Goodbye 40-watt and 60-watt light bulbs! (United States)

[Joe]

Assuming we're talking of temperatures around zero C or -5C then I think most LED and perhaps most fluorescent also should be fine.

As far as I know, the coldest it has ever been in Nashville since I have lived here has been -17 degrees F (= -27 degrees C).

The problem as I see it is that it would take only one night of such low temperatures to crack the glass, even if all the other winter nights were more temperate.

The negative 17 F weather took place before CFLs or LEDs came along. As far as I know, no incandescent bulbs were damaged by the extremely cold weather.

 

[Joe]

I went back to Kroger to take a second look at the light bulbs. They had a selection of colored incandescents labeled "party bulbs" that were cheaper than the LEDs, even at the sale price. So, I just think that the colored LEDs were a weird novelty.

I also took a look at my larder of stored bulbs. I have plenty of 40W and 60W incandescents--perhaps too many, since these are fairly low wattage for my purposes.
But I also have plenty of 75W. 90W and 100W incandescents.

I have a couple of packages of "mini-spiral" CFLs. Perhaps I should have gotten more.

 

[silva]

As far as I know, the coldest it has ever been in Nashville since I have lived here has been -17 degrees F (= -27 degrees C).

The problem as I see it is that it would take only one night of such low temperatures to crack the glass, even if all the other winter nights were more temperate.

The negative 17 F weather took place before CFLs or LEDs came along. As far as I know, no incandescent bulbs were damaged by the extremely cold weather.

Wait a minute- incandescents were rated by tempurature-- I really think... I remember specifically buying bulbs labeled 'for outdoor use' when I got incandescent bulbs for outside

 

[Andy_T]

Maybe this helps:

Cold Climate Outdoor Security Lighting Options

I think the "outdoor bulbs" might also have something to do with weatherproofing...

 

[Joe]

Wait a minute- incandescents were rated by tempurature-- I really think...

I've never seen such a rating on an incandescent bulb or box, at least not that I can recall.

I remember specifically buying bulbs labeled 'for outdoor use' when I got incandescent bulbs for outside

I've never seen a bulb so labelled. Also, I question whether "for outdoor use" means "suitable for -17 F/ - 27 C weather." Those temperatures are pretty extreme IMO.