Light Bulbs

[pkveazey]

I wonder how many preppers think about light bulbs? When I first started prepping, I started buying lots of light bilbs. Most of them are 120 volt bulbs in different wattages. When I need a light bulb, I'll have plenty. Hmmm.... What about when my neighbors need light bulbs and they have no way to get any? Here's something to think about. Why not also stock up on 12 volt automotive bulbs. The LED bulbs are pretty bright, long lasting and draw very low current. I remember when the Environmental Whacko's started pissing and moaning about wanting to outlaw the sale of 100 watt bulbs. I went right out and bought about a dozen along with a bunch of other wattages with the small bases and large bases. Now that I have a backup Solar system that is a bit limited, I'm going to have to concentrate on getting even more 120 volt LED bulbs. Yep, I've got about a dozen but If I have to depend on Solar with Batteries and an Inverter, I'm going to need those a lot more than inefficient incandescent bulbs. I'll trade the incandescents to the neighbors when the neighbors run out.

[FeedingFreedom]

I changed all the lights in the house and shop over to LED a few years ago, definitely made a dent in the electric bill. Most of the lighting that I use daily is actually low-voltage LED strips with controllers that allow me to dim them or change colors. I got a pack of 8 4' strips for the garage, much brighter and more efficient than the fluorescent lights they replaced. Also work in cold weather and don't flicker at 60 Hz.

Keep spares around, LED bulbs theoretically last years and years, but unfortunately they are almost all made in the PRC, using the cheapest possible components. The main point of failure that I've found is in the power supply, either cheap caps going out or overdriving the LED's to failure.

Wherever possible, I try to use 12v or 5v lighting. If I can eliminate the need to constantly run the inverter, that saves a ton of energy. Large DC loads (like my radio gear) all get their own batteries, so I can lessen the need to run very large wires all over the house.

Incandescent lights still have their place, especially if the heat output is needed. When they talked about banning them, the only thing that was available was "Rough Service" bulbs intended for work lights and such.

I recover LED's whenever I can, I have a huge box of the LED lights that Harbor Freight used to give away. Both the blue "work lights" and the black flashlights use 3 AAA batteries, and are easy to convert to USB power for a very portable, bright light that can run off a number of sources, from a 120V USB power "brick", to a laptop/computer, to a portable battery bank. I try to mount them on a 6' or longer USB cable and have several that are on magnets or clips to place them where they're needed.

[Jackalope]

   Like FF, we converted to LED bulbs throughout the house.  We stock a fair number of spares.  We also have many 12vdc LED's.  Our guest cabin/man cave is wired only for 12 vdc, so lots of those lights with spares out there too.  In the main house we have 12 vdc extension cords for lighting purposes.  They came in handy after the tornado, back in October.  We were the only ones with lights locally after the storm, which reminds me we need to make some blackout shades.  Solar powered floodlights are handy too, and it's a good idea to have spares of those too.

   In reserve we have oil, kerosene, and propane lights, but those are for plan C.

[JohnyMac]

Great subject.

May i suggest that we post some articles found on the interwiz or our own experience. A list of vendors would be cool too.

[RB in GA]

I usually go they evil Amazon route.  Shouldn't, but my prior cheap source for them dried up.  I also would appreciate any links to  reasonable sources.

[FeedingFreedom]

I usually go they evil Amazon route.  Shouldn't, but my prior cheap source for them dried up.  I also would appreciate any links to  reasonable sources.

For regular (E26) bulbs, we've been getting packs of 6 Feit LED bulbs at Costco for a couple dollars. I also use a lot of Feit's smart LED bulbs which are nice to be able to control from anywhere and have on a schedule or using IFTTT, setting conditions for what they do. But that's a whole other topic. Lowes also sells Feit bulbs now. Good, consistent light and seem to last a long time (I think we have some that are around 3 or 4 years of pretty heavy daily use).

I keep my eye on the local Ace Hardware, they run specials on LED bulbs all the time, sometimes sponsored or underwritten by the electric company.

For 12v lights, I usually adapt (cobble together) either strips, automotive bulbs, or LED's I pull from other stuff. I make my own fixtures and such, again a whole separate topic. I buy strips when I need them, usually from ebay.