Anyone know what are the best incandescent lights and where to buy?

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Anyone know what are the best incandescent lights and where to buy?

SuperLaura
Hi guys!

I am looking online for incandescent light bulbs. Most of them look white and I was hoping to find lights that are warm. I also see “bug lights” that are a soft yellow which look nice but I am not sure about the yellow coatings and if they would emit any fumes. Anyone know of ones that are good and where to find them (preferably on amazon)? I am looking for less than 40 watts (probably 25 or 15 watts) so they are easy on the eyes.

Thanks!
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Re: Anyone know what are the best incandescent lights and where to buy?

earthworm
All incandescent light bulbs are warm.
Best are those with clear glass without a coating.
All "warm" LED-lamps are horrible imitations, emitting nasty emfs as a bonus.
In europe incandesdent bulbs are illegal now but still to get here and there in shops.
A bit less warm but still giving natural light are halogen bulbs.
These will be declared forbidden as well within a few years over here.
I have a few hundred incandesdent and halogen bulbs in storage already.
Preferable are the halogen bulbs that work on 230 or 110 volt and do not require a transformer.
Unless you have a 12 volt DC system of course, which is to most ideal solution.
On AC the light still flickers at 50 or 60 Hz, which is less peaceful.
When searching for Incandesdent lamps, these may be offered as "heat lamps".
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Re: Anyone know what are the best incandescent lights and where to buy?

Marc Martin
Administrator
In reply to this post by SuperLaura
In the USA, there are still a few companies that make a variety of incandescent light bulbs.  I'm not sure which one might be considered "the best".  I used to always use neodymium bulbs from Chromalux, but more recently I'm not convinced that this is the healthiest spectrum of light, as certain frequencies are suppressed.  SoLux makes the best approximation of natural sunshine, but these bulbs are higher wattage than you want, and also very expensive.  Aero-Tech makes a variety of bulbs, and I know they have 25 watt bulbs (http://lightbulb.aerolights.com/category/aero-tech-bulbs-20-000-hours).  There are also other companies on Amazon.  On Amazon, I tend to buy bulbs rated at 130 volts (not 120), which makes less them less likely to burn out from a spike in power (so they last longer).

But again, I'm not sure which one is "the best", and my house currently has bulbs from a variety of companies (all incandescent).

Marc
 
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Re: Anyone know what are the best incandescent lights and where to buy?

earthworm
Sure, what is "best" remains both subjective and debatable.
I never heard before of other than the common cheap incandesdent with tungsten glow-wires lasting only about 1000 hours, except that long-lasting incandescent bulbs were invented but never sold in order to boost sales.
I wonder what materials are used exactly in these Aero-tech 20.000 hours incandescent bulbs, but it looks like a good deal.
And if these are available in a 230 volt version.
The official banning in europe is not taken that serious by everyone :
https://www.thelightbulb.co.uk/light-bulbs/incandescent
And anyway it looks like incandescent lightbulbs will come back with a vengeance :
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3394807/Light-bulbs-banned-EU-make-comeback-breakthrough-means-use-energy.html


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Re: Anyone know what are the best incandescent lights and where to buy?

Marc Martin
Administrator
The "20,000" hour bulbs just typically have a thicker, stronger filament inside them.  Unfortunately, I do not find these 20,000 hour bulbs to last that long.  I think they are still susceptible to voltage spikes, so I have switched to bulbs rated at 130 volts, which actually seem to last longer because they survive these voltage spikes.

Also, many of the more modern incandescent bulbs now have halogen or other gases inside the bulb to make them more efficient, which I don't think has any effect on ES, but it does make the color of the light different.

Marc
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Re: Anyone know what are the best incandescent lights and where to buy?

Marc Martin
Administrator
Also, besides Amazon, I've recently purchased incandescent bulbs from the following sites:

  http://normanlamps.com/incandescent
  https://www.eslsupply.com/search-results/?search_query_adv=incandescent


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Re: Anyone know what are the best incandescent lights and where to buy?

Karl
In reply to this post by SuperLaura
I'll second Marc's advice to buy 130V bulbs, although they tend to consume more power per lumen.

For general lighting I've been using 60W Bulbrite 130V incandescents. I'd rate their color as pretty warn, and that's likely to be true of most 130V bulbs when you run them at 120V.

These are probably the warmest and most pleasant lights I have (and by far the most durable): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00H54TTSI

I've also had decent luck with these: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002CZ1E4M

Most of the others I've tried have been bad or awful.

