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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU in thinking the council can not insist on making you use energy saving lightbulbs in a council house?

55 replies

AnnieMaybe · 10/03/2014 21:39

My niece (20), her partner and their young ds live in a council flat and had an external surveyor company come to carry out some sort of property assessment today on behalf of the council

This is not unique to their flat apparently all properties are being surveyed to ensure they met with standards re kitchens/bathrooms and energy efficiency.

The man carrying ou the assessment told her she was breaking the law by not using energy efficient lightbulbs in a council property which has worried and upset her as she is now has it in her head she is breaking the law!

This is nonsense surely isn't it?

OP posts:
BackOnlyBriefly · 10/03/2014 22:26

Not much you can do if it has a special fitting that only takes those bulbs, but that is a lot of money.

mateysmum · 10/03/2014 22:34

I recently lived in a new build with those stupid fittings that only take the most expensive bulbs on the planet,that nobody stocks. Apparently builders have to fit a certain %. So we bought new pendants from Wilko for £2.50 each and DH fitted them in about 5mins.

But I don't think traditional bulbs are illegal. Crikey the courts would be overflowing.

FudgefaceMcZ · 10/03/2014 22:58

He's a twat. I had a council house (in Scotland, I assume it's similar in rest of the UK though as the tenancy types have different names but are similar) briefly and when I moved in pretty much all the lightbulbs were old kind because an old lady had been living there. I had to buy energy efficient ones, there was no requirement for this from the landlord and I don't think it would be considered reasonable for them to make such a clause in a tenancy agreement unless they were paying the electric.

FudgefaceMcZ · 10/03/2014 22:59

Raffle, you can get them cheap off ebay in packs if she might need more? Could you help her do that?

OneUp · 10/03/2014 23:06

Sorry to derail but EatShitDerek and AnnieMaybe where do you get normal lightbulbs from. I want to use them because the mercury in the energy efficient ones frightens me.

EatShitDerek · 10/03/2014 23:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
AnnieMaybe · 10/03/2014 23:28

I got some in Asda and some in Sainsbuty's

OP posts:
Caitlin17 · 11/03/2014 00:46

It wouldn't be enforceable as a tenancy condition. The Council might suggest it but that's as far as it could go.

Basically whether you're private or public sector tenant as long as you're paying the rent, not trashing the place, not being anti-social you will not be in breach of lease conditions.

PatrickStarisabadbellend · 11/03/2014 00:51

Westie i sell normal old fashioned bulbs in my shop. They haven't stopped making them, they have just toughened the glass.

The companies making them got around the EU rules.

aufaniae · 11/03/2014 00:52

Weren't the government talking about making old style lightbulbs illegal (to sell, I presume) a while back? (or did I imagine that?)

We got sent a load of low energy ones fr

aufaniae · 11/03/2014 00:55

Oops!

We got sent a load of free low energy ones a while back (from the council? I'm not sure) but in the flat we owned, everyone got them not just council tenants. I thought this was UK-wide at the time, perhaps it wasn't. Did you get a load of free lightbulbs a few years back?

PatrickStarisabadbellend · 11/03/2014 00:55

We can still get them by the truck load from our wholesalers.

aufaniae · 11/03/2014 01:31

Google tells me unless your sis is a lightbulb of lamp manufacturer she has nothing legal to worry about!

If i've understood correctly, old style lightbulbs are now illegal to make or import in Europe, as in many other countries e.g. The US. While you can still buy them here, they will become more expensive as stocks dwindle, so they will be phased out via economic forces (not lightbulb inspectors in your home!)

aufaniae · 11/03/2014 01:33

Sorry your niece not sis!

Menolly · 11/03/2014 01:47

I've just checked the bulbs that were in my council flat when we moved in (not been here long so not changed any yet) all but 1 are normal bulbs and they had to do quite a bit of work on the place before we moved in, so they would have replaced the normal bulbs if they were illegal.

AchyFox · 11/03/2014 01:50

Is it possible she is just using too high a wattage bulb for the fitting ?

eg The fitting might be rated at 60W, but has replaced a 100W equivalent CF bulb (which emits less than half the heat of standard 60W so is OK) with a standard 100W bulb.

That would explain a lot.

kentishgirl · 11/03/2014 10:26

It's now illegal to sell normal bulbs for domestic use. It's not illegal to use them.

the manufacturers get round it by printing 'not for domestic use' on the boxes.

specialsubject · 11/03/2014 11:06

it is not illegal. But if the fittings are enclosed, she needs to make sure that the bulbs are not too high a wattage or she could start a fire.

energy-saving bulbs are no longer slow to start, and no longer produce poor light. prices are coming down, but aren't there yet on the LEDs which are the best. Don't buy 'eco-halogen', huge con.

replacing bulbs in this house has halved our lighting wattage, and hence halved the running cost of our lighting. Works for me.

fluffyraggies · 11/03/2014 11:39

Light bulb police! It's the nanny state! Grin

Dont start me. Bloody halogen bulbs. Our kitchen is fitted with 2 big posh racks of the things that are suddenly needing replacing. £4 quid a time! Cant afford to replace them all. So leaving them half missing. Oh and the bulbs for the fittings over the worktops are so obscure that we cant physically replace them. Tracked down the bloke who fitted them in 2 years ago and even he cant find any more of the bulbs! He said he knew they were unusual at the time but thought they would have become mainstream by the time they needed replacing! HmmAngry idiot!

PatrickStarisabadbellend · 11/03/2014 12:53

It's not illegal to sell normal lightbulbs at all. I still sell them, I can still get them from the wholesales.

Rebelwithoutapplause · 11/03/2014 14:19

Are you sure your niece didn't misinterpret comments being made by the surveyor.

I'm struggling to imagine anyone actually saying they were 'illegal'. Maybe he simply said 'not recommended', which would be a fair point?

Damnautocorrect · 11/03/2014 14:27

My memory of the detail of this is sketchy but the government are insisting all rented property (presumably inc council) are at least a band d (?) on efficiency (or attempted to get there), part of that is lightbulbs.

kentishgirl · 11/03/2014 14:50

Patrick, yes it is illegal to sell them for domestic use. If you look at any of the boxes it will have a statement about their not being for use in the home/domestic use.

www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/aug/31/lightbulbs-incandescent-europe

Peter Hunt from the Lighting Industry Association 'The law is clear: they should not be sold for household use. It says so on the packaging. Any retailer is risking a visit from government inspectors if they continue to sell them.'

Of course, people still sell them, buy them and use them. I picked some up from Lidl the other week :-)

PatrickStarisabadbellend · 11/03/2014 17:53

We get them from the wholesaler and non of the boxes say that.

PatrickStarisabadbellend · 11/03/2014 17:54

They won't be making anymore but you can sell off any old stock even if you have thousands.

This is what the rep and the wholesaler have said.