10 Pack Energy Saver 13W light bulbs 3.99$ + Tax @ Costco BM

Costco store in Issaquah,WA is having 10 pack energy saver bulbs 13W (equivalent of normal 60w) bulbs for
13.99 - 10 (Manufacturers instant rebate) = 3.99$. I picked up one.

I think it should be there in all costco stores across the country.

At this price it is a steal the 4$ + tax would be recovered if all 10 bulbs are used for 100 hrs each.. just approximately.

These used to be for $3.99 in Fremont, CA but now the instant rebate has been reduced. These are going for $7.50 after instant manufacturer rebate now. Last year there used to be a $10 PG&E instant rebate that made these bulbs $3.99.

Anyone notice these so called "green" flourescent bulbs which are going to save the planet ALL contain Mercury and are considered hazardous waste.They are suppose to be disposed of properly but I have not heard of any of the flouescent pushers even mention this.Just my 2 cents!

arniearni said: Anyone notice these so called "green" flourescent bulbs which are going to save the planet ALL contain Mercury and are considered hazardous waste.They are suppose to be disposed of properly but I have not heard of any of the flouescent pushers even mention this.Just my 2 cents!
You are correct, but the greenies also say that the total emissions of Hg from power plants is greater with standard bulbs over the life of the bulb. Only problem is the Hg is inside your house if you break the bulb, or in your local landfill. In addition, few places recycle these bulbs. I understand you can take your burnt out CFLs to Home Depot or Lowes, but don't know that for a fact.
I broke a 4' bulb once, and you can actually see tiny blobs of mercury inside. Reminds me of high school chem class where we played with it, no gloves, no masks!!!

teraman said: Bibba said: The $4 will be more than recovered if even 1 of the 10 bulbs is used. I use these bulbs from costco in virtually every light in my home. The light is slightly different as compared to traditional lighting. I upgraded some of the lights to the 100w equivelent bulbs they usually discount at the same time. It's really a no brainer, more light, less money.
Me and my wife have also noticed that one of these equivalent lights is generally less bright than the old lights. I need some 125 watt equivalents to replace my 100 watt bulbs so I can still see...

The light color and distribution is different. I think the brightness is comparable.

OP, you should mention that deal is YMMV because I was at Brooklyn, NY Costco today and this 10 pack was $13.99. This instant rebate is probably substitized by the local utility company.

muczen said: For facts on Mercury in CFLs here is some info from the DOE. Personally, I think it is a step in the right direction that we continually look for ways to do more with less. I do think some math should be done though because I read that there are 4.5 million sockets in the US that could be changed over to CFL. When you start talking those kinds of numbers even a trace of something is no longer insignifigant. I would think that the disposal of batteries is a similar issue.

DOE Info on CFL (Mercury also)

4.5 million sockets? More like 45 or even 450 million. I have 55 cfl bulbs in my house and I still have not converted them all!

yes. there are tons of CFL bulbs. you get what you pay for. high quality ones with many color temps from traditional yellow to whiter to white blue. CR indexes ranging from 70 to 92 (incandescent clear bulb or sunlight is 100) (color rendering). Dimmer friendly, spotlights. yadda.

i'm about to setup 5 spotlights outside and replace the overhead 125 watt indoor with 23 watt high quality CFL floods. Light up the whole house at night and reduce heat and inside power to gain safety and net flush on power.

Also since the vibrations of the house don't really affect CFL's like filament bulbs they last ALOT longer.

Might have had some interest until the government decided to FORCE me to use them. Now, I think I'll just continue to hoard incandescent bulbs.

faldoc said: arniearni said: Anyone notice these so called "green" flourescent bulbs which are going to save the planet ALL contain Mercury and are considered hazardous waste.They are suppose to be disposed of properly but I have not heard of any of the flouescent pushers even mention this.Just my 2 cents!
You are correct, but the greenies also say that the total emissions of Hg from power plants is greater with standard bulbs over the life of the bulb. Only problem is the Hg is inside your house if you break the bulb, or in your local landfill. In addition, few places recycle these bulbs. I understand you can take your burnt out CFLs to Home Depot or Lowes, but don't know that for a fact.
I broke a 4' bulb once, and you can actually see tiny blobs of mercury inside. Reminds me of high school chem class where we played with it, no gloves, no masks!!!

