http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16199552

Bring it on

Had a look at these a while ago, but they are still really expensive. On the plus side, the bulbs should last for ages, so once the price comes down it will be nice not to have bulbs that need replacing every 6 bloody months. Especially those [LIFTED] GU10 halogens.

+1
Not just a bit dear, but really expensive.
Plus a lot of LED bulbs give off a blue-ish white light rather than a yellow-ish white light.

I bought a couple to try them, but I won't be getting any more anytime soon.

I'm using LED reading lights in the bedroom, from Philips. They aren't bad and the price for the lamp, with bulb is reasonable.

As to replacing every six months, in the last 30 years, I think I have had to replace 4 light bulbs, so I'm not sure what you are doing with them...

Switching them on...?

We have halogen down lighters in the kitchen, and they go all the time. I suspect it's to do with heat stress. I'm trying to get the folks to move over to LED versions, but it's taking time. Mostly because they don't appreciate that the colour change is noticeable if you're using a cool white light in the ceiling, and then a warm white/orange under the cupboards.
I much prefer the cooler white, tbh.

So do we but only changed 2 in three years........ You want to check the transformer feeding them.

I'd prefer to have all street lights as blue.

With a blue lightwave your eye has to work harder, just as it has to work harder to see at night. When driving I find going from pitch black to yellow/white smash my eyeballs open bright light seriously dangerous, with blue lighting my eyes would be working pretty much consistently.

Yes, me likez blue litez.

I seem to recall seeing research that blue/white light is actually beneficial in terms of alertness and feeling awake. Something to do with receptors in the eyes (not the rods/cones) that respond to light specifically in the blue region of the spectrum and trigger certain parts of the brain:

Linky

Indeed.

* wishes he could remember his knowledge of visual perception for which he got a 1st *

I was told it's impossible to focus on a blue light. Anyone confirm/deny that?

Dunno but I prefer the warmth from lights from the yellow/orange end of the spectrum for general lighting but blue for inspection/examination type stuff.

I would suggest the transformers are overheating in the ceiling cavity. The only way I managed to fix it was replace with 240V.

As for the colour debate I'm on the yellow side. It's what I hate about energy savers.