These are so fragile that about a third of them have broken at the base when I installed or replaced them: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00U2TA9M8

These were one of the least reliable products I've ever purchased (which is unfortunate because they're compact, efficient and relatively cheap): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00WHZ9F3E

Out of 24, more than a quarter burned out in the first two weeks.

(Amazon seems to have 'reset' the reviews. There were a few pages of them and many were negative. Maybe Philips convinced them that it was a temporary manufacturing problem.)

These were only slightly better: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M191MUC

I have some of these on order and will see if they're any good: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TM1JG7Q
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Re: Anyone know what are the best incandescent lights and where to buy?

earthworm
Perhaps in the u.s.a. voltage spikes are more of an issue than in europe.
I hardly ever dealt with these problems, but also not with fragile bulbs, so maybe it has to do with quality standards, although shops are filled here with all kinds of chinese garbage these days, so that does not seem a plausible explanation.
There is no difference in colour temperature in europe either, as far as i noticed.
Except of course that halogen bulbs, essentially an improved, longer lasting and more efficient version of incandescent bulbs, are less warm, a bit more white like daylight.
The most important factor concerning incandescent light is that the whole spectrum of coulours, from red to violet, in every frequency ( and part thereof ), is represented in an even and hence natural manner.
Red ( usually experienced and defined as warm ) is a bit stronger in non-halogen incandesdent light ( but apart from that inclination still evenly spread, without spikes or weak frequencies, or missing ones like cfls and led's do ), and candle-light is even more reddish.
The repetitious flicker from AC at 50 or 60 Hz plus from dirty electricity, also present in incandescent light fed by 110 / 230 volt alternating current, is ( in my view ) a less important factor, but still stressfull and insane.
Emf-wise, incandescent bulbs are also way superior to cfls and leds, and those running on even DC the absolute best among electrical light-sources, the latter basically being a natural flame behind glass.








 
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Re: Anyone know what are the best incandescent lights and where to buy?

SuperLaura
In reply to this post by Marc Martin
Thanks everyone for your tips. I really don’t know what is the difference between halogen and incandescent. The ones I have now seem to be okay, they are 40W 130V incandescent bulbs, but they are a bit bright for me. With my light sensitivity I think they have to be frosted because the clear ones would hurt my eyes. I looked at all the links but I didn’t see any bulbs less than 40W that were frosted. Also I am in the US.

I found these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BQ7WWC/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

Unfortunately one of the reviews says the light is bluish so I don’t know??

I found some of the bulbs in my home are 100W halogen. I guess if I can’t find anything less than 40W... more 40W will have to do. Its crazy that you can’t buy incandescent in some countries!!
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Re: Anyone know what are the best incandescent lights and where to buy?

Marc Martin
Administrator
> I found these:
>
> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BQ7WWC/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
>
> Unfortunately one of the reviews says the light is bluish so I don’t know...

Hmmm, the specs on that bulb says that it has a color temperature of 2700, which is not blue.  That's a normal incandescent bulb.

Of course, on Amazon, sometimes they send you the wrong item, or reviews get mad for the wrong item, so you should look at the packaging when it arrives.

Marc
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Re: Anyone know what are the best incandescent lights and where to buy?

Karl
In reply to this post by SuperLaura
SuperLaura wrote
I looked at all the links but I didn’t see any bulbs less than 40W that were frosted.
You might have better luck looking at candelabra or reading-light bulbs, since the former are often frosted and both are intended for low-light applications. Searching by the type of base/socket would be a good place to start: "E13"  "GU5.3"  "G4"  "G8"  "bi-pin"

You would need an adapter, but those last forever and aren't too expensive.

Its crazy that you can’t buy incandescent in some countries!!
I love Europe in a lot of ways and have family throughout Austria, but the Occidental fondness for trigger-happy regulation is one of the reasons I haven't wanted to move there. They've made it illegal to drive old diesels, and even banned them on sailboats (where the engine is mainly a safety precaution and is rarely used).
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Re: Anyone know what are the best incandescent lights and where to buy?

ED.vs.EMR
In reply to this post by Marc Martin
On Apr 25, 2018, at 12:24 PM, "Marc Martin [via ES]" <[hidden email]> wrote:
[...]
Also, many of the more modern incandescent bulbs now have halogen or other gases inside the bulb...
[...]

True.  Read labels carefully   as they try to mislead.  

My mother had bought some supposedly Incandescents but she did not notice the small light-grey print on the SIDE of the package (not on the front or back) where it said the bulb contained Halogen.