You can recycle CFL's at IKEA in all locations. No Home Depot or Lowe's accepts them for recycling in the Washington, DC area.

faldoc said: arniearni said: Anyone notice these so called "green" flourescent bulbs which are going to save the planet ALL contain Mercury and are considered hazardous waste.They are suppose to be disposed of properly but I have not heard of any of the flouescent pushers even mention this.Just my 2 cents!
You are correct, but the greenies also say that the total emissions of Hg from power plants is greater with standard bulbs over the life of the bulb. Only problem is the Hg is inside your house if you break the bulb, or in your local landfill. In addition, few places recycle these bulbs. I understand you can take your burnt out CFLs to Home Depot or Lowes, but don't know that for a fact.
I broke a 4' bulb once, and you can actually see tiny blobs of mercury inside. Reminds me of high school chem class where we played with it, no gloves, no masks!!!

We have a 9 month old in the house, and happened to be unscrewing a CFL that was not working (purchased from costco), and the thing cracked at the base, exposing a path for the mercury inside to get out (I did not see the globule inside - was not sure if it had vaporized). We freaked out, and long story short, we have replaced all the CFLs with incandescent bulbs. OT for most, so apologies in advance. I asked Home Depot, and they had no clue if that location recycled CFLs.

I would have jumped all over this if not for the kid. Thanks for sharing OP!

JameyF said:
Yep. I'm sure LED's have something wrong with them too, but they will be the "greenest" by far. LED's last a ton longer than CFL or incandescent. I can see people using high quality LEDs when they build a house and have the same ones in most of the sockets with they move out. Add to that much lower heat output, and brighter bulbs can be used so a room can be made brighter. I just wonder how dimmers are going to work on those.

Some, but not all, LED work fine with dimmers. There's no doubt the LEDs are the light of the future for most applications, unless something better comes along.

LEDs are fine for low voltage DC (batteries), but require some type of transformer to run on line voltage (110V AC). Since LEDs have a very long life, the first LED household lighting will likely be sealed, meaning that if/when the device fails, you replace the entire fixture.

No instant rebate in Northern Virginia - Price is $13.99.

shank said: LEDs are fine for low voltage DC (batteries), but require some type of transformer to run on line voltage (110V AC). Since LEDs have a very long life, the first LED household lighting will likely be sealed, meaning that if/when the device fails, you replace the entire fixture.

I have converted to CFL back in 2002, and have never looked back. I bought them at Costco when they had 10-pack for $1.50 in CT. So far, I lost 3 bulbs, but it was because my outside light was inverted and the heat was killing the ballast. I bought up-right outside light fixtures and have no problems.

I have recently bought 2 LED bulbs for the nightlights, and they are BRIGHT!!!! The cost is still an issue, but LED is the wave of the future. The LED powered nightlights are putting more light to the floor than the "Glow" nightlights, which are bright to look at, but don't light up much. The nightlight LED bulbs are available at WalMart and Walgreens at $3 for 2 bulbs.

Having the whole house converted to CFL, and Energy Star appliances, I can run the whole house off a 3500 watt generator without straining it. The only time it is strained, is when I turn on the central A/C. The pump uses too much power for start up, but the furnace blower, and other appliances, as well as the lights use very little power. During the last black out, we were the only house that had lights on all over, instead of just one or two rooms (except for the houses with 10,000 watt Stand-by generators, that cost $100++/day to run, and cost thousands to put in). I get 8 hours out of 4 gallon tank on the 3500 watt generator.

We have a 9 month old in the house, and happened to be unscrewing a CFL that was not working (purchased from costco), and the thing cracked at the base, exposing a path for the mercury inside to get out (I did not see the globule inside - was not sure if it had vaporized). We freaked out, and long story short, we have replaced all the CFLs with incandescent bulbs. OT for most, so apologies in advance. I asked Home Depot, and they had no clue if that location recycled CFLs.

I would have jumped all over this if not for the kid. Thanks for sharing OP!

That's a freak accident, I've never had that happen with a CFL and I've been using them since about 1994.

Has anyone confirmed this deal in Georgia?