Old-Fashioned, Inefficient Light Bulbs Live On at the Nation's Dollar Stores

[douglas9]

For years, Deborah Turner bought her light bulbs at one of the many dollar stores that serve her neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio.

But the bulbs for sale were highly inefficient, shorter lasting, incandescent ones — the pear-shaped orbs with glowing wire centers — meaning that over time Mrs. Turner, who lives in a neighborhood where a quarter of the residents are below the poverty line, would spend hundreds of dollars more on electrical bills, because of the extra power they use, than if she’d purchased energy-saving LED lights.

It’s a pattern repeated nationwide. Research has shown that lower-end retailers like dollar stores or convenience shops still extensively stock their shelves with traditional or halogen incandescent bulbs, even as stores serving more affluent communities have shifted to selling far more efficient LEDs. One Michigan study, for instance, found that not only were LED bulbs less available in poorer areas, they also tended to cost on average $2.50 more per bulb than in wealthier communities.

“You just don’t see them in places like Dollar General,” said Mrs. Turner, a semi-retired addiction-treatment counselor.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/23/climate/led-light-bulbs-dollar-store.html

[bucolic_frolic]

1. I don't know where NYT gets its information, but my LEDs are all from Dollar Tree

That's all my local stores have carried for about 2-3 years.

[jimfields33]

11. I agree. I could go right now and buy LEDs from dollar tree.

I definitely got my LED Christmas lights there a few months ago.

[TheBlackAdder]

27. Yep. I switched from incandescent to CFL and monthly bill went dow $25. LED another $9 a month.

.

So, just by changing out my lights over to LED, I saved $34 a month. That's over $400 a year!

.

[Blues Heron]

2. the problem with LEDs is people put up four times as many because theyre more efficient

boom - efficiency squandered- gone. If a light uses half the power but you put in 4 bulbs for every bad old bulb, you are now using twice the power as before. This is what I am seeing in my neighborhood - zillions of new obnoxious piercingly bright LED lights when before there were fewer, warmer, nicer bulbs.

You only get the savings if you keep the same number of bulbs. Thats not happening. And its because people feel they can now put in as many as they want.

People lately seem to totally enamored of zillions of lights - lights on strings, lights in their backyard, security lights, lights on in schools all night long, etc. etc. bye bye savings !

They did a streetscape project here and literally put in 4 bulbs for every old one.

[Sherman A1]

5. I have not seen what you are describing anywhere

and have not done so myself. I replaced all my incandescent years ago with CFLs then shifted to LEDs when they became more available at a more reasonable price. Now that is all I use save for appliance bulbs.

[Blues Heron]

8. consider yourself lucky

its terrible, they have destroyed the vibe of our neighborhood. The light pollution is off the charts. I have to wear my sunglasses at night practically!

[jimfields33]

12. I've seen it as well but didn't find it as horrible.

I can see your point though.

[brush]

13. I think they're talking about home use where fixtures have...

a fixed number of sockets. You can't use four bulbs in a one-socket fixture. And why would one want to as you just want to replace the one burnt out bulb?

[Blues Heron]

14. they put them up outside

usually pointing straight into the neighbors windows. All the new condos have zillions of in-ceiling fixtures - five for the kitchen, five more for the living room. Then the builders turn them on and leave them on 24/7 for months while they show the units. but its OK cause theyre LEDs!

[NickB79]

21. There are splitter sockets that you can screw in and add bulbs

I must confess, I've added quite a few extra LED bulbs in my dark, unfinished basement using splitters, for exactly the reason Blue Heron said.

[brush]

22. Sounds reasonable in a dark, unfinished basement.

[USALiberal]

30. I've never seen someone put in four bulbs for one. I'm not sure where you're seeing this.

[Blues Heron]

31. They did just that for our streetscape

4 bulbs for every preexisting one. Light pollution is on the upswing big time. It’s hard to miss.

[demmiblue]

3. I haven't seen an incandescent light bulb at the dollar store in years.

I have seen night lights that use incandescent bulbs, as well as incandescent bulbs sold separately for nightlights, but the vast majority of nightlights for sale are LED.

[Sherman A1]

6. Same here

I have seen a few specialty type bulbs in incandescent, but that is the only type I have seen in at least 5 years if not longer.

[kentuck]

4. They are hard to find.

I use them to heat up home-made cat homes. I cut a hole in the top of a cardboard box and set a clay pot inside the hole and then place the spotlight in the clay pot and it heats up the box quite well for them.