Halogen is gas & can explode. IIRC, the info said even a small scratch on the surface of the bulb could weaken it & cause it to explode.  For that reason alone I say No Thanks to hybrid bulbs with Halogen, but others may be more brave. ;)

In USA, 100%-Incandescents were never outlawed for:
--Colored Bulbs
--Appliance Bulbs
--Shatter-Proof Bulbs
--& I think Candelabra type "B" bulbs
--& maybe other categories.  
--Wiki had a thorough article, at least it did a few years back when govts. began this anti-Incandescents nonsense.

image.jpeg

~~~~~~~~~~

Electrician's Daughter (ED)
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Re: Anyone know what are the best incandescent lights and where to buy?

Karl
In reply to this post by SuperLaura
This is a really old thread, but I just visited a Menard's store and saw a wide selection of 15-30W frosted incandescent bulbs with normal threads:

https://www.menards.com/main/electrical/light-bulbs/incandescent-light-bulbs/sylvania-reg-25-watt-g16-5-dimmable-incandescent-light-bulbs-2-pack/10297/p-1444431868633-c-7481.htm

https://www.menards.com/main/electrical/light-bulbs/incandescent-light-bulbs/sylvania-reg-25-watt-a19-dimmable-incandescent-light-bulbs-2-pack/10562/p-1444431869167-c-7481.htm

Prices are $1-1.25 per bulb in packs of two (vs. $2-3 on Amazon), and ~$0.60 if you order a 120-bulb case from the website:

https://www.menards.com/main/electrical/light-bulbs/incandescent-light-bulbs/sylvania-reg-25-watt-a19-dimmable-incandescent-light-bulbs-120-pack/10694/p-1444431876225-c-7481.htm

Lots of 40W and 60W bulbs available also.

Unfortunately Menard's only has stores in the Upper Midwest, but most likely they would ship elsewhere.
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Re: Anyone know what are the best incandescent lights and where to buy?

Puff
This post was updated on .
Hmm. I don't tolerate incandescent bulbs well (I prefer halogen), but here's the best deal [on incandescent lightbulbs] I know about, without doing more research ($1 a bulb, not counting shipping; they're three-way bulbs):

https://www.dollartree.com/sunbeam-mighty-bulb-soft-white-3-way-bulbs/823958

20 bulbs for $20. I'm not sure how much shipping costs.

You can buy them at The Dollar Tree in person, $1 a bulb. They don't last a long time.
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Re: Anyone know what are the best incandescent lights and where to buy?

Karl
I agree about halogens, but SuperLaura asked specifically about incandescents.

(I'm using these: https://www.menards.com/main/electrical/light-bulbs/halogen-light-bulbs/sylvania-60w-halogen-light-bulb-2-pack/52560/p-1538375203563-c-7479.htm)
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Re: Anyone know what are the best incandescent lights and where to buy?

Puff
Cool. The three-way bulbs I linked to at the Dollar Tree are incandescent. My mention of halogens was just an FYI sort of thing.

Karl wrote
I agree about halogens, but SuperLaura asked specifically about incandescents.

(I'm using these: https://www.menards.com/main/electrical/light-bulbs/halogen-light-bulbs/sylvania-60w-halogen-light-bulb-2-pack/52560/p-1538375203563-c-7479.htm)
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Re: Anyone know what are the best incandescent lights and where to buy?

kara
In reply to this post by SuperLaura
We used to have a 1 Euro shop (selling mostly cheap plastic things, and I would not shop there normally) in the nearest town here, but my friend told me about the  incandescent lightbulbs they were "dumping", apparently because they are "outdated", I bought quite a few of them, but they stopped selling them after some months. Probably these kind of shops sometimes buy up stuff other shops don't want or cant't sell anymore. Maybe you might have similar shops in your area. I used to buy online some years ago, but the shipping was expensive (fragile). Not sure how things are now.
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Re: Anyone know what are the best incandescent lights and where to buy?

Marc Martin
Administrator
On December 27, kara [via ES] <[hidden email]> wrote:
> I used to buy online some years ago, but the shipping was expensive (fragile). Not
> sure how things are now.

I've been buying all of my light bulbs online for many years now.  It's true that they sometimes (rarely) arrive broken, but I don't think that has happened to me for years.  Of course it all depends on how well they are packaged, which comes down to the specific seller.

Marc
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Re: Anyone know what are the best incandescent lights and where to buy?

Karl
In reply to this post by Puff
Puff wrote
The three-way bulbs I linked to at the Dollar Tree are incandescent.
They look like a really good deal, too :)