Anyone else hate the new light bulbs?

[Larry Caldwell]

On a separate note... I sure wish I could get the $4.97 CREE Home Depot price in Washington DC here in California where the best is at least double that.

I have one all electric home in Washington State with lots of can lights.... I imagine the payback from LED would be very worthwhile.

I take it you don't shop at Costco? A dozen LED bulbs will pay for your membership.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

But earlier than that --- I was reading somewhere last night that getting the first lamp oil out of the first wells in Pennsylvania was called evil, devilish, immoral --- by the whalers.

(A little history for those who need it - whale oil was the standard indoor lamp fuel for a while).

Kerosene was originally distilled out of coal, and for years was called coal oil. The gaslamp era was lit by coal gas. It wasn't until the age of the automobile that petroleum replaced coal as the source, and natural gas replaced coal gas. Electric lights were already taking over by then.
Some things never change.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Scooby074, I like to read by a lamp of about 150 watts but finding such a bulb is getting harder to find. Less strain on the eyes. FYI I see the eye doctor yearly for a complete eye exam. I do use reading glasses but overall my eyes are in great shape, thank God.

And if someone wants to play a night time ballgame in their living room shouldn't he/she have that right? I know (hope) you were just kidding here. Take care, Stanley

I read by a 3w LED lamp that shines directly on the book page. I have presbyopia (old eyes) plus cataracts, and an LED reading lamp is the best solution I have found.

 

[dave1949]

The original electric co-ops have an interesting history in the US. Mainly, they were formed with government support to electrify farms when urban-based utilities refused to extend their services to rural areas.

Rural Electric | Research on the Economic Impact of Cooperatives
As part of Roosevelt’s New Deal, and in the face of significant opposition, the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) was created in 1935, and Congress passed the Rural Electrification Act a year later. In 1937, the REA drafted the Electric Cooperative Corporation Act, a model state law for formation and operation of rural electric cooperatives. The REA administered low-interest and long-term loan programs for rural electrification, and also provided technical, managerial, and educational assistance. By 1939, the REA had helped to establish 417 rural electric cooperatives, which served 288,000 households (New Deal Network, 2003).

 

[Larry Caldwell]

You really ought to have some related info to back a statement you know you posted meant to be related to the outlawing of these simple bulbs. Got any??

Light bulbs are just one factor in declining electricity use. A decade ago I replaced a 19" CRT computer monitor with a 20" LCD monitor, which used a bulb to illuminate the screen but was much more efficient. Recently I replaced that monitor with a 27" LED monitor. Yes, it took some time to get used to the extreme contrast you can get out of an LED monitor, the docs state 6000:1.

I replaced most of my incandescent lights over a decade ago. The first to go were the porch lights, which this time of year burn any time we are not home. A 13w CFL is plenty of light to see by in the dark. The ceiling light in my office is two 18w daylight CFL bulbs. My wife finds them harsh but I like the bright white light for reading, and it's my office. The rest of the house has soft white bulbs. The hall fixtures have an insane 3 bulb configurations, so I put 7w CFL bulbs in them. I don't even see those on the shelves any more. My old dim reflector fixtures in the shop got 23w daylight bulbs, and I used a Y connector to put two bulbs in each fixture. Work light over the benches are 4x34w conventional fluorescent tubes, which really light up my life.

I'm going to replace the CFLs with LED lights as the CFLs fail. They seem to run about 10-15 years, so it will be a slow process. I may not live to see the end of it. I figure efficient bulbs have saved me hundreds of dollars over the years, particularly since my wife is one of those people who leaves every light in the house on.

If it makes you happy, I still use incandescent lights on my tractor. I just installed two forward facing spots and a rear facing flood on the ROPS bar.

 

[ultrarunner]

I take it you don't shop at Costco? A dozen LED bulbs will pay for your membership.

I bought a 4 pack from Costco the year before and was disappointed... not in the price... but, in the quality of the light.

As far as I know... Home Depot is the sole North American source for Cree at the moment. I gave Cree a look because several consumer publications gave them very high scores.

I shop Costco business about once a month and have been buying my truck tires there for a long time...

One of my gripes with Costco is many items are one time or at least not stocked year round...

 

[DarkBlack]

I'm going to replace the CFLs with LED lights as the CFLs fail. They seem to run about 10-15 years, so it will be a slow process. I may not live to see the end of it..

My CFL's seem to average 10-15 too. Months!

 

[SPIKER]

Just thought I would bump this up and say that TODAY Sat 2/22/14 Homedepot has the LED bulbs on DEAL OF THE DAY sale, have to go to website and click deal of the day and then you can buy 3 pack for I think it was 19 bucks for 80watt eq.

insert link for ya Special Buy of the Day at The Home Depot

also I been at the NEW (Big Lighting Company name withheld here) job for a month+ now long drive but learning a lot about LFL (Long Florescent Light) $ is good but by time I drive distance and time involved extra city taxes & union dues etc I'm flat on the $ from what I made prior... We are starting to make NEW energy efficient bulbs but lack of proper planning has slowed the project down a lot. (They are making Halogen Light bulbs to plug into standard Edison Base places.) These will be a Wallyworld Made in USA product in near future but have to ramp up to meet demand expected first and prove the tech.

FYI these NEW bulbs require special handling seen how lack of proper handling can make one BLOW UP like a M80 was inside!!!! Please read packaged on ALL HALOGEN BULBS!!!

Mark

 

[cqaigy2]

Just thought I would bump this up and say that TODAY Sat 2/22/14 Homedepot has the LED bulbs on DEAL OF THE DAY sale, have to go to website and click deal of the day and then you can buy 3 pack for I think it was 19 bucks for 80watt eq.

insert link for ya Special Buy of the Day*at The Home Depot

also I been at the NEW (Big Lighting Company name withheld here) job for a month+ now long drive but learning a lot about LFL (Long Florescent Light) $ is good but by time I drive distance and time involved extra city taxes & union dues etc I'm flat on the $ from what I made prior... We are starting to make NEW energy efficient bulbs but lack of proper planning has slowed the project down a lot. (They are making Halogen Light bulbs to plug into standard Edison Base places.) These will be a Wallyworld Made in USA product in near future but have to ramp up to meet demand expected first and prove the tech.

FYI these NEW bulbs require special handling seen how lack of proper handling can make one BLOW UP like a M80 was inside!!!! Please read packaged on ALL HALOGEN BULBS!!!

Mark

Heck I'd even buy a product at wally world that was made in North America. Made in US would be a bonus!

 

[ultrarunner]

So far I am pleased with the CREE 60w equivilents

If they last 10,000 hours I will only buy them.

Time will tell.