compact fluorescent light bulbs, CA only?

[mechou]

First deal post, so please be gentle....

Went to Albertson's (in San Francisco Bay Area) today and they have compact fluorescent light bulbs, 4 for $1.00 (4 bulbs in a box). They had both the 18W and 23W (equivalent to 75W and 100W incandescents, respectively). These are the "soft whites" that correspond to a color temperature of 2700K. There are no rebates required.

This is part of Albertson's 10 (items) for $10 deals. You _don't_ need to buy 10 items to qualify for deal.

So do your civic duty, conserve energy and save on your electric bills!

 

[kaborka]

Dang, I just threw out the SoCal Albertson's ad yesterday. I'll have to check this out. Thanks for the post -- a hot deal on cool bulbs.

 

[kindest]

i changed all my light bulbs to cfl's this last year.
not so much im a cheapskate more so for the enviornment.

damn you al gore.

 

[feelingshorter]

The 23 watt one wont equal a 100 watt light bulb. It might be cheap because these might be the older light bulbs that dont shine as well as the newer ones despite both being rate at 100w. I have a 26 watt one and a brighter 31 watt one rated equal to 100w. Unless its a different company that manufactures it, with my experience, the brightest CFLs that you can buy equal to a regular 100w bulb would be the 31w CFLs. Very hot deal though!

 

[Vette73]

There are good CGLs and cheap ones. The GE ones we get from sams are really good and offer good light for their rating.

I have heard of the cheap ones not offering as much light and/or burning out. But at 4 for $1 that can't be beat. Even if they only last half as long as they say.

But yea probable a CA only thing. I think the power company subsidizes them?

 

[Keyone]

CFLs are subsidized to hell in CA lol!

No really though, great deal and I use fluorescents in everything.

 

[mikeford]

Edison subsidy oked by the PUC, so basically I am paying for them with my electricity usage.

Best I have seen so far were $10 at Home Depot, company wasn't familiar to me, Nlight or something like that, 42 watts and 2600 lumens, and currently taking the place of a 50/200/250 3 way my wife put in. Pay no attention to the watt claims, read the lumen's of output.

 

[rugger29]

mechou, that's a fantastic deal, thanks for the post! Last year I went to CFL, cuz well.... it just makes sense. The lower power consumption is great. Also, for me, I have a lot of hard to reach bulbs. The CFLs last for years, so that makes for one less chore around the house. Oh, and if anyone is looking for reasonable prices on replacements for globes/decorative/chandelier lights, check this place out:

http://usaled.com/

their website is a mess, (they mainly sell through ebay), but they have great prices and each of their bulbs comes with a mini to medium adapter so their bulbs can be used in either mini or medium bases.

 

[DannyLove]

heh, interesting, I actually work for Edison for this exact program. But we don't cover San Fran, but you can find plenty of cheaply priced CFL's all over Albertson's and Walmarts. I have a list of plenty of other stores as well. 4 for $1 is a great deal as I mainly see these priced at less than $1 per product.

 

[mrrman]

I wish more stores or any stores carried the dimmable CF lights, can only buy them on Ebay. My entire house has these lights installed, love them.

 

[TheJollyFellow]

Originally posted by: feelingshorter
The 23 watt one wont equal a 100 watt light bulb. It might be cheap because these might be the older light bulbs that dont shine as well as the newer ones despite both being rate at 100w. I have a 26 watt one and a brighter 31 watt one rated equal to 100w. Unless its a different company that manufactures it, with my experience, the brightest CFLs that you can buy equal to a regular 100w bulb would be the 31w CFLs. Very hot deal though!

The old-old CFLs, I mean like 3-4+ years old, used 31 watts of power to produce 100watts of incandescent light. Any bulb produced 3-2 years ago up to now, use only 23watts of power to produce 100watts of incandescent light. The newest, and most expensive, bulbs which are just starting to be produced use only 19watts of power for 100watts of incandescent light. The most common 'color' of CFL bulbs, 'soft white', actually produces more lumens than a 'soft white' incandescent bulb, because incandescent bulbs automatically produce a yellow light color, and CFLs automatically produce a white light color. The white appears much brighter to your eyes, and it creates more of a 'crisp' appearance rather than a 'soft' appearance. Again, the newest CFL bulbs are beginning to solve this problem by using a slightly different mixture of gases to produce a yellow-ish color light.

 

[13Gigatons]

Just got some of these and they look pretty nasty, not as bad as they use to but still pretty bad. You definitly need a good lampshade or diffuser.

 

[IW]

Most all DEALS that appear on CF bulbs are subsidized by the local utility company.

Thus, unless you live in an area served by the same utility, it's unlikely that you will have the same special going on.

Northern California is served by Pacific Gas and Electric, PG&E. Southern California is NOT served by them and years ago when I lived there I remember Southern California Edison was the one I made the electric bill checks to.

So postings like this should have the geographical location of the good deal in the subject so those who aren't in that area can move on.

 

[KPACOTKA]

Who's manufacturer? Philips? I tried several times and all times bulbs were defective. Started blinking after a week of use, returned back. GE seems more reliable.

 

[knightc2]

I have gradually made the switch to fluorescents and I love them. So far they have lasted far longer than my incandesent bulbs. Too bad I don't have an Albertsons anywhere nearby. Oh well. Great deal by the way. Just remember that fluorescent contain mercury so you need recycle them when they go bad or you are negating the environmental impact they have by using them.

 

[DannyLove]

Originally posted by: KPACOTKA
Who's manufacturer? Philips? I tried several times and all times bulbs were defective. Started blinking after a week of use, returned back. GE seems more reliable.

If you're in the so cal area it won't be Philips with these deals. I don't have a list of manufactures for PG&E or SD&E.

Where are you from knightc2? Maybe I can tell you which stores will have them

 

[Jetster]

if you live around western ny area, Tops supermarket has 3 GE 15w cfb for 6 bucks, i paid $5 for just one not long ago, they are very bright and last a long time. i never had one failed on me, did break 2 by dropping them though. compare to regular ones, which tend to burned out ever so often, especially when they are installed outside and it's cold...