"I've heard that the old type of light bulb is going to be phased out soon!"
TRUE. In July, the Government called on retailers to enter into a voluntary agreement to stop selling old-fashioned bulbs by 2011.

"You just can't get energy saving bulbs to fit all kinds of socket."
MYTH. In fact, you can get energy saving light bulbs to work with virtually every fitting, including decorative shapes like candles. You may need to shop around to get less common types.

"Low energy light bulbs take ages to become as bright as a regular bulb."
MYTH. Good quality energy saving bulbs do take longer to become as bright as a regular bulb, especially in a cold room, but should reach their optimum within a few minutes. You should, however, be wary of cheap, poor quality bulbs, which may take longer to warm up, and produce an uncomfortable, flickering light. We would always recommend buying your bulbs from a reputable maker, to make sure they're of the best quality.

"You can't use low energy bulbs with dimmer switches, so they’re no use to me!"
MYTH. You can use some of the most common sorts of energy saving bulbs - known as compact fluorescent bulbs - with dimmer switches, but there are a few things you'll need to bear in mind. The reason most people dim light bulbs is not just to lower the amount of light they produce, but also to make the light warmer and more atmospheric. When you dim an energy saving bulb, the colour of the light it produces remains roughly the same, so it doesn't have that "warm" feeling. If you really want to get that cosy effect, look for energy efficient halogen bulbs, which react in the same way to being dimmed as normal bulbs.

"You can't just throw away energy saving bulbs, you need to have them recycled."
TRUE. Although conventional light bulbs can simply be thrown away, energy saving bulbs contain elements which need to be disposed of properly. Your council should provide facilities for you at your local waste disposal site. An energy saving bulb generally lasts longer than old-fashioned one, but when it eventually fails most of it can be recycled, and may even end up lighting your house again in the future.