Screw-in 'only' bulbs on sale in Tesco, Aldi, Lidl, etc...

vandriver

Tesco Rathmines(not an express) only sells screw in bulbs.

looksee

I find now that my local Tesco - not an express - has a very poor selection of bulbs, and they are mostly screw in. I admit I have not got my head round all the different kinds of bulbs. I am in favour of energy savers, and I have found (by writing the date on the base of the bulb) that they last very well, but I really need to do a bit of research on all the different types. I have found that there does not seem to be the same brightness off the e.s. ones and I am ending up with lamps all over the place to try and boost the light levels.

L1011

Deleted User wrote: »

I am making a mental note to only use screw in light fittings when I build a house next year.

Didn't there used to be two types of plugs and sockets in Ireland?

Three - older houses around Limerick use (well, used, most have long since been rewired) German Schuko plugs when the rest of the country used the round pin UK BS546 plugs at the time, which had two sizes depending on the amperage.

We then moved to the current UK BS1363 ones

LordSutch

L1011 wrote: »

Except the EU has nothing to do with it, no matter how often you say they do.

OK I stand corrected, so who then is tellingTesco, Aldi & Lidl to sell screw bulbs only?

gucci

LordSutch wrote: »

As a consumer why should I fork out for new fittings or new adaptors? The bayonets are fine, and sixty five million people use them next door in the UK. I am also told that screw bulbs are more prone to getting loose over the years, hence they begin to flicker and must be periodically re-tightened. Bayonet bulbs cannot become loose in their fittings.

If the 65 million peoples houses are anything like the one I just bought (1900 Victorian Terrace) they will have a flipping mix of both there from various botches over the years meaning that I have had to change them all to the screw in ones just for sanity!!

LordSutch

LordSutch wrote: »

OK I stand corrected, so who then is tellingTesco, Aldi & Lidl to sell screw bulbs only?

Their purchasing departments.

L1011

LordSutch wrote: »

OK I stand corrected, so who then is tellingTesco, Aldi & Lidl to sell screw bulbs only?

Nobody is. They're buying what sells and what they can get.

They all sell bayonet bulbs, just lower volumes and older tech.

LordSutch

So I emailed Tesco, and it transpires that the reason my local 'Express' only stocks screw bulbs is down to an oversight by Tesco/distribution! so they have said that they will be taking back 80% of the (screw bulb) stock and sending out traditional bayonet bulbs ... simples.

It was a simple oversight relating to my local shop.
Aldi & Lidl are another story I guess.

End of.

my3cents

Aldi and Lidl are the ones I always associate with having a stock of screw fitting bulbs kicking around the shop with a lot of them ending up getting reduced to get rid of them before they bring in the next batch for the same to happen.

Kings Inns or bust

my3cents wrote: »

Aldi and Lidl are the ones I always associate with having a stock of screw fitting bulbs kicking around the shop with a lot of them ending up getting reduced to get rid of them before they bring in the next batch for the same to happen.

Retail head office stock replenishment systems are a marvel of modern technology! So much so Area managers are given cars with large boots to move stock around stores when needed.

I'm so glad I'm no longer in that industry.

former total

LordSutch wrote: »

So I emailed Tesco, and it transpires that the reason my local 'Express' only stocks screw bulbs is down to an oversight by Tesco/distribution! so they have said that they will be taking back 80% of the (screw bulb) stock and sending out traditional bayonet bulbs ... simples.

It was a simple oversight relating to my local shop.
Aldi & Lidl are another story I guess.

End of.

Hang on.

You mean there ISN'T a giant EU-Tesco conspiracy to force us all to change our light fixtures by making it slightly less convenient to buy bayonet bulbs??

Well now I don't know what to believe.

rock22

former total wrote: »

Hang on.

You mean there ISN'T a giant EU-Tesco conspiracy to force us all to change our light fixtures by making it slightly less convenient to buy bayonet bulbs??

Well now I don't know what to believe.

Don't believe them. it is clearly an attempt at an EU cover up to conceal their conspiracy to replace every light fitting in Ireland to a 'Brussels approved' type. These will only be made in Brussels for EU use and will result in the UK being denied the benefits of this new technology after Brexit.
Of course not a lot of people know that!

NiallBoo

LordSutch wrote: »

OK I stand corrected, so who then is tellingTesco, Aldi & Lidl to sell screw bulbs only?

Their accountants.

Goodness we'd have much nicer homes if we didn't always adopt rationing-era hand-me-down British building standards.

LordSutch

It was a genuine consumer question, so thanks for all your input

..well nearly all

My local Aldi had both bayonet and screw-in bulbs today.

galah

Most light fittings in my house have edison fittings for screw in bulbs, there goes your theory (but then again we also have proper mixer taps in all bathrooms and windows that open inwards :eek::p)

I would suspect that especially shops like aldi and lidl get their stock from the continent (as the other offers are also usually offered in continental stores), so maybe someone in stock supply in Germany hasnt realised that some irish houses use different fittings...

galah

galah wrote: »

but then again we also have proper mixer taps in all bathrooms ...

I never understood why they never caught on here until recently.

L1011

Surreal panic about putting heated water back in the cold tank if blocked, as if non return valves didn't exist

LordSutch

*Update January 2017*

So I went to Woodies on Monday to buy a G4 bulb for the bathroom cabinet, and while I was looking for my bulb I noticed that the bulb selection in Woodies is now about 80% 'screw in' bulbs, 'interesting' I thought, then today when in Tesco I checked the bulb collection, and low & behold they still only have screw in bulbs (no bayonet cap bulbs at all), and finally, as if I need say it again, our local Aldi still has an exclusive selection of very nice screw in bulbs, with not a bayonet cap bulb in sight :cool:

As a consumer what should I make of this?

