# How many people have a small stash of incandescent bulbs? Can't buy them anymore. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 10, 2014, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942 "2014-02-10T02:45:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/1 "2014-02-10T02:45:14Z")
The final phase of the incandescent ban was implemented Jan 1 for 40Watts. I think Home Depot still has a few until the stock runs out. So, how may packs of bulbs do you have tucked away? I’d guess most people have a few packs in their pantry. At least a year or two worth. With 4 in a pack they last awhile. Most homes really don’t use all that many bulbs. Ceiling fixtures typically have one or two bulbs. My guest bedrooms are rarely used and bulbs haven’t burned out in at least two or three years. We probably replace 10 or so a year in the heavily used areas of the house. We have two standard 40W, 4 ft dual florescent fixtures in the kitchen. [The T12’'s are being phased out too](http://cleantechnica.com/2012/03/27/say-goodbye-to-t12-fluorescent-lamps-businesses-get-your-rebates-now/) and I have a couple boxes of them in a closet. The trick was making sure the household stock included an assortment of the various wattages. I bought 40,75, 100W. We never use 60W in anything. Just to get it out of the way… It’s pointless to drag this out into a rant against the new rules. Or a passionate defense of them. They are what they are. The manufacturer’s lobbyists won. Generic 4 packs of Incandescent bulbs were a buck. Don’t hold your breath waiting for those lighting prices ever again. Yes, I tried CFL’s and hated them. I’m concerned about the mercury and other heavy metals. CFL’s are a bad interim alternative until better technology emerges. LED looks like the future. By the time my stash of incandescent runs out they’ll be dirt cheap. But we really don’t know what technology will eventually emerge as the best alternative. We’ll see in 15 years. I’ll buy whatever is available and cheap then. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/2 "2014-02-10T02:51:36Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > CFL’s are a bad interim alternative until better technology emerges. What are you talking about? They’re more expensive per-bulb but they use like a quarter of the power as incandescent bulbs and last ten times longer. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/3 "2014-02-10T02:53:18Z")
I have a couple dozen 100w and 60w, but I don’t use incandescents any more, so they will probably last forever. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/4 "2014-02-10T02:56:55Z")
I don’t have any stockpile. I quite like CFLs actually. I just avoid those with obnoxiously slow warm-up times, and others with glaring and unnatural phosphors. And for the most part I get advertised life spans (though I had one light fixture that killed CFLs prematurely. However, I do agree that LEDs are the future. I bought a few on a whim with new floor lamps, and they’re clearly better than CFLs in every way but price. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/5 "2014-02-10T02:57:37Z")
My wife and I tried them in our master bedroom ceiling fixture. We both hated the weird color and found it difficult to read. I was getting headaches trying to read my Kindle. The CFL burned out after about a year and half. We happily replaced them with incandescent in that fixture. The technology will improve and prices will drop. I doubt CFL will even be around seven years from now. LED seems to be the future. Which is fine. We have about 10 years of incandescent. We’ll buy whatever is available then. I made sure my daughters had an assortment of incandescent in their cabinet and we have plenty at our house. My family has been taken care of for at least 10 years. Enough time for the new tech to emerge with low prices. > [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > What are you talking about? They’re more expensive per-bulb but they use like a quarter of the power as incandescent bulbs and last ten times longer. ---
**Author:** ![urban1a](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47c2d/32.png) [@urban1a](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/urban1a)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/6 "2014-02-10T03:08:18Z")
I switched to halogen bulbs many years ago and they still are not banned (something about being more efficient than incandescent, or some such). The are generally available online (but difficult to find locally). I have about 1 dozen 60w on hand and order more when one burns out, but they last much longer than regular incandescent bulbs. I seldom use light fixtures because I prefer a more subdued atmosphere. I do have a couple of zenon/halogen under shelf counter lighting units and, just a couple, odd bulb sizes. Bob ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/7 "2014-02-10T03:10:45Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > What are you talking about? They’re more expensive per-bulb but they use like a quarter of the power as incandescent bulbs and last ten times longer. They cost about 8-10 times as much per bulb and while they can last **up to** ten times longer, in my house they last slightly longer at best, and sometimes burn out faster than incandescents. Even if they they cut my energy usage to zero they would still cost more, plus they’re hazardous waste when they go out. And they give horrible light. I bought two LED bulbs around Christmas. They were pricy - about 8 1/2 bucks each, but I’m pleased with the light, and they’re only slightly warm to the touch after being on 2 or 3 hours. The jury’s still out on longevity in my house, but I plan on buying them as my incandescents give out. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/8 "2014-02-10T03:33:02Z")
I have about 3 dozen 100 watt bulbs stockpiled. While I use CFLs for 95%+ of my lighting I have quite a few bulbs which I use less than a kilowatt hour of electricity a year, so haven’t switched these as not being economically efficient to switch. These are also bulbs which only are on a couple minutes–so CFLs would wear out quickly as well. But I expect you should still be able to buy these bulbs–the latest budget bill eliminated funding to enforce the ban: > **[Congress offers glimmer of hope for incandescent lightbulb](https://www.foxnews.com/science/congress-offers-glimmer-of-hope-for-incandescent-lightbulb)** > > The House's passage of a $1.1 trillion spending bill Wednesday that dictates the budgets for all federal agencies may be a desperately needed lifeline for the light bulb. ---
**Author:** ![Tabby\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/9 "2014-02-10T03:42:16Z")
In my lifetime, I’ve never had an incandescent light fixture. Y’all Americans are crazy. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/10 "2014-02-10T03:43:11Z")
I bought a HID porch light (commercial like apartments have) for my front and back doors in 2002. It has a ballast and HID takes a couple minutes to warm up and get bright. Much brighter than my old incandescent porch light. The HID lamp lasts a long time if it’s properly used. You can ruin HID by turning off the light and turning it back on before it cools. It’s supposed to fully cool before turning it back on. I really like HID for exterior lighting. > [@urban1a](#): > > I switched to halogen bulbs many years ago and they still are not banned (something about being more efficient than incandescent, or some such). The are generally available online (but difficult to find locally). I have about 1 dozen 60w on hand and order more when one burns out, but they last much longer than regular incandescent bulbs. I seldom use light fixtures because I prefer a more subdued atmosphere. > > I do have a couple of zenon/halogen under shelf counter lighting units and, just a couple, odd bulb sizes. > > Bob ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/11 "2014-02-10T03:55:07Z")
We’ve gone LED throughout the house. (I’m sure with some minor exceptions I’m forgetting about). Completely happy, and if they perform as promised, they’ll outlive me. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/12 "2014-02-10T04:00:30Z")
No stockpile. I’ve been buying up cheap CFLs at Costco; I can get 4-packs of 60W equivalents for 99 cents. 100W-equivalents go for maybe $3 for a 4-pack. The last place we lived in, I think I had to change maybe 1 or 2 CFLs in the course of over a decade. I’d like to switch to LEDs once they drop a little more in cost, and I’ve seen them coming down at Costco so that’ll happen soon. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/13 "2014-02-10T04:01:20Z")
I don’t have any incandescents. I’ve been using CFLs for a number of years and I don’t find myself missing incandescents at all. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/14 "2014-02-10T04:12:10Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > …in my house they last slightly longer at best, and sometimes burn out faster than incandescents. Are you putting them in enclosed fixtures? They really don’t like unvented environments. The only cfl I ever had burn out in under a year was in an enclosed globe fixture. Went through two bulbs in short order, then rigged it so there was a bit of space for air movement and the next bulb still hadn’t burned out when I moved out 5+ years later. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/15 "2014-02-10T04:15:21Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > What are you talking about? They’re more expensive per-bulb but they use like a quarter of the power as incandescent bulbs and last ten times longer. **AClockworkMelon** is right, it doesn’t appear plausible that incandescents are cheaper except if you take anecodotal data over systematic testing. > [@Harry Chernoff](#): > > The bottom line is that for a wide range of building types, wattage levels, operating characteristics, etc. replacing a single 75W incandescent bulb with a lumen-equivalent 19W CFL will generate annualized savings in the range of $22 per fixture per year on an initial incremental capital investment of $2, for a payback period of about one month. While HVAC effects and climate are not insignificant, the overwhelming variable is the combination of wattage savings, operating hours, and electric rates. The higher any of these factors is relative to average, the higher the CFL’s savings. The recent legislation mandating the phase-out of inefficient general service incandescents will do no more that force commercial building owners and operators to make a lighting change that they should have already made voluntarily. From [http://www.energycentral.com/articles/article/1655](http://www.energycentral.com/articles/article/1655) True, he’s writing about commercial settings, but even in residential settings it’s hard to believe the capital investment for an incandescent would be on the order of $20 cheaper than an equivalent CFL. Even if LEDs weren’t in the picture, CFLs would still be more economically efficient than incandescents. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/16 "2014-02-10T04:21:23Z")
As to the OP, I voted ‘other’ as I have a small stash of incandescents - not new ones, but ones removed from various fixtures in my recently purchased house and replaced with LEDs and CFLs. I won’t throw them out just yet, but I have no intention of using them for lighting. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/17 "2014-02-10T04:42:54Z")
We have a few in the cupboard, they’ll last a year or three, but we’re not consciously stockpiling. They’re just there. I wonder how much of the hate for the way CFLs light is subconsciously due to the fact that they’ve been politicized. I’m sure it’s an amount greater than zero – people lose their minds a little bit when something gets tangled up with their political alignment. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/18 "2014-02-10T05:00:00Z")
I picked other. My house was apparently built by a crazy person and contains almost no fixtures that take the regular type light bulbs that will be affected by the ban. I’ve actually had pretty good luck with CFL’s in the past, but most of my lights here simply don’t have CFL bulbs available! The LEDs seem to have a better selection of oddball bulbs available, so maybe when those get cheaper… ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/19 "2014-02-10T05:20:29Z")
I used CFL’s for several years, and didn’t care much for them. I bought El-Cheapo ones at the Dollar Store, but they were a major brand name that I guess they got at wholesale rates or something. No matter. Most of them didn’t last as long as I thought they should. I also don’t like all the toxic shit they’re made of. What also soured me on CFL’s was trying to properly dispose of a dead one. This happened several years ago in Fresno: I couldn’t find a way to properly get rid of it, except the city ran a recycling dump of some sort. The problem: It was open to the public only two weekends a year, and I had just missed the most recent of those, AND they required I call ahead and make an appointment. :smack: Just to dispose of ONE lousy stinkin CFL? I stuck it in the trunk of my car, and next time I happened to be driving through a different city in a different county, I stopped at some random public park and dumped it in the public trash can there. If they’re really going to make it that hard to dump one stinkin CFL, then fuck all the environmental rulz. (And I’m normally all in favor of proper dumping otherwise.) SO, I decided the hell with CFL’s. When incandescents were about to disappear (now, remember, the California legislature is always all het up to be ahead of the rest of the world, and they adopted all the incandescent ban rulz, state-wide, a YEAR AHEAD of the rest of the Federal rules!) – The hardware stores stocked up on incandescents, they had aisles full of them from horizon to horizon, and they were flying off the shelves as fast as people could snap them up! Yes, I stocked up on my stash. That was a year (or two?) ago already. I got the 71W bulbs (what’s up with all the odd wattages anyway?) – I just counted – I have about 80 of them left. I haven’t tried LEDs yet but I keep reading good things about them, mostly right here on SDMB, and they seem to be getting better and cheaper. Just as some others have noted, my plan is to use incandescents until the LED’s are ready for prime time and come down in price, then switch to those. Fuck CFL’s. And, environmentally sympathetic though I am (hey, I used to belong to the Sierra Club among others!), on this particular topic, it’s a total clusterfuck. I’m using incandescents until my stash runs out or until the LED’s get more practical (which seems to be happening little by little). ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/20 "2014-02-10T05:23:13Z")
I guess they’ll pry the OP’s Easy-Bake Oven from his cold, dead hands. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942.md?page=2)