What has happened to the old standby PAR 38 75 watt incandescent outdoor floods? We used to be able to buy them for $2 on sale at Home Depot or Walmart. Now you’ve got to buy halogens, which are way more expensive. Halogens are better in a lot of applications but in this case for your $5 you get a) no significant increase in lumens per watt, and b) no additional bulb life — unless you pay an extra 50% again for the long-life version.
(Although you can still get the old-fashioned ones on-line, neither Lowes, Home Depot, nor Walmart had them this weekend.) Have he manufacturers stopped making the incandescents, and if so, why?
Rick
Replies
In case volumes the basic models are still available at most electrical supply houses and big box harwares. In some cases you have to but 12 at a time but supply houses might break a case. Usually the 150 and 75 watt models are available. Most of these lamps are 130v models so they last a bit longer with only a minimal loss of lumens.
At the big boxes slide down the isle until you find the plain boxes and more reasonable per lamp price.
I didn't like the 130V bulbs at all. Way too yellow. I pulled them all and switched to 90W halogens, only $4 a pop at HD in 6 packs. I like the whiter light, and I suggest you buy one or two of whatever bulb you are thinking of using before you invest in a case.
I really like the 90W halogen bulbs, and currently have 20 of them as perimeter lights. Eight of them are on motion detectors which have a feature where you can run the bulb at half power for 3 or 6 hours, or all night starting at dusk. The light comes to full power when activated, so you have the best of both worlds. HD has those sensors as a separate item so existing MD lights can be retrofitted for about $20.