Get Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs on the Cheap

Are you in the market for compact fluorescent lightbulbs?

If so, then check this out…

During a recent trip to Lowe’s, I discovered that they’re running a 2-for-1 deal on 4-packs of 13W compact fluorescent bulbs (Item #146558). This brings the price down to $7.98 for 8 bulbs, or a buck apiece. These bulbs are equivalent to 60W incandescent bulbs in terms of brightness, and this particular make performs quite well — they come on instantly, require minimal warmup to achieve full intensity, and the light quality is pretty darn good. According to the sign, the offer runs through January 1st.

All of this being said… It might be a “your mileage may vary” sort of thing, as the other store in town wasn’t aware of the special (though they honored it when I brought it to their attention). Nonetheless it can’t hurt to check.

For reference, these bulbs come in two different package types…

The first is a blister pack:

And the second is a box:

Published on December 7th, 2007 - 15 Comments
Filed under: Energy, House & Home
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About the author: Nickel is the founder and editor-in-chief of this site. He's a thirty-something family man who has been writing about personal finance since 2005, and guess what? He's on Twitter!

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15 Responses to “Get Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs on the Cheap”

1. 1
   Ryan S. Says:
   December 7th, 2007 at 12:25 pm

   At our 99 cent store here on the island, we can frequently get some off branded (I suspect Chinese made) compact fluourescent bulbs for either $.99 or $1.49. I’ve tried a couple and they seem to work just fine, no burn outs or anything else weird.

2. 2
   MoneyNing Says:
   December 7th, 2007 at 12:35 pm

   Fluorescent Lightbulbs should be one of the best invention of the century. It saves so much money and energy in the world and I’m so surprised that not more people are taking advantage of it.

3. 3
   JB Says:
   December 7th, 2007 at 3:46 pm

   So are there any good ideas on what to do with all those unused regular lightbulbs? Hate to see them all going to the landfill…

4. 4
   Jessie Says:
   December 8th, 2007 at 9:10 am

   Wow…I’m old enough to remember when CFLs were about $20 each and were not in mainstream stores at all. They had to be special-ordered from “environmental” catalogs like Gaiam or Real Goods. It took an affluent and dedicated consumer to wait years for the payback, sometimes longer than the bulbs lasted. I have them in every room now and am delighted.

5. 5
   Erin Says:
   December 8th, 2007 at 12:00 pm

   Ohhh, great deal! Thanks. I have some of the Lowe’s bulbs and like they don’t have the warm up time that some of the other flourescent bulbs have. I’ve been slowly changing all our bulbs to flourescent and trying out different brands along the way. Theirs is my favorite.

   I’ll have to check to see if our stores here have the same deal.

6. 6
   Eric Says:
   December 8th, 2007 at 4:23 pm

   I have used this brand. They work but it takes a second to fliker on. This is very annoying for me and won’t buy again. Just FYI.

7. 7
   nickel Says:
   December 8th, 2007 at 5:56 pm

   Eric: My house is full of these bulbs (along with the store brand from Home Depot), and they do not flicker when they come on. You must’ve gotten a bad batch.

8. 8
   a_m_m_b Says:
   December 9th, 2007 at 1:41 pm

   these sound like a great way to finally make the switch *however* i’d really like to know if these CFLs (or others) will produce the natural spectrum which is so much easier & better for vision. . . .

9. 9
   used vans girl Says:
   December 10th, 2007 at 5:25 am

   Have started using fluorescent bulbs throughout the house and managed to pick up some good deals of ebay from time to time. Prices in the UK are still expensive for decent bulbs and I’m not sure if US bulbs will work with UK 240v. I haven’t managed to find any bright enough for our office/computer room yet though. As the ones I have tried up until now seem much dimmer or a different colour spectrum than the equivalent conventional bulbs and hence seem to strain my eyes.

10. 10
    Eric Says:
    December 10th, 2007 at 9:14 pm

    Nickel – Having a bad batch never occurred to me – possible.
    a_m_m_b – I have used different colors CFLs (soft white, bright white, and daylight) depending on the lightening I want for the room.

11. 11
    nickel Says:
    December 10th, 2007 at 11:38 pm

    a_m_m_b: I have no idea. What I can say is this… I’ve tried some CFLs and hated the light quality. That’s not the case with these bulbs, though there’s a good bit of personal preference involved.

12. 12
    creditnine Says:
    December 10th, 2007 at 11:52 pm

    Crazy man.. can you imagine having up some flurocent lights in your house. I would have to buy some glasses so i didnt go blind!

13. 13
    nickel Says:
    December 11th, 2007 at 8:51 am

    creditnine: Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. While the light quality sucks for some CF bulbs, others (including these Lowe’s bulbs) are actually pretty good.

14. 14
    SingleGuyMoney Says:
    December 15th, 2007 at 9:58 pm

    I need to get over to Lowe’s and get some of those before Jan 1.

15. 15
    Meg Says:
    January 7th, 2008 at 3:04 am

    Aw, I missed the special. One of my new year resolutions were to switch all my bulbs to CFLs this year.