Our household has had the worst luck with LED lightbulbs. You know, the ones that are supposed to last 10 years or 50,000 hours. We’ve had a few not work right out of the package, but most seem to conk out at the same rate as incandescents for us. The week before Thanksgiving, I was rearranging our basement freezer (purchased in 2016) to make room for the turkey when the freezer lightbulb inconveniently went out. I tried jiggling it and screwing it in tighter to no avail.
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| Actual lightbulb dated 04-08-16, so Frigidaire did not use an old bulb. Like all good Covid shoppers, I went on Amazon to find a replacement bulb. Any guesses on the price? $68.62 |
After I changed my underwear, I went on to read reviews for the lightbulb. Lots of complaints about price and how the original freezer lightbulb only lasted a few years. Some saying to find a cheaper bulb at Home Depot and others saying they tried a cheaper bulb, but it wouldn't work. Guess what? For once, I beat the system! I went to Home Depot, found an $8 appliance bulb in a similar size and shape, and it worked! Of course, it's an LED, so I guess it will only last another 27 hours, if my calculation is correct on how often I open the basement freezer.
In other news, we had 5 days after the heavy snowstorm two weeks ago where our Cable TV/Internet/Landline kept going out. We'd have service for 8 hours, then it would go out for 2 hours, then go back on for 7 hours, then out for 3 hours, etc. It was almost like clockwork, but not! During this unfortunate week, I noticed this at the entrance to our neighborhood:
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| I'm not the handiest gal, but I recognized that red thing as a generator. It seems that our cable/internet/phone provider, Spectrum, had a technician that was periodically filling this with gasoline to keep the power going to our neighborhood. Is this 1932? According to some guy who spent a lot of time investigating all of this, there was no communication between Spectrum and the electric company, so this would have gone on indefinitely if not for our neighborhood detective calling a councilman to take action and get the utility company to restore power to the cable box. I only discovered all of this through the Nextdoor app. My spouse, who's back to working from home since we are surrounded by purple counties, was beyond aggravated by the on/off internet. I called Spectrum to request a pro-rated refund and after 45 minutes and a lot of them 'verifying' and contacting their 'escalation team' and creating an 'escalation ticket,' I'm going to be paying $37.40 less on my next bill. Which won't buy me an LED lightbulb an Amazon! I decided to step it up this season and mail Christmas cards to everyone in my address book AND include personal notes because who wouldn't like to hear from me during a pandemic? Also, I've been taking Middle Child out the past two nights to enjoy Christmas lights. I have a long list of houses to visit in three counties, so we are going to keep ourselves busy. Here are a few:  Tasteful  Can be seen from space  Light show set to music on an FM station in your car. This scene was from 'Frozen.'  My personal favorite and yes, I did drive through this wonderland of lights. Notice the old school animated merry-go-round on the left with Santa taking a ride. It reminded me of the department store windows of my childhood. That's a wrap for me until after next week. Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas! |
You've had bad luck with your LED bulbs. Ours are brilliant, they last for ages so we hardly ever have to change bulbs these days. And LED bulbs are cheap enough at the local supermarket (two ceiling spots for £4).
ReplyDeleteSome rather amazing Christmas decorations there. Decorations round here are very low key - Christmas trees and strings of lights are about it. And virus restrictions will probably put a stop to carol singers.
Terrible luck and they are not cheap. Most people don’t do extravagant lighting displays, if any. I looked online at sites that listed the best displays in the area. Some collect money for charities.
DeleteYou know, I think those LED bulbs aren't quite as robust as advertised. Or at least, there are situations in which they don't do well. In your case, I wonder if cold temperatures don't degrade the durability of LEDs. I know that we've had some issues with short-lived LEDs. I've noticed that they're virtually all in enclosed fixtures (my daughters call 'em 'boob lights'), which makes me wonder if poor ventilation doesn't cause 'em to die younger, as well. . .
ReplyDeleteWe don't do a lot with outdoor lights - usually just a string around the top or the porch. Last Christmas, we were too lazy to take 'em down, so we just left 'em there, tho we didn't turn 'em on. So when the plague hit in March, we just turned 'em back on - kind of an encouraging message to our neighbors that 'God is with us', even though we're all locked in our houses. . .
I’m glad to know we’re not the only ones with LED light issues. It just particularly irritated me based upon the light being off 99.9% of time! And then the price! I think I saw a few folks with their Christmas lights on during the initial lockdown. Definitely a good form of encouragement!
DeleteOH...MY...GOD....$68.62?!?!?!
ReplyDelete"After I changed my underwear."
HAHAHAHAHA! That was hilarious!!!!
I use a "green light" in my lamps. They're called, "Living Solutions" and I think I got them at Walgreens (2 bulbs per package). I paid around $6.50. And I have to say, they last FOREVER and cut down on my electric bills.
We're due for some heavy snowfall, starting tomorrow. Hope we don't lose our power. So happy to read that Spectrum is giving you a refund, which they should. I remember losing my Internet and phone for TWO weeks several years ago, and I made Verizon take two weeks off my bill. Which they did.
Love the photos of Christmas lights (particularly the Frozen home)! Seeing these photos, reminds me of my childhood when everyone in our neighborhood decorated their homes. Such fun!
Wishing you and your family a VERY Merry Christmas!
X to you, my friend!
Isn’t that insane? I told my husband I’d use a flashlight before I bought a lightbulb that cost that much for a freezer! So stupid! I’ve not heard of green lights but I’ll keep those in mind. Ugh on the snow. I heard about that, but I think we will only be getting a sideswipe of it here. I decided since we have zero holiday parties or activities this year, I’m going to drive around and see lights. It’s Covid safe! Hope you have a blessed Christmas Day, Ron. XO
DeleteYou know, that is insane! That sounds like something that I would have on my Sunday posts. A generator up there is insane. And the cost of some lightbulbs are crazy. Definitely go to Best Buy, Home Depot or other place before paying that price. Sometimes Amazon is not the place to get things.
ReplyDeleteCan you imagine someone climbing up there every 7 hours to fill it with gas? So dumb! It’s ridiculous that two utilities can’t communicate with each other. Yeah, Amazon can be sketchy on products sometimes, but even the lightbulb websites and Frigidaire’s had a similar price for the exact same bulb. Glad I was able to find a different one that worked!
DeleteFor $68. I'd use a flashlight when crawling around in the freezer. You had some funny lines in this post, Bijoux.
ReplyDeletehttps://fromarockyhillside.com
Glad you enjoyed my humor, Jeff.
DeleteAlthough it was unintentional, I did laugh at the lightbulb experience, especially the cost, yikes! Hope the Home Depot substitute works but good to keep a flashlight handy just in case. I also sent holiday cards to nearly all in my address book and also to other residents here in the mill apts ( at least no postage required on those). Of course, I don’t expect to get back cards from all, not why I did it, just figured folks needed a card this year. You obviously felt the same, Bijoux, and good for us.
ReplyDeleteI do hope the bulb lasts, but at least it was relatively inexpensive. I think we could all use something pleasant in the mail right now. I wrote a personal note in every card. It didn’t take me as long as I feared, so glad I took the time.
DeleteWow with the price of that light bulb on Amazon; glad you found a much cheaper alternative!! It is always enjoyable to look at Christmas lights and how creative people can be!
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas to you and yours!
betty
Middle Child and I went out to see lights again last night. Saw two fabulous light shows, one set to TSO music and the other one had a website you could visit and pick the song you wanted. Very cool!
DeleteBingo on the LED bulbs...load of crap they last no longer than the old ones. Do they still sell the old kind? We have about 2 dozen left as we stocked up on them years ago. Not sure my fridge light has ever gone out...probably should not have said that.
ReplyDeleteWe stocked up on old bulbs when places like Lowes were trying to get rid of them. I think like everything else, the more technology, the more things to go wrong. I’d like to go back to a push button dishwasher. My current ‘touch panel’ one sucks.
DeleteFunny we had the opposite experience with our refrigerator light bulb. Home Depot didn't have one and said they could order it for 60-some odd dollars so we went on Amazon and found one that was close enough for under 20 I think! It's a little brighter than the one that was in there before but it's fine! Plus it was a 2-pack so if it dies we already have a replacement! That is crazy about the cable power.
ReplyDeleteThat’s crazy that you had the opposite experience! HomeDepot didn’t carry the exact replacement, so I’m sure if we had tried to special order, it would have been over $60 as well. I just found one that had the same end so it would fit into the socket.
DeleteI'd like to say I've had luck with LED light bulbs, but now I've said that I can almost guarantee my "smart" LED bulbs will now die! :D
ReplyDeleteGood luck ;)
DeleteSo if I read that correctly, one of your neighbors was fueling the line with a gas generator???? LMAO!!! I mean, I get the frustration, but talk about using a bandaid to hold together a boat. SMH. Love the light show idea. My favorite is the one that is supposed to set to Frozen. Our town put together a drive through light show, but we haven't gotten a chance to go yet. Here's to that freezer bulb lasting more than 27 hours! LOL
ReplyDeleteNo, a neighbor saw Spectrum (our cable/internet provider) filling the generator!!! That was their way of fixing a broken electrical box instead of just contacting CEI (our electric company)! I don’t understand all the technical parts, but I guess the cable is powered by that electrical box? I know the story is confusing. Hope you get to see some lights!
DeleteSomehow, that's even worse than a rogue neighbor trying to do a community service. LOL
DeleteI used to have a refrigerator that required a filter change every six months. Those suckers cost something like $125 a pop. I seriously contemplated switching to 100% non-perishables at that point, but alas, I like meat too much.
ReplyDeleteThat is insane and is a lesson in asking lots of questions before buying any major appliance.
DeleteLovely post, Bijoux. Your changing underwear comment made me chortle. Hope all is well with your Spectrum services. My wife hates the LED so we still use the old school bulbs. Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed a laugh after what you guys have been through. Hope the upcoming holidays are enjoyable!
Delete68 bucks for a lightbulb!?! No wonder Jeff Bozo is the richest man in the world.
ReplyDeleteSmart move on your part to hit Home Depot, Bijoux. It feels good to win one every now and then.
So you have Rectum cable as well? Good for you for getting some money out of that bunch, even if it did take nearly an hour. I'm surprised the guy wasn't shoveling coal into that thing.
Thanks for sharing the photos of the Christmas lights. The holiday spirit has been pretty hard to come by this year, so I appreciate your efforts.
Merry Christmas to you and your family!
After researching it, I found that lightbulb cost the same no matter who was selling it. But amazon does piss me off with them allowing hoarders to price gouge the rest of us this year.
DeleteWe had Cox Cable where we used to live and though it was pricey, our service never went out. We’ve had numerous outages with Spectrum/Time Warner over the past 8 years AND their prices just keep rising.
Merry Christmas!
That is nuts for a friggin light bulb. Hopefully the cheap one lasts more than 27 hours haha
ReplyDeleteGood you got after them. That is rather pathetic that they'd do that and not just call the utility.
Wow. They are sure some cheery christmas setups indeed.
Were you impressed with my math skills on that number? Lol!
DeleteThe older I get, the more I see that many issues in life revolve around a lack of communication. Utilities are no exception.
I’m glad people got into the spirit this year!
I have to be honest and say I do find all the LED lights in our house last a lot longer than the old incandescent ones, but never as long as they say they do. We have 30 spotlights in our kitchen which I fitted 2 years ago and one just started to flicker a couple of days ago. Now I'm assuming all the others will start to go so soon too. I suppose climbing up the ladder will burn a few calories.
DeleteHappy Christmas to you and your family!
I’m glad you’ve had better luck, but I have to say, two years is not impressive when they claim to last ten! Hope your holidays are joyful!
DeleteThat's insane for a single lightbulb! We've been slowly switching over to some kind of LED bulb that's supposed to mimic daylight (I have a hard time during the winter), and those are about $20.00 each. I thought that was bad, but I'm not going to complain now. I'm not entirely convinced the LEDs in general (I do like the daylight ones) are all that, but Nick is convinced they last longer, save the planet, save money, and keep the house cooler. He's actually kinds of OCD about it. He handles buying and changing them, so I don't really care. After all, there are plenty of things I get a little obsessive about, and he doesn't say anything.
ReplyDeleteIt is annoying when the internet goes out while you're working from home, so I feel sorry for your husband. We've had a lot of wind, so there have been a few days where ours went in and out throughout the day while I was trying to work. Super annoying!
Have a Merry Christmas!
Great to see you, Danielle! I agree, I do like the cooler aspect of the bulb, but that’s about it. I hope you guys have a wonderful holiday!
Delete"After I changed my underwear" ha,ha, that's brilliant Bijoux. That amount is daylight robbery for a bulb! I hope your bargain $8 lasts a long time. I like your neighbourhood lights. Merry Christmas to you and your family x
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas to you! I’m glad you enjoyed my post. We’ve been driving all over the county to find lights this year for something to do.
DeleteThe best we've had for LEDs was roughly equivalent to those double-life incandescent bulbs. But technically the life is correct, the LEDs usually do last 20 times longer but the circuitry required to support 'em is far more fragile. Our wonderful guvmint is slimy enough to let 'em lie and state the LED lifetime instead of the unit lifetime. It's every bit as bad as the lies told about the CFLs that preceded the LED's but at least the LEDs don't make a HAZMAT situation if they get broken like the CFLs do.
ReplyDeleteBut do the cause cancer? Or just in California;)
DeleteThose light bulbs are such a ripoff. I bought my house 13 years ago and had a regular old bulb finally burn out in my linen closet. I've replaced LED bulbs in less used spaces several times over. I think they are full of crap charging ridiculous prices for their bulbs and they don't work half as long as the older ones. Good for you for finding a way to beat the system!
ReplyDeleteWe didn't put up lights this year. Ours used to be the ones that you could see from space. One neighborhood by us has all of their residents decorate their homes for the holidays to collect money for charity. It's a fun tradition to drive through looking at how creative people get. I'm glad we didn't buy a house there, because my husband is super competitive and would have wasted our life savings making our house the brightest, most decorated house in the neighborhood LOL.
Glad to hear it’s not just our household with the LED problems. We put up the minimal amount of lights outdoors this year. My husband just couldn’t get into the spirit and we never had any warm days after Thanksgiving. I did see some neighborhoods like you described, where they collect money for charity, which is nice. The last photo I posted where you drove through the arches was collecting for St. Judes.
DeleteThat's nice to hear that there are other neighborhoods that collect for charity too. St. Judes is a good one. We have a drive through one a few towns over, it's quite expensive for a carload, and they don't give anything to charity. Funny enough, it's smack dab in the middle of Amish country. I always wonder what the Amish think of it as they ride their horse buggies by it every night.
DeleteI bet the Amish kids like it!
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