It's Easy Bein' Green - Buying Fluorescent Lightbulbs

Since California will soon require all-fluorescent lighting in the home, I’ve undertaken the task of converting our household lighting. I have accomplished this with a bit of research and careful shopping.

Regular compact fluorescents can be purchased in wattages ranging from 40 to 120 at most hardware stores, like Home Depot or Orchard Supply, as well as some grocery stores. One important point to remember: the higher the wattage, the larger the ceramic adapter just above the screw-in portion of the bulb. Generally, 40 and 60 watt bulbs will fit the lampshade harp with out any modifications. For 75 watts and up, the ceramic adapter will be too wide to fit the lampshade harp.

To address this problem, first determine the type of lampshade harp your lamp uses. There are two general types: regulars with a harp saddle and harp cups (the harp fits in a lip of the lamp base, see pictures for examples of both).

1. If your harp is a regular, all you need to accommodate a larger watt bulb is a set of harp extenders (see picture). The harp extender is placed on the arms of the harp saddle and then the harp is placed in the arms of the harp extender. This widens the harp opening and allows for larger bulbs.


2. If your lamp uses the harp cup method, you will need some additional items. First is a socket extender (see picture). This will raise the screw-in portion of the lamp by 1 inch. For regular bulbs, this additional height should not be a problem with the height of the harp.

Some lamps require special bulbs, specifically 3-way bulbs and dimmer bulbs. It is true that you won’t find them in the hardware store; however, these bulbs can be found from companies on the Internet.

3-way bulbs and dimmer bulbs do have a larger ceramic adapter so if these bulbs are used in a lamp with a harp, you will need to use the information listed above to address harp size. Additionally, with 3-way bulbs, I found that not only did I need to use a socket extender to accommodate the ceramic adapter, but the height of the bulb required the purchase of a new harp to accommodate the extra height. The dimmer bulbs I purchased were floods, for use in kitchen track lighting. The larger ceramic adapter was not an issue due to the size of the light casings.

Candelabra based bulbs can also be purchased online. These bulbs are commonly used in entry way lighting in homes, as well as some hanging lamps.

The companies I used for my purchases and information were:

1. http://www.lighting.philips.com – (1-800-555-0050) I used this company for informational purposes only. Their sales staff can tell you the Philips equivalent for your 3-way or dimmer bulbs, and where to purchase these bulbs in your area.

2. http://www.1000bulbs.com – (1-800-624-4488) I purchased my 3-way bulbs and my 9W candelabra bulbs from this company. I did not purchase my dimmer floods from them, but they do have them in stock. You can also call their customer service department for advice on which bulb to purchase.

3-way bulbs – FC32/3WS51K - $13.21 ea.
9W candelabra bulbs – FC09/TC27 - $7.00 ea.
16W dimmable floods – FC16/R3028DIM - $15.90 ea

3. http://www.buylighting.com – has a large assortment of bulbs, including candelabra. Prices on website.

4. http://www.lightbulbsdirect.com – has a large assortment of bulbs, including candelabra. Prices on website.

5. http://www.mylampparts.com – (1-773-539-7910) Both types of harps can be purchased here, regular and harp cups. Regular harps vary in size from 4” to 15”, prices from $.69 to $1.41. Harp cup harps vary in size from 6 ½” to 9”, prices from $1.32 to $1.39.

6. http://www.niagaraconservation.com – Plastic harp extenders can be purchased here, item #N9158, for $2.75 per set.

7. Home Depot – Socket extenders can be purchased here for $2.74 ea. Regular light bulbs, 40 to 120 Watts, can be purchased , prices ranging $5 to $7 ea.

8. Orchard Supply – Regular light bulbs , 40 to 120 watts can be purchased, prices ranging $5 to $7 ea.

9. Wesco Distribution – (408-562-0400) 2800 Mead Avenue, Santa Clara, CA 95051. I purchased my dimmable floods from this company, from information gathered from Philips Lighting. The Philips part number was #137075, the price was $16 ea. I could have purchased my dimmables from 1000 bulbs, but it was early in my search and I did not find this out until after I had ordered them from Wesco.

The cost of the bulbs is higher than standard incandescent, but the life of the bulb is considerably longer, generally in the 5+ years range. All of the regular light bulbs can be purchased with regular shopping, and then the specialty bulbs can be purchased by shopping online.

It took me a few weeks, but I was doing this research from trial and error. With the information contained here, your search can be quicker and more direct.


Mikayla Pratt

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Here's an interesting article on the choice to switch over to compact fluorescent light bulbs in Grist, an online environmental news source:

http://www.grist.org/advice/ask/2006/06/21...cing/index.html

Hi. Tonight, I finally got around to putting a 3-way CF bulb into an old lamp (read: one we bought from a second-hand store and don't want to get rid of). I wasn't able to carry out the task because the base of the CF bulb was not large enough for the "socket" (I don't know lamp lingo, sorry) I need to screw it into. If I read your post correctly, this seems to be the opposite problem you and others encounter. So, I'm stuck about what to do--and you seem to know quite a bit. Pointers?

Sounds like your lamp has the large size socket called 'mogul'. They are kind of common on old floor lamps.

My guess is that CFLs are only available in the 'standard' base, and possibly there are adapters to fit a standard socket into a mogul -- but if it was up to me I would leave it alone. What with a very old lamp -- running around trying to get things to work and the chance that anything you buy not working -- might do more harm than good.

Folks, don't forget that CFLs contain mercury so that makes it TOXIC WASTE which cannot be thrown in the trash. Some hardware stores like OSH take used bulbs.

For more info on toxic waste and things that CANNOT be thrown in the trash, consult

Hazardous Waste Recycling & Disposal
www.hhw.org
408-299-7300

or this SW post.

Here's another site that lists recycling facilities for all sorts of different items, including CFLs:
http://earth911.org

It's a great resource!