My power supplier (Npower) just sent me four free energy-efficient light bulbs. And it seems to all their other customers as well.
Wow, there's a fresh business approach. What's next, restaurants giving away free appetite-suppressing pills? :-)
6 comments:
Could be wrong, but I think this was a 'European' directive, rather than benevolent business approach? ... we've had the bulbs sent out on 3 seperate occasions over the past 18 months by variously the electricity supplier, a home insulation company ... and the local gas supplier too ... who can also supply electricity! (As san the water supply people! :-) )
"What's next, restaurants giving away free appetite-suppressing pills?"
What a great analogy..
Thanks, Tom. :-) It was not easy to find something equally senseless.
You could be right, Philocalist. Although Npower of course was making sure it sounded like they did it out of the goodness of their heart, this would make more sense.
There's a method to their madness, Folks - These mini-fluorescent bulbs produce (they say)the same amount of light as the incandescent ones they replace, but use only about 30% of the power, so if the power company can get enough of you using them, they can possibly avoid building new
generating plants and the pollution those create.
However, all is not 'peaches & cream'. Those energy-saving bulbs contain mercury, and they don't last quite as long as advertised, and as they age, they deteriorate and gradually produce less light, until you might think there's something wrong with your eyes. There isn't - it's those light bulbs.
But if you can live with all that, you can save a bundle on your light bills, because they do use less power. Just be careful where you dispose of them.
I agree with Ray. The theory is that investing in conservation is a better use of the stockholder's money than investing in a new power plant.
A place called the Rocky Mountain Institiute has been talking about this concept for many years.
http://www.rmi.org/
Sorry, that last post was by me.
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