[MagickMuffin]

9. Do you have any pics?

I'd love to provide a warmer spot for my outdoor kitties. I've made them warm places to stay but the addition of a light to help warm things up would be ideal.

Strays find us and we get them fixed so no more unwanted kitties roaming around. So, we feed them, tend to their wounds (too many alpha males even after neutering) and provide sleeping rooms.

They have a Blue Hotel (old stand dresser) then there's the wooden boxes (used girl's kitchenette, sink & stove) we call them condos, then there's just plain ol cardboard boxes with straw and blankets.

They tend to love sleeping in them, but having it just a wee bit warmer would be an extra gift to give them.


Thx for keeping your kitties warm and caring for them. It's what we do!

[kentuck]

10. Sorry...no pics.

I just use flower pots with a hole in the bottom and sit the lamp inside the pot. It heats up the pot as some of the heat goes thru the hole in the bottom of the pot. It absorbs the heat and keeps it from getting too hot. The box should not be too big - just big enough for the cat to get inside comfortably. I fold up a towel and put in the bottom of the box. They prefer that it be off the floor away from the other critters.

[madville]

23. Reptile heat lamp bulbs

They’re readily available online and at pet stores.

[David__77]

7. I've noticed this for some time.

Where I live, Dollar Tree has incandescents that skirt efficiency rules by formally being “specialty” lamps for exterior use or something like that.

[Hortensis]

15. Reminds me of the people on a home decorating forum, normally

without politics, who angrily reported they were stocking up incandescents before the government made them disappear. Some probably still have them gathering dust wherever, like to think so anyway, but most likely "donated" them long ago now.

[llmart]

16. I, for one, am so glad I don't have to continuously change light bulbs any longer.

I also think the LED's are safer since they don't heat up as much.

[Hortensis]

17. Yes, I love these things. Wasn't crazy about the color

of the light available in the very beginning but thought it was important to switch to them. Lol, remembering a grandson running into one when they bought an old house. He'd never seen one before and wanted to show it to his friends. Before long,...

[RobinA]

25. I Still Don't Like

the color. There's just something funky about LEDs that I'm not enough of a physicist to understand. And I have the "warm ones." They do have their uses, but I wish both were available.

[Hortensis]

29. Huh. I don't mind any difference. Probably should keep it that way. :)

We do have a pair of antique fixtures that only old bulbs fit in and provide enough light, but now we usually leave them off. My sense of smell isn't nearly as well developed as I'd like either, but sometimes that works for me too.

[wishstar]

18. Dollar Tree has sold 2 LED bulbs (of varying brightness) for $1 for several years (now $1.25 for 2)

I haven't had to buy many because so far they have held up under long usage in my fixtures since I first bought the Dollar Tree bulbs.

My electric usage has gone down too over past 2 years or so with no other changes in usage or appliances besides the LED bulbs.

About 5 years ago we bought 3 LED strip light fixtures from Lowe's for our basement workshop replacing the worn out flourescent strip lights instead of buying new fluorescent bulbs. They have been great also but I noticed the price has gone up since we bought those.

[RobinA]

26. I Agree

I would like the option of using both. I find it difficult to read by LED, no matter how bright it is. It's bright, but it's not. I can't explain it.

[TheBlackAdder]

28. Then you must also have a CRT monitor, TV and a 2G phone as the ones 5 years and newer use LEDs.

.

My sister says the same thing about lights, but sits behind an LED monitor 6-8 hours a day.

Her TV is a large Sony LED display, as well as her cell phone. Most of her appliances are LEDs too.

.

[Lucid Dreamer]

20. I've changed over to LEDs except for 4 lamps that use 3 way bulbs.

Those are hard to find sometimes.

[madville]

24. What dollar stores are they going to? Mine have them

The Dollar General and Family Dollar here both carry LED bulbs. Like others have said in the thread, Dollar Tree has had LED bulbs for $1 for awhile.

If someone really wants LED bulbs and they have no means to get to a Walmart or Target or Home Depot or Lowes or practically any other store that carries them, maybe they should order some from Amazon or Walmart to be delivered.

[Patterson]

32. I don't have any unused light bulb holes to add bulbs to. That argument is bogus.

[JCMach1]

33. Kind of an unfair hit here... I usually buy LED's from Dollar Tree .. And yes, they do have the old

fashioned bulbs, which is kinda ok. There are just some things that require that type of bulb where there is not yet an LED equivalent.

Just a small example... I have a tin punch (Amish) wax melter. Well, you need that small incandescent for the heat.