My husband went to Sam’s Club today (9/23/2011) & found a deal he couldn’t believe. They are selling a pack of 8 GE Energy Smart compact florescent bulbs that are supposed to last 5 years each. The entire pack was just $1.66. That’s about 20 cents each! That’s almost giving them away. He only bought one pack because he thought we wouldn’t need any more. I told him he should have bought more to give as gifts!
Each of these 13 watt CFL bulbs has the light output of a 60 watt old-fashioned bulb, also known as a conventional bulb. The entire package of 8 CFLs are supposed to save over $300 in energy. If that’s true the $1.66 is quite a deal!
They come in an “easy open, easy store pack.” They have flicker-free start-up according to the package.
What’s the catch? These are the kind with the spiral in plain view, not the newer kind that covers the spiral in a bulb. So if you don’t care what it looks like or you can use them where it’s not important how it looks, these will be just fine.
Click on the title of this post to link to the GE Lighting site with charts showing the savings using these CFLs. Supposedly each one lasts 8-10 times as long as a conventional bulb. And they use about 75% less energy as conventional bulbs. All good stuff.
If you don’t belong to Sam’s Club you might find similar deals at other stores. I’m guessing everyone will be clearing them out since they probably don’t sell as well as the newer style. Next thing you know they will be giving them out for free in cereal boxes! Maybe they will become collector’s items!
Maggie@SquarePennies says
I can see these being upcycled someday into a Chihuly-like chandelier or objet d’art. All those spirals could be hand painted with swirls of various colors. I might need to buy more of these guys! lol
Maggie@SquarePennies says
101, that’s a good question. The trouble is, how many people are going to keep track of it? And if you did, by the time you got the results, that model is probably no longer available. Hmmmm . . . quite a business model on their part!
101 Centavos says
But do they really last 5 years? It seems I’m replacing them a less often than what I used to replace standard bulbs, but still…
Maggie@SquarePennies says
I know! The shipping alone has to cost most of that. It must be a clearance. In other stores I’d think it was a loss leader, but Sam’s doesn’t have those. Thanks for your comment, Buck!
Buck Inspire says
I see these deals around. I don’t know how they profit on such low prices! You save and the planet saves. I’m not complaining, just mind boggling is all. Nice find!