- Thread starter windeguy
- Start date
Local Cost of a 13 Watt Compact Fluorescent light bulb
That is about what I expected. Thank you.
I just ordered some from EBay. With shipping to the DR directly to my house included, the price for GE brand bulbs was $60 RD each. Amazing that they charge 2.5 times as much locally.
I have wondered if this would work and how much it would cost when eBay sellers were outside the USA. Seemed crazy to ship from Hong Kong to FL and then to DR. But I wasn't sure if it would ever get to me if I didn't use the DR shipper to get it through customs. Have you done this before? Would you please post again when it's done about how it works?
I would wait and get some new LED's shipped down from LOWES or Home Depot. They are suppose to last at least 10 years use less than CFL's and the light is much nicer than the CFL's. I've been switching out my CFL's as they burn out for about $10 each. One, which is replacing a 75w flood over the garage, saves about 4 cents a day in electric.
If you want LED rather than fluorescent, I saw some at PriceSmart in Santiago last week. Didn't see the price though.
I use the "soft light" CFLs and they are not objectionable like the earlier stark white CFL bulbs. At least not to me or my guests.
I don't care if it is LED or CFL that you want to purