# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/101 "2014-02-11T19:00:22Z")
> [@Laggard](#): > > I don’t understand the delay that some people experience when turning on CFLs. I double checked last night and none of our CFLs took more than a half a second to turn on. If you are in that much of a hurry that this is an issue perhaps you need to slow down a bit. Like I said, it’s not a big deal, and I like CFLs, but a half second is more than I’m used to. When I’m fumbling for the light switch at night, there a set of three very close to each other. I often hit the wrong one, so my technique is simply to turn it on and if I don’t notice the light immediately, I turn it off and fumble for another switch. Maybe I just have super fast reaction times, but with the CFLs I just installed in the bathroom, there have already been several times I’ve turned the correct light switch on and off because I thought I had hit the wrong switch as I didn’t see it turn on immediately. In the scheme of things, it’s not really significant, but it is noticeable and has caused me to mentally hiccup a bit. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/102 "2014-02-11T19:22:25Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > Where do you figure the extra energy to run incandescents comes from, unicorn farts? It comes primarily from coal, at least in the US. Coal fired utility boilers emitted 48 tons of mercury in 1999. How many CFL bulbs is that, and how much easier is it to capture that mercury compared to the stuff floating around in the air? Big difference in releasing mercury into the air and releasing it into my living room. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/103 "2014-02-11T19:25:21Z")
> [@Laggard](#): > > I don’t understand the delay that some people experience when turning on CFLs. I double checked last night and none of our CFLs took more than a half a second to turn on. If you are in that much of a hurry that this is an issue perhaps you need to slow down a bit. > > We switched to all CFLS three years ago and still none have burnt out. Half a second is unacceptable, fortunately CF’s no longer have this lag and are pretty much all instant on (because 1/2 a second is totally unacceptable), however the full brightness delay is still a issue. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/104 "2014-02-11T19:49:07Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > Big difference in releasing mercury into the air and releasing it into my living room. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you manufactured your own air _in situ_. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/105 "2014-02-11T20:20:41Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > Big difference in releasing mercury into the air and releasing it into my living room. I agree. The fact that your LR is a contained area you control makes it preferable. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/106 "2014-02-11T21:37:00Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > Where do you figure the extra energy to run incandescents comes from, unicorn farts? It comes primarily from coal, at least in the US. Coal fired utility boilers emitted 48 tons of mercury in 1999. How many CFL bulbs is that, and how much easier is it to capture that mercury compared to the stuff floating around in the air? > > And the heating load question ignores the fact that in much of the year in much of the country the heating load increases air conditioning demand. Thermal physics works both ways, or didn’t you learn that? I hate paying to make heat and then paying again to move that heat outside. OK sure, but reducing your the power you use for lighting will have little to no effect on coal-fired power plants emissions but mass producing a new environmentally hazardous product along with a whole recycling/clean-up industry to deal with it is definitely not any more ecologically friendly. As for the heating load, I was merely offering one simple explanation as to why someone’s electric bill may be unchanged that is consistent with the laws of physics. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/107 "2014-02-11T22:21:42Z")
> [@Laggard](#): > > I don’t understand the delay that some people experience when turning on CFLs. I double checked last night and none of our CFLs took more than a half a second to turn on. If you are in that much of a hurry that this is an issue perhaps you need to slow down a bit. > > We switched to all CFLS three years ago and still none have burnt out. Plus, I have to say, perfect post/username combination. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/108 "2014-02-11T23:04:44Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > Is there a good source, yet, for LED lights that put out the equivalent in lumens of a 100 watt incandescent? A 200? > > I have one LED bulb so far, a 60-watt equivalent. Useful in its current location but too damn dim for a couple other spots which still have incandescents in them. What I have started doing _in locations where there is room_ is buying one of [these splitters](http://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-2-Socket-Adapter-Ivory-54551/203742128) and screwing in two 60-watt equivalent LED bulbs. Two 60-watt equivalents give you the same light as a 100-watt equivalent and the whole combination is cheaper than any 100-watt equivalent now available. Sadly, this won’t work in all fixtures because of the extra space required. I was surprised to see that Home Depot now has [75-watt equivalent Cree LED](http://www.homedepot.com/p/Cree-75W-Equivalent-Soft-White-2700K-A19-Dimmable-LED-Light-Bulb-BA19-11027OMF-12DE26-1U110/204715054) bulbs. They cost about $20. There are [100-watt equivalent bulbs](http://store.earthled.com/collections/100-watt-a-shaped-led-replacement-bulbs?utm_campaign=6810&utm_term=100%20watt%20led&utm_medium=google&utm_source=trada&utm_nooverride=1&utm_content=31723627871#.Uvqqn866-yY) available, but they are very expensive. By the way, Switch LED has released a new line of bulbs that they say are suitable for enclosed fixtures. The new line is called [Infinia](http://store.earthled.com/collections/switch-led-lighting-store-buy-switch-led-light-bulbs#.UvqrH866-yY) and is available in 40 and 60 watt equivalents. They are comparable in price to the Cree bulbs. (They are also available at [homedepot.com](http://homedepot.com) (but at not stores) and at [amazon.com](http://amazon.com).) ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2014, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/109 "2014-02-11T23:18:43Z")
I may have 3 or 4 bulbs in a cabinet, but I wasn’t about to rush out and buy up a supply like my MIL did. I like CFLs just fine. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/110 "2014-02-14T16:02:48Z")
Still haven’t had a reason to use CFLs. Dad just grabs a case of incandescents from work and brings them home. We have an almost full case of 40 W and the same for 60 W. I don’t know how long they will last. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/111 "2014-02-14T20:53:21Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > I think you’re detecting something that doesn’t exist here. I watch the brake lights on a lot of vehicles, and the LED third brake light always comes on some milliseconds before the incandescent bulbs. [This](http://chemlinks.beloit.edu/BlueLight/pages/hp/an1155-3.pdf) says 200 miliseconds faster. LEDs are, in principle and in good fixtures, much faster than incandescents. (I work in entertainment lighting and dimming curves and speeds are a big fat deal to us.) An LED doesn’t take anywhere as long to heat up as an actual tungsten filament. However, I’ve seen cheap LED bulbs that do have a short delay, maybe as long as half a second, before they snap to full brightness. It’s not a warming up, slowly getting brighter problem like it is in old CFLs. There’s just a short delay before it jumps straight to full power. My best guess is that there’s a relay inside that needs to trip before the light turns on. > [@Laggard](#): > > I don’t understand the delay that some people experience when turning on CFLs. I double checked last night and none of our CFLs took more than a half a second to turn on. If you are in that much of a hurry that this is an issue perhaps you need to slow down a bit. > > We switched to all CFLS three years ago and still none have burnt out. I think that people are talking about CFLs that take a few moments to come to full brightness. I’ve never seen a CFL that doesn’t give some light immediately, but some CFLs can take as much as a minute to get to full brightness. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/112 "2014-02-14T22:15:11Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Still haven’t had a reason to use CFLs. Dad just grabs a case of incandescents from work and brings them home. We have an almost full case of 40 W and the same for 60 W. I don’t know how long they will last. Your electric bill? Your air conditioning bill? the environment? Global warming? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/113 "2014-02-14T22:43:47Z")
I’ll tell y’all where you can often get plenty of them, dirt cheap. Estate sales. I’ve been stocking up for quite some time. Who knows? If we ever have an Easy Bake Oven Apocalypse, they might make nice barter goods. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/114 "2014-02-14T22:49:43Z")
We have a few - like three or four - 40w and 60w left. Not because we have been hoarding; we just bought them sometime and haven’t used them yet. Most of our house is CFLs now except for a few odd halogen bulbs. My wife likes lamps; we have several in almost every room. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/115 "2014-02-14T23:00:16Z")
I entered ‘no incandescents,’ but by that I mean we have no stockpile. I suspect that there are a few fixtures that don’t get used often enough to have burned the last incancescent out. We’ve used up all of the spare ones, though. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/116 "2014-02-15T01:53:31Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > What country are you in? I can’t imagine a utility company doing that. They make money selling electricity and could care less how efficient anything in your house is. They do care about efficiency because: 1. They can’t build power plants and upgrade the grid so easily in built up areas. 2. They have incentives in the rate setting process that makes it worthwhile for them. They sell each customer 150kwh for $2, instead of 300kwh for $3. (I’m making up these numbers to illustrate the point). The utility makes more profit, the customer pays less money and there is less carbon put into the atmosphere. More mercury in the groundwater though, because most CFLs end up in landfills. The company I work for gets a rebate if we use less electricity during certain times. Effectively the rate goes up as usage goes up. ---
**Author:** ![Marion\_Wormer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Marion\_Wormer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marion_Wormer)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/117 "2014-02-15T02:05:51Z")
I have a half dozen. I use them for places where I need to maintain some low heat in the winter. For example, I keep a lit incandescent bulb strung at the end of an extension cord inside a washing machine that’s in an outdoor closet. Other people use them in places like kennels, and so on. What we’ll do when they’re completely unavailable, I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/118 "2014-02-15T02:15:29Z")
My issue with Compact Fluorescents and Halogen bulbs is they’re still very expensive - last time I replaced a CFL it was something like $5. I know they’ve come down in price but a 40w or 60w incandescent was about 60-85c by comparison, and for a light in the toilet or the under-stairs cupboard that was all you needed. ---
**Author:** ![Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/77aa72/32.png) [@Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fluffy_PickleSniffer)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/119 "2014-02-15T18:59:23Z")
I change maybe 2 incandescent bulbs a year, so though I haven’t consciously stockpiled any, the few boxes I have will probably last for another year or two. I did buy one box of CFL bulbs last year to try out - didn’t care for the light, and I burned through both bulbs within a month. So I don’t know if I had a bad brand (can’t remember - it was generic) or just bad luck, but it did put me off the things a bit. When the time comes in another year or two to get new bulbs, I’ll probably try LED’s and see if I like that light better. ---
**Author:** ![Mdcastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2014, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942/120 "2014-02-15T19:18:21Z")
I have a deep hatred of current LED and CFL bulbs, but I don’t have any incandescent bulbs stashed since halogen bulbs are still available. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-people-have-a-small-stash-of-incandescent-bulbs-cant-buy-them-anymore/680942.md?page=7)