Energy Saving Bulbs.....go with a bang

[Scott.T]

Anyone else experience this.
We have small golf-ball bulb fittings in the lounge/diner and since the new EU directive (that everyone has to walk round by candle-light) we have had to replace them with 56W (equivalent) energy savers. The type that look like they have a small halogen inside a regular bulb.

3 so far over the last 12 months have failed.
The problem is they don't just go out, but they pop/bang and fire themselves out of the alluminium bulb holder.

Had my son in tears last night when he turned the dining room light on, it fires out of the holder then smashed on the dining table.

Hopefully it's just a golf-ball bulb issue as they are quite small and probably get a bit hotter. So we are switching to regular sized bulbs/lamps now.

[Steve_PPP]

Blimey, sounds nasty. Certainly never had that happen and we've got a couple of these smaller energy savers too i think. I assume they split at the join between the glass and the base, so the metal bit gets left in the light fitting?

[andy-m]

never had that happen to me. i've just had them stop working and will flicker if tapped gently and just replaced them. golf ball and conventional types

[Greig]

I've had it happen they explode all over the place,
They are utter rubbish and I don't fit them any more,
They have brought out led versions of the golf and candle lamps now, although a lot more to buy in the long run they are much better with life expectancy and running costs, even the colour rendering is pretty spot on now

[Hongkongfooi]

Reminds me of that pink panther sketch with Peter sellers

[Stefen]

Tesco was selling energy bulbs for 10p each a while back. I bought over 100 of them!

[SpecB]

Good plan, I've just replaced one and the cheapest I could get in Wickes was £2!

[JackMarsh]

Originally Posted by SilverSurfer

Anyone else experience this.
We have small golf-ball bulb fittings in the lounge/diner and since the new EU directive (that everyone has to walk round by candle-light) we have had to replace them with 56W (equivalent) energy savers. The type that look like they have a small halogen inside a regular bulb.

3 so far over the last 12 months have failed.
The problem is they don't just go out, but they pop/bang and fire themselves out of the alluminium bulb holder.

Had my son in tears last night when he turned the dining room light on, it fires out of the holder then smashed on the dining table.

Hopefully it's just a golf-ball bulb issue as they are quite small and probably get a bit hotter. So we are switching to regular sized bulbs/lamps now.

Really never heard about such problem.. Were you able to solve it out? it looks severe for sure

[JackMarsh]

Originally Posted by JackMarsh

Anyone else experience this.
We have small golf-ball bulb fittings in the lounge/diner and since the new EU directive (that everyone has to walk round by candle-light) we have had to replace them with 56W (equivalent) energy savers. The type that look like they have a small halogen inside a regular bulb.

3 so far over the last 12 months have failed.
The problem is they don't just go out, but they pop/bang and fire themselves out of the alluminium led light holder.

Had my son in tears last night when he turned the dining room light on, it fires out of the holder then smashed on the dining table.

Hopefully it's just a golf-ball bulb issue as they are quite small and probably get a bit hotter. So we are switching to regular sized bulbs/lamps now.

Really never heard about such problem.. Were you able to solve it out? it looks severe for sure

Were you able to solve it out..

[Scott.T]

So far no problem
Changed all the bulb holders to accept a larger/conventional sized energy bulb and none have popped yet.

I expect it was a problem with the golf ball size bulbs over-heating.