Bulbs we sell

ABOUT THE BULBS WE CARRY

We sell 12V CFL (compact fluorescent) and LED bulbs for use with solar-operated or battery-operated lighting systems. We also sell super energy-efficient 120V LED bulbs for all our customers who want to conserve energy in their homes by replacing older, inefficient incandescent bulbs.

Voltage: 110-120V AC vs. 12V DC
Lightbulbs are designed to run on either AC (household) or DC (automotive, battery, or solar) power.
Bulbs designed for AC cannot be used with DC power, and bulbs designed for DC cannot be used with AC power!
We sell both AC and DC bulbs, so make sure to double-check which bulb you need before ordering.

Different types of lightbulbs: Incandescent, CFL and LED
The two most common types of lightbulb are incandescent and compact fluorescent (CFL). Another, newer type of bulb is an LED (light-emitting diode) .
We encourage everyone to replace their household incandescent bulbs with the very-efficient CFL bulbs, to save both energy and money. But since AC compact fluorescent bulbs are now so widely available in any hardware store or supermarket at great prices, we no longer carry these types of bulbs in AC.
We do carry a wide selection of DC CFL bulbs for your solar-powered lighting needs, and a growing selection of hard-to-get (AC and DC) LED bulbs.

Comparing Power vs. Lumens (knowing how much light you'll get)
Most people are used to the Watt rating of incandescent bulbs, but the Watt rating is not really a measure of the light output of the bulb. It is a measure of the amount of power needed to light the bulb. A Lumen is a measure of light output, and different types of bulbs produce different amounts of Lumens per Watt.
An incandescent bulb produces around 15 Lumens per Watt, while a CFL bulb produces at least 50 Lumens per Watt.
So a 60 Watt incandescent bulb and an 18 Watt CFL both produce the same amount of light, around 900 Lumens!


Lifetime
Another advantage of CFL bulbs is that they typically last up to 10 times as long as incandescent bulbs.