The government has recently announced its plans to get rid of all the old style light bulbs from shops and retailers by the year 2011. But it would seem that not everyone is happy about this plan.
There is a huge concern about one particular group in society, and those are the people who have poor vision compared to the rest of us. The worry is that without the strong 100w light bulbs and similar items on sale, people who need a strong light in every room in their house may struggle to see properly. And in this case it could be seen to be a health hazard.
Many people in the UK are partially sighted to some degree, and while many of them have tried swapping their old bulbs for the new ones, the nature of the light has proved difficult to get used to.
If you have used energy saving bulbs yourself you will know that they don’t give out the same degree of light that the existing tungsten filament ones do. The light given off by a standard 40w bulb is much more focused and much sharper than the light given off from its replacement, an 8 to 11w bulb.
Some partially sighted people have found that they cannot read for very long because of the difference in the light source. And since this is an enjoyable pastime which many of us take for granted, it is clearly a problem when some people in the country could lose that skill for good.
It doesn’t seem as if the government are going to make a U-turn on this though. And in reality, with European legislation banning the bulbs likely to come in anyway in a few years time, it wouldn’t be more than a temporary solution.
The main solution which has been pointed out to those who may be affected is the use of halogen lamps. These are not as energy efficient as the new style bulbs, but they are much better than the tungsten filament ones. This means that some people may need to rethink the lighting they have in their homes, and choose lamps and other items that will help them to adjust to the new situation.
For the time being though, there is still much concern. The Royal National College of the Blind has expressed its own worries about the situation. In addition, Larry Benjamin of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists has said, ”There’s quite good evidence that low lighting can lead to a greater number of falls in people with low vision.”
But it seems that further developments in the world of energy efficient light bulbs will be the only way that the problem will be solved. The old style bulbs are going, and they are going soon. The only question is whether those people with poor vision are going to be as enthusiastic about using the new energy efficient bulbs as the rest of the population is.