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Gardening in Canada

Anyone else having light bulb problems?

18 years ago

I cannot, for the life of me, find any 40 watt cool white bulbs! They've been replaced with these energy saving 34 watt ones. I used them last year and I had some problems with leggy seedlings.

I wonder if this is a local thing or what?

I'll be switching to 40 watt daylights I guess.

BP

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Comments (8)

jroot
18 years ago
Are you talking florescent bulbs? If so, today I purchased several @ $1.49 at Canadian Tire.
bonniepunch
Original Author
18 years ago
Yeah, the regular 48" cool whites.

I checked three Ronas and two Canadian Tires, and they all had the 34w 'Energy Saver' bulbs instead. I was really ticked because I called one of the Ronas and a Canadian Tire to see if the had them before going out, and they said "yes". Then I get there and find they have the 34w, and they didn't realize it - they thought they were 40w.

To top it off, I found at the Sylvania site they don't recommend using the 34w bulbs in standard shop light fixtures because they can overheat. Nice. Nobody seems to be pointing that out to the hardware store clerks!

I still can check out Home Depot, but I don't think I'm going to bother calling first - I need a couple of other things there anyway, and if they don't have the ones I want I'll just get the 'daylight' ones.

So I guess it is a local thing :-/

BP
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northspruce
18 years ago
I have been getting mine at Home Depot. They always have lots. Hope you find some.
jroot
18 years ago
Oops, I just checked mine. They were 34 watt. What do you mean by overheating? Is there a fire danger?
bonniepunch
Original Author
18 years ago
I really don't know how dangerous they are - that's just what I read. I think I'm going to write the company and see what they have to say. Here's the web page with the info:

sylvania

The ones I have are the "cool white energy saver flourescent". This really ticks me off - none of the stores are aware that they have the 34w instead of the 40w, and none of the stores I've spoken to are aware that there is a mentioned danger.

BP
madtripper
18 years ago
I don't think you will find 40's. This change over took place quite a few years ago.
northspruce
18 years ago
I just checked mine and they are Philips brand 40W Cool White. I bought them this year at Home Depot. Bonnie, did you find them?
bonniepunch
Original Author
18 years ago
northspruce - I have Sylvania brand. I guess I should consider switching brands! I still haven't found the ones I want, and since I only need them for another couple of weeks, I'm going to give up for this year.

Just a bit of an update - I emailed Sylvania awhile ago and didn't get a reply (surprise surprise), so I phoned them today, and it looks like I might have stirred up a bit of a hornets nest. The person I spoke to had no idea that there was any kind of a warning about them and had me send her the web site with the information. She was quite surprised (gasped when she heard it!), so she's going to get to the bottom of it for me. If any of you are using the 34w Sylvania bulbs, keep an eye on this thread and I'll post what I find out.

BP

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