...for the uniniated among you, 90%+ of Irish houses have bayonet cap light fittings hanging from the ceilings, ergo baynoet cap bulbs have traditionally been the way to go! so why all the screw in bulbs in the shops?

L1011

The same answer as before - because the worldwide market for bayonet bulbs is so small they are not worth making in great volume; and adapters are both safe and dirt cheap.

Cabaal

LordSutch wrote: »

*Update January 2017*

...for the uniniated among you, 90%+ of Irish houses have bayonet cap light fittings hanging from the ceilings, ergo baynoet cap bulbs have traditionally been the way to go! so why all the screw in bulbs in the shops?

Cause if you look at ikea and other big light sellers they all use screw bulbs, like it or not in a few years screw bulbs will be in the majority and we'll have a much better choice of lights.

Changing a bog stand ceiling fitting is straight forward and is really no different to wiring a plug.

LordSutch

So I rang National Electrical Wholesaler's (Dublin) this morning just to get my facts straight, and they have told me that currently near on 100℅ of Irish houses have bayonet-cap pendant fittings hanging from their ceilings! (our house included).

...so I then asked but what about bayonet caps being phased out (in favour of screw caps) and he told me that there is no chance for the foreseeable future of bayonet cap pendants being replaced with screw type pendants, no chance whatsoever!

In other words 'as a consumer' my original question still stands.

L1011

LordSutch wrote: »

So I rang National Electrical Wholesaler's (Dublin) this morning just to get my facts straight, and they have told me that currently near on 100℅ of Irish houses have bayonet-cap pendant fittings hanging from their ceilings! (our house included).

...so I then asked but what about bayonet caps being phased out (in favour of screw caps) and he told me that there is no chance for the foreseeable future of bayonet cap pendants being replaced with screw type pendants, no chance whatsoever!

In other words 'as a consumer' my original question still stands.

The answer doesn't change. The lighbulb market is not Ireland alone - bayonet cap bulbs are used in a tiny % of the worldwide market.

Bulbs will continue to be made as long as there is a market for them, but they will be harder to find and continue to lag behind in efficiency terms compared to bulbs for more popular fittings.

Also, why do you think a single specific wholesaler are the definitive source of info?

The answer is never going to change, by the way. Bayonet caps are old tech used in very few places. Even in the UK they are not fitted in new houses that want a high energy rating as they must have more modern fittings designed solely for low energy bulbs.

oinkely

The irony of this is that in my local woodies they sell mostly E27 screw in bulbs, but they do not have a single E27 lamp fitting available.

I got a few wifi bulbs in E27 and wanted to change a few of the light fittings from bayonet to E27. Nothing available in woodies, chadwicks or power city.

In the end I ordered them from amazon.

NiallBoo

I think there's just a certain amount of inertia blocking change.

Electricians/builders do things the way they've always done it so they fit bayonets.

Wholesalers are kept in business by these guys so stock what sells.

Ultimately the homeowner rarely gets to make a decision.

rubadub

I got bayonet LEDs in dealz, who are owned by poundland. I think most were screw ins on the shelf though -but that is possibly since the bayonets were selling more. Anyone else I saw buying was getting bayonets too.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Dunnes Stores today and all are baronet fitting.

LordSutch

Thank you for all your very interesting replies.

This issue is beginning to remind of the VHS Vs Betamax battle back in the 80s. Betamax was the neater and more relyable video format, yet the VHS format won the worldwide battle in the end!

Same for the Bayonet light fitting I guess. From a design perspective Its certainly more relyable with it's spring loaded connections/push & half turn, as opposed to the screw type which I gather is prone to loosening up over time!

I also thought the UK with a population of 65 million people next door might keep us going with the traditional fittings, but if they're also moving to screw type, that this spells the end for the bayonet- cap I guess.

Cheers 4 now.

L1011

LordSutch wrote: »

I also thought the UK with a population of 65 million people next door might keep us going with the traditional fittings, but if they're also moving to screw type, that this spells the end for the bayonet- cap I guess.

They're moving to GU10 and GX23/GX24 for fixed lighting more than anything else on new builds. We don't seem to have such strict rules here so conventional fitting pendant lights are still in new houses.

New lamps are nearly all screw already - a random selection on argos.ie of ten different lamps showed 8 E14 and 2 E27 fittings; zero bayonet. I'd imagine if you did you might find bayonet but I went at random. B&Q is looking similar but their website is very slow.

Standardisation by market pressure is happening on nearly everything - we "won" on phone sockets by means of having chose the US one much earlier; people in the UK need adapter cables to use almost anything now - you'll see the RJ11->BT cable included with phones in UK retailers here.


As goes reliability - bayonet fittings are more likely to break; screw fittings can work out over time due to vibration. Screw fittings are much better electrically also.

rubadub

LordSutch wrote: »

Same for the Bayonet light fitting I guess. From a design perspective Its certainly more relyable with it's spring loaded connections/push & half turn, as opposed to the screw type which I gather is prone to loosening up over time!

regardless of which is better etc, I still find it extremely odd that tesco would have nothing but screw-ins, and dunnes have nothing but bayonets. They must both be turning away loads of customers, and surely must know this.

I can't think of any other product without supply & demand happening as I would expect it to.