Philips, you're listening!

Hands up who HATES the dim light put out by low-energy lightbulbs? Thought so. It's murder to read by. We've been nice little greenies and installed them over the house over the last few years, putting up with their awful cold, weak light and doing our bit for the environment and the energy bills. Exceptions are the downlights in the kitchen and my office, and as these blow they'll be replaced by LED downlights/spotlights.

Anyway, trolling the supermarket shelves today I noticed Philips has introduced a new range of bulbs which look like the wonderful, trusty incandescent lights we know and love - and which the Australian government has now banned from sale. They use 30% less energy than traditional incandescent bulbs so while they're not as energy efficient as the low energy variety, we thought they may well give us a better light to read by.

Oh, and they do! It's dark and grey here today, and the new lightbulbs in the living room make one hell of a difference. No more squinting or having to take my specs off and bring the book close enough to read without them.

Thanks, Philips. Obviously there has been a backlash from readers everywhere demanding a decent light to read by and generally illuminate rooms to a decent level. Philips has come to the party nicely with these bulbs and no doubt other lighting manufacturers will follow suit.

I'm glad someone has listened and there IS an alternative. It's pretty clear the government officials who banned incandescent bulbs and forced the low-energy horrors on us have never tried to read a book on a cloudy day or after dark!