The new light bulbs are a step forward, I think, in terms of energy saving so I applaud the change. However, it irritates me that the manufacturers are claiming that the light bulbs will last for many, many years. They simply don’t.
About a decade ago, I took a package of light bulbs back to Costco because they weren’t lasting as long as the manufacturer indicated.
The customer service representative said I couldn’t get my money back because not all the bulbs had expired. Crazy, I thought, but I set about keeping track of how long the bulbs lasted.
Recently, the third light bulb expired in the Conserv-Energy package I’d purchased. O.K., I thought, now I can get my money back.
At the customer service desk, I was told that Costco’s computer system didn’t have a record of me buying the bulbs within the last 10 years. In addition, these light bulbs are no longer sold at the store. The computer said I could get 97 cents for a refund.
I argued that Costco is selling Conserv-Energy’s light bulbs and they, as a store with good customer service that I rely on, should refund my money.
The customer service representative called his supervisor. The supervisor said he’d give $10 plus tax because Costco is charging that for a similar item. I asked for $15 because I’d recalled I’d purchased some light bulbs from Safeway for that price. The supervisor said no. I took the $10 plus tax.
Since I’m out of light bulbs, I found an article reviewing them and ordered from Amazon. I’ve spent a half hour at Safeway looking over the new light bulbs, trying to figure out what to buy.
The light bulbs I ordered cost about $1.75 each.
![Lighting_sub[1]](https://ritarrobison.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/TPImport/6a00e55008157688340162fef5548b970d.jpg "Standard light bulbs changed, not banned, as of Jan. 1")
I think most of mine have lasted for years 5? 6? , although I can’t say I scan the receipts, put them into a file & then if/when I have to replace the bulb, I can see just how long it/they lasted. It would be an interesting experiment to do so. The packages of LEDs I’ve bought list an estimate of how much it costs/day to run that bulb & I believe the amount of time the bulb is on is included (although I might’ve had to hunt for that information). While I’ve heard other people complain of LED bulbs that are duds, I’ve had only one burn out way too soon and I think by now all the bulbs in my house are LEDs. Most of my difficulty has been in finding less expensive LEDs that are ok for closed fixtures. I was told by someone at my electricity provider that I could ignore that designation but it’s my fixtures that might fail or cause a fire, not his (and I’m sure he’d say he’d never told me what he did if I did have a problem) so I make sure I find that information on the packaging. I’m glad not to have to store the prior miracle bulbs until there’s a hazardous waste round up in my area–they happen once a year at most for 3-4 hours–the trash service isn’t required to deal w/hazardous waste (of course) so volunteers do it, and that means it may happen or it may not. Great way to deal w/hazardous waste /sarcasm.