of the electricity of their incandecent cousins. Typically LED lamps are made up of multiple LEDs as they emit a relatively small amount of light. They have advantages over Fluorescent lamps and CFLs in that they are instantly startable, can be dimmed and do not use Mercury. However, they also require additional components in the bulb package to allow them to work with a standard 230v power supply as well as cooling elements as they lose efficiency if they run hot. LEDs produce very specific light and getting the right colour temperature can be an issue. LEDs are generally more expensive than other forms of lighting, but they tend to have very high life expectancies in the range of 50,000-100,000 hours (5-10 years). Many major companies are now committed to improving the light level and colour temperature of LEDs and they will probably replace all other forms of low-energy lamp in the next 5 years.

Compact Fluorescent Lamps

CFLS are your typical low-energy lamp that will use 20%-25% of the energy of their Incandecent equivalents. They are compact versions of Fluorescent lamps using a thin tube either coiled or with mutiple loops together with an integral starter and ballast built-in. This is why they are typically taller than their Incandescent cousins and this factor needs to be taken into account when buying bulbs for old fittings or new light fittings.

SES/E14 - Small Edison Screw

Light bulb with a 14mm screw-shaped fitting that is screwed clock-wise into it's connector - also known as E14

SBC/B15 - Small Bayonet Connector

Light bulb with a 15mm cylindrical fitting with two opposite pins that allow the bulb to be locked into a connector - also known as B15

BC/B22 - Bayonet Connector

Light bulb with a 22mm cylindrical fitting with two opposite pins that allow the bulb to be locked into a connector - also known as B22

ES/E27 - Edison Screw

Light bulb with a 27mm screw-shaped fitting that is screwed clock-wise into it's connector - also known as E27

Lighting Energy Audit

When entering for the CSA Awards in 2009 we saw that it had become an interesting question to ask what reducing your lighting energy consumption actually means in terms of your 'carbon-footprint'. Short of using an abacus and a lot of fingers, a simple spreadsheet seemed the answer. The only problem was that we run a B&B in a large Victorian Villa that by it's nature has a lot of light fittings, so be prepared for a large spreadsheet that represents the current state of play at Bedknobs.

The following figures are a start point:

Price per Unit of electricity - 13.5p
KG of CO₂ per Unit - 0.537Kg (see Carbon Trust website)
Low-energy to Incandescent conversion factor - x4 and round down - so a 100w Incandescent is replaceable by a 23w CFL

The key thing here is that whatever the size of your home, you can make a plan that will allow you to move to using low energy lighting without overall cost or impact on lighting effect. And the best thing is that when you review your yearly Electricity Bill, you may actually have saved some money.

If you focus on the last page of the spreadsheet you will see total figure for energy used, saved and potential savings. Further investigation will find the last 'big-win' left for us to achieve our goal of a 50% reduction in electricity used for lighting.

Bedknobs Lighting Energy Audit

Please note that what is presented here is a model that can be used to measure change so it doesn't need to be absolutely accurate. If you think that this idea could work for you, then we would be more than happy to send you a blank copy to get you started on your own project. Oh, and it's a great way of keeping tabs on all those pesky bulbs that you need to keep spares for.

Ethical Consumer - Low Energy Lightbulbs
Here's a really interest website that not only expounds on lightbulb technology but also takes a look at the companies making them

Low-energy Lighting - Latest News

We have just taken delivery of a supply of 2.5w LED Corn bulbs with SES connectors. We are hoping that these will replace the side lights in Beeches and will report findings.