Bickerstaffe Blog - India

Well, here I am, just about to board my plane back to Blighty after a week in steaming Poo....na, in India. Actually I'm in the Bombay Blue Bar in Uttarlee Unpronantsibull Airport having, naturally, a freezing cold Indian lager at 12 noon and 4 seconds on Tuesday.

The place isn't crowded. In fact there's only me and one other Brit with his ear strapped to his mobile and his fingers glued to his laptop. I sneak a peek at his screen as I make my way to a seat - low spec machine tools.......... Sounds riveting. Ha! Did you see what I.....? Oh, please yourselves.

Although the bar might be empty, there's a whole load of LEDs in here. Little blue and white LED strings trim the glittering Perspex counter and sprinkle light on the mirrored shelving. There are LEDs in the floor, but not the ceiling. There are LEDs on the departure boards but not above the head boards. LEDs everywhere except where we sell them.

And that's the point about LEDs in general and India in particular. Nobody's afraid of LEDs because they've been around for decades fulfilling the same applications as they are in this bar - point light, coloured light, excite light, mood light. They're on our mobile ‘phones and our laptops, our traffic lights and our white goods. But not many are on our ceilings or our desks. And there's a good reason for that; the same reason, in fact, that I'm writing this. Until relatively recently LEDs just weren't ready to be considered as a genuine traditional general light replacement for an office or a domestic dwelling or any "grand room" environment such as a lecture hall or a library or a theatre. And when I say recently I mean nine months ago.

Well now they are......... (whoaah....hang on...prepare yourself...sales pitch looming... block ears...turn away...talk to deadly dull colleague.....!) and you really ought to think about installing them.

Facts and stuff - They use 20% (approx) of the electricity of a traditional bulb for the same level of light - we're up to 124 lumens per watt for the light efficiency aficionados amongst you.......... That's easy for me to say.

They emit no harmful UV or Mercury. Surely CFLs should be a busted flush, shouldn't they? All that Mercury poisoning the factory workers (Sunday Times London - May 3rd 2009 Page 25), the fact that one CFL bulb has enough toxicity to contaminate 6000 gallons of fresh water. Yes, you read that right. If you break one in your house, you will remember to open a window for at least half an hour, now won't you?

They last forever - actually that's not true - they last a very long time. Market recognised tests indicate up to 50,000 hours and beyond. Question; how many 65 year olds does it take to change two LED light bulbs? Answer: None, because, with 35 years of life at 4 hours use per day, they'll be 100 years old before they need to change the second one....and therefore probably a bit d....well, you get the idea.

They're cool. No really, they are cool. With some of the most sophisticated recent developments in heat dispersal they remain touchable (am I allowed to use that word in a public document?) for absolutely ages. Good for the kids' bedroom then.

They're very green. Without going all tree huggy on you, let's be honest. We do need to do more for the environment and yes, hands up, guilty, we are actively supporting carbon offsetting and specific environmental trust programmes. For every single bulb you buy not only will you be doing your bit but we will be donating a percentage of your purchase to a sustainability project. Again, have a look at the website to find out more. And while you're cogitating, cogitate on this. If every household in Britain switched to LED down lighters alone (not including tubes, desk lamps, fridge lights etc.) we would save enough power to remove the need for two power stations and save the electricity equivalent to the annual consumption of 1.4 million homes. Just think what could be done with the money saved. That's it.

No more green stuff. Promise. (Dept of Energy Report  - September 2008).

There's one drawback. They do cost a bit. But we've got some good news here too. Firstly, we'll buy back your CFLs and send them foc to parts of the world where they will be put to good and responsible use and disposed off very carefully. Secondly, at 4 hours use per day they will pay for themselves in about a year when you add all the replacement halogens and traditional bulbs you normally have to buy. Check out the payback calculator on the website and you'll soon find out.

Oh, yes India. What I am doing here? As far as India is concerned, they're desperate to reduce electricity consumption, (the blasted grid goes haywire every 10 minutes) but until we (and others of course) started talking to them they hadn't realised that using LEDs was one straightforward way of helping themselves. Obviously we're doing our job working with hotel groups and Universities to reduce their energy requirement and carbon emissions by installing LEDs. But we're doing more than that. We are working with some local partners to bring power and light to a series of rural charity projects. Our plan is to explore ways of providing adequate heat and light for zero cost in very deprived communities. I know it's a tough time economically for all of us but there needs to be perspective. Where we might be worried about paying the Orange bill these people worry about paying for an orange. Even trying to help is a good thing just of itself. It makes you feel better. More than can be said for this beer. Bing bong. Ah! That'll be my flight. Now, which film.....?

Simon Bickerstaffe.