Commercial Lamp Supplies News

You will probably be aware that you shouldnt put a low energy bulb or fluorescent tube in the general rubbish. This is because they contain a tiny bit of mercury. Individually this is not a problem but with all the lamps that are thrown out daily you can imagine that it adds up to quite a lot!

The lamps affected by the WEEE regulations (ie the ones you cant throw in the bin) are the low energy bulbs, fluorescent tubes (also sometimes called striplights) and gas discharge lamps (these are things like Sodium, metal halide and sox lamps - usually used for floodlighting) If you arent sure if your lamp needs recycling then please ask and we should be able to tell you pretty quickly.

So when your low energy bulb gives up (after a long long life we hope!) it needs to go to a Civic Amenity site or Household Waste Recycling Centre - most councils provide these as they are obliged to do so. As a householder you dont need any licenses or paperwork, you just take the bulb there and you are done.

For businesses it is a bit more complicated unfortunately. If you can take the waste lamps to a collection point yourself then you do not need to register as a hazardous waste carrier. If you take other businesses waste lamps to a collection point then you do need to register - you do this with the environment agency.
If you want waste lamps collected from your place of business you need to get a premises code from the environment agency.
You then need to check which company provides recycling for the brand of lamp you have, for example the majority of the brands we sell are covered by Recolight - their website has a search facility to enable you to find your nearest collection point.

If you have large numbers of lamps to recycle you will be able to get them collected free of charge, for smaller numbers you will have to take them to a local collection point yourself or pay for collection.

We do supply a basic recycling service which can be found on our site. It is a reasonably cost effective and simple way for smaller businesses to make sure their lamps are safely recycled without great expense or wasted time.

Basically you pay for the recycling box to be delivered to your premises, once the box is full of waste lamps we take it away and you get a consignment note proving you have recycled the lamps legally. If you then want another box you pay for another one - if you dont want another box then thats it! Basically what you are paying for is the transport and storage box for the lamps - that actual recycling costs have already been added to the cost of the lamp when you buy them.

If you would like to know more about recycling then please give us a call or email us

We’ve got shelves full of them now so supply is no longer an issue!

We are struggling to find a consistent supply of the really high wattage bulbs such as 200w and upwards so we’ve taken them off the site but if you really do want them we can get them. Just give us a call on 01822 860 110 or drop us an email and we’ll get back to you the same day.

In the meantime 100watts are back and the supply chain is working at full strength again!

Easter Holidays are approaching and as is our usual custom we will be closed for the four days of the Easter Festival week.
We will close on Thursday 9th April and reopen on Monday 20th April.
The last day for despatch of orders will be Wednesday 8th otherwise it will be in the carrier’s warehouse over the holiday week end.
We pride ourselves on the very low number of breakages we have and we don’t want to jeopardise that.
We hope you have a very pleasant Easter Holiday.

We will be closed on Friday 10th April and will reopen on Monday 20th April

The website will be working as always so if you are happy to wait a few days for your order then please place it and we will dispatch it as soon as we get back. If you pay with a card directly to us (ie not paypal) then your card isnt charged until we dispatch your order

If you have a query please use the contact tab at the top of the page and we will get back to you - hopefully with a sensible answer!

Happy Easter!

Megaman have listened to the requests from their customers and have brought out a range of spiral (or helix) low energy lamps! Some people prefer the helix shape they feel it looks much brighter than a standard stick shaped low energy (myself included)

They are available in 5, 8, 11, 14, 20 and 23 watts with the 23 watt being a good replacement for the 100 watt lamps that are getting harder to find these days (although we do have them in stock) They come in warm white which is a good replacement colour for the pearl bulbs we tend to use here in the UK.

We will get them listed on the site soon but if you cant wait then please give us a call!

The nice thing about megaman lamps is they use Amalgam which is much better than liquid mercury (the bit that need to be recycled to prevent it polluting the environment)

Heres the blurb about it (if you are interested!)

“Megaman use an amalgam reservoir to start our lamps.Amalgam is 50% Mercury Alloy, is safe to touch in its solid form and has been used in the Dentistry, Chemistry and Mining Industries for years. The Amalgam pellet vaporises when heated and returns to its safe solid form when the lamp is cool.

All fluorescent lamps use electricity to excite a mercury vapor in argon or neon gas, resulting in a plasma that produces a short wave ultraviolet light. This light then causes a phospher to fluoresce, producing a visable light. While other CFLs contain from 3 over 5 mg of mercury, Megaman lamps have mercury levels lower than 3mg (an 11w Compact Classic GLS contains 2.2mg of mercury) the lowest in the industry!

Benefits of Using Amalgam

- Completely safe - you can touch, handle, transport & store lamps in the knowledge that they are risk free to both you and the environment.
- Direct replacement for liquid mercury
- Prevents the release of mercury toxins during the manufactring process
- Mantains a solid state at room temperature, ensuring mercury is not spread should a lamp break and providing easy recovery
-Reduces environmental pollution during use when recycled
- Allows for the manufacturing of more compact lamps with excellent lumen maintenance and increased lamp efficacy
- Less temperature sensitivity”

For the first time in months we actually have a limited number of 100w lamps on the shelves! We have now caught up with all backorders and can ship new orders as they come in. We are even able to hold our price!

There are some interesting alternatives to the ‘normal’ light bulbs coming on the market called Halosavers. They are still incandescent (so are the type of light you are used to if you use filament bulbs are used to) but are slightly more efficient, for example the 28 watt bulb is a 40 watt equivalent. We havent put them on the website yet as there are some reliability issues with them but as soon as we are happy they are performing we will be making them available.

We decided to replace the horrible old fittings in our bathroom with some old 2D fittings that we found in the warehouse - as you do!

When we first moved into the house the light fittings had 100 watt bulbs in them so they were removed pretty much straight away! We had replaced them with sample low energy lamps we had lying around (can you tell how tight we are) which were much lower wattage but gave enough light for what we needed.

After one of the fittings started to flash we decided it was time to get rid of the ugly things and put in the 2D bulkheads we had found.

Now these 2D lamps are only 16 watts each (and have a fantasticly long life of 15000hrs or around 3 1/2 years if they are on 12 hours a day). Im certain that the light level in the bathroom is a bright as it was with the original 100watt bulbs in the old fittings!

We will be putting some fittings on the site soon as we really think they are an amazingly sensible product. They give out much more light than the downlighters that everyone seems to use nowadays and the fittings dont have to be ugly. They can also be wall or ceiling mounted and come with High frequency gear which gives instant start, is more efficient than the old wire wound stuff and means the lamp should have a longer life and not flicker.

The poor old 2D is a bit of an unsung hero really

We have been sending out the first lot of 100 watt bulbs but some people have still not been happy as they are now made in a smaller size.

Normal bulbs arent usually our best seller (people tend to pop into their local shop to get them - we mostly sell the low energy equivalents) so we didnt realise that people didnt know that the big manufacturers such as Philips and GE have changed the bulb size. They have made the bulbs smaller by 10 millimeters which doesnt sound very much but it looks quite different

The smaller bulbs put out the same amount of light but take less ’stuff’ to make so are less wasteful (and lets face it cheaper for the manufacturers!)

The problem with them is the older style lamp shades that clip onto the bulb dont always work with them very well.

If you specifically want the older size lamps then please put a note in the shipping info and we will oblige but please be aware this may result in a delay in your order as we can only get these from certain manufacturers so dont always have them in stock. (we cannot even place orders for the larger size 100 watt lamps at the moment so if you would like them please be aware we cannot give a definate delivery time)

Yesterday we had our first delivery of 100 watt lamps!

So we will be sending them out as fast as we can to begin to fulfill outstanding orders. We are dispatching orders in date order.

We are hoping to receive our first large delivery from the manufacturer in the first or second week in March although we cannot get any guarantees from them yet.

As an aside the new regulations regarding bulbs dont include ‘directional lamps’ or specialist lamps so spotlights are unaffected (a directional lamp is defined as anything under a 120 degree beam angle) or oven lamps which do not currently have a low energy alternative

Ok, so it may only be a small bit of explanation but here goes!

Your ‘normal’ lightbulb has a filament inside that is heated up with electricity until it glows and this creates the light. It works well but isn’t efficient as it wastes alot of its energy as heat.

The low voltage halogen spotlights or capsule lamps are a variation on that theme. They are more efficient but not too much (Remember the fact that they are 12 volt does not make them low energy - it is the wattage that counts)

The usual low energy lamp is based on a fluorescent tube (the ones in most offices). They produce light by exciting mercury in a vapour form which in turn emits light (thats a simple version obviously!) The coating on the tube dictates the spectrum of light produced by the lamp. Flourescent lights are much more efficient than filament lights and there are many more colour variations available.

A handy rule of thumb when buying low energy lamps is to multiply the wattage of the low energy lamp by 4. That will give you the approximate equivalent in ‘normal’ lightbulb wattage.

If you already have fluorescent lights in your office but still want to save energy there is an option for you to try. Even the humble tube has been modernised with the invention of the T5 version. These are more efficient and last longer than standard T8 tubes (the normal ones found in offices). For example a 58 watt 5 ft T8 tube can be replaced with a 35watt T5 tube - a saving of 23 watts per tube. There is a cost involved in converting your fittings to take the T5 lamps but they usually pay for themselves over time. If you are interested in hearing more then please contact us either by phone 01822 860 110 or use the contact tab on the top of each page.

LED’s are coming along. They are quite possibly the future of lighting. They have a huge lifespan and consume very little power. We have tested a 3 watt LED candle this week that can just about light a small room! The usual problem with LEDs is they are quite ’spotty’ and dont really do well as ambient lighting. They are ideal if you run a jewellers for example (you may have noticed them appearing here and there already - ok, we know its only us that look at the lighting wherever we go!) as you can replace your normal halogen spotlights with LEDs that will do the job perfectly. LEDs also used to give out a very cold blue light but that problem is being addressed now so is much less of an issue. With LED technology it is definately a case of ‘watch this space’