PJCNET

I fell asleep on Christmas night 2008, leaving a compact energy saving light bulb on and was shocked to be woken up to a loud bang. I noticed that all the lights had gone off in my property and I couldn’t turn them on at the normal light switches. Luckily I had a torch at hand. If I was an old person or if I was disabled, being thrown into sudden darkness could have been extremely dangerous and hazardous. I initially found that the lights had been tripped on my main electric box. Half asleep, I tried to turn the electric back on to the lights, but I heard another bang and saw a flash, like a spark from one of my energy saving light bulbs which I only brought about 6 months ago back in July 2008. The electric box quickly tripped again. Using my torch, I noticed that black smoke was clearly coming from the top of the bulb and there was a fair bit of smoke too. Using a towel, I managed to remove the bulb quickly to a safer place in my metal sink, away from anything that could catch fire. The top and around the electrical contacts on the bulb was extremely hot and smoking like mad. After a few minutes the smoke subsided and the bulb cooled down. I then managed to turn the electricity back on to my main lights without them tripping and could see again without a torch as luckily I have 2 light sockets in my main room. I was now frightened to use this socket again, although it looked fine I asked for a 2nd opinion from a friend who has done a lot of building work. I strongly suspected the bulb was the entire cause however and the bulb also had black around the actual tubing showing it was probably blown.

I brought this energy saving light bulb from my local Select & Save convenience store last July 2008, meaning that it only had 6 months of use from the time of the problem. These bulbs are clearly guaranteed for at least 5 years of use, but it doesn’t matter how much use they have had, it’s in my opinion very dangerous for them to blow in this way and I really don’t know how this passed British standards. I personally believe it’s definitely a fire risk as sparks could fly. Also most people have heard the term, “where there’s smoke, there’s fire”. Well, I’m wondering what would have happened if I had an old style fuse box instead of a modern circuit breaker in my electric box that tripped straight away? Would it have blown the fuse before it actually caught fire? It remains to be seen. Another point is that people are advised by the police to leave a light on when they are out to deter burglars and everyone is encouraged to save energy too. Well, it’s a horrible thought to think that by following this advice I have been leaving this exact bulb on for many hours while I’ve been out on numerous occasions.

The blown compact Eco energy saving light bulb itself has the following markings on the side of it’s main body. It’s make is marked as “UNIQUE”, beneath this is written “220-240V” and beneath this is “11W 6400K”, all marked in black. On the opposite side are various symbols, the first showing what is similar to a “CE” with a very small 2507 beneath it. The second symbol is telling the person reading not to dispose of the bulb in a bin. The third and final symbol is a triangle with a circle inside and a cross through it. The bulb itself had 2 straight florescent tubes and was equivalent to a 60 Watt conventional bulb. I liked this bulb particularly as it gave out a nice white light that didn’t hurt my eyes, instead of a yellowy light from many similar energy saving light bulbs.

Above is a photo of the actual blown energy saving light bulb, the black stained part of the tube is away from the camera. Luckily the actual tube hasn’t broken as all these bulbs contain a small about of Mercury which is extremely poisonous to humans and can cause brain, liver and kidney damage. If the tube had broken, it would be extremely hazardous to the extent that people are advised to open windows and leave the room in this situation, yet I don’t remember seeing any health warning on the packaging? This is another very serious issue with these bulbs, yet very little has been done to educate people about this serious risk. Please click here to watch a video that explains the procedures in America to dispose of one of these energy saving light bulbs. This will certainly make anyone fully understand how dangerously hazardous these bulbs really are.

I decided to go on-line and I was quite surprised to see various posts from other people who have had very similar fire risk experiences and there is also controversy over some energy saving light bulbs that may also give off UV light which many believe is also dangerous to human health. For example, please read this blog which is a report urging the public to report energy saving light bulbs that malfunction. It also talks of loud bangs, smoke and sparks flying.

I have also seen various posts saying that there is no evidence what-so-ever that these bulbs could be a fire risk, even saying that it’s quite normal to see smoke, please read this explanation for example, but I remain very sceptical after my adverse experience, especially when it explains that this occurs when the bulbs life span is over, remember my bulb was 6 months old and guaranteed for 5 years. What’s more, how can sparks be safe? The article doesn’t explain or talk about a reason for the bulb causing my electric to trip either. This electrical trip switch is a safety cut out (a power breaker) and normally it would only trip if there is a very good reason for it to do so, like an electrical short fore-instance.

I am now going to contact trading standards within Birmingham City Council after the Christmas break is over to get this matter will be investigated ASAP. It’s worrying that I have other energy saving light bulbs in my property, including some brought from the same shop marked with exactly the same manufacturer, “UNIQUE”. I will now get these replaced and will also get trading standards to advise me how I should complain to the shop I purchased them from Etc. The shop was Select & Save in Five Ways, Birmingham, UK, but I’m NOT saying that it’s the shop’s fault as it a multi convenience store, not an electrical shop and they wouldn’t have known the potential danger. Luckily I have a few energy saving light bulbs that were brought elsewhere and are from another manufacturer to light the main part of my home in the short term over the rest of Christmas.

The light socket looked okay with careful examination after the incident and I have just tested a standard 100 Watt bulb in the socket and it seems perfectly fine, this confirms that the fault was definitely caused by the energy saving light bulb.

I will update with the outcome of the investigation after contacting Trading Standards….

Disclaimer

I am not a qualified electrician. I include a personal account and experience of an incident involving a compact energy saving light bulb, written from my view point only. I am NOT saying that all energy saving light bulbs are a possible fire hazard. I give my personal opinion, but I cannot say for a fact that any energy saving light bulbs are a fire hazard. I do intend to have this matter investigated by qualified personnel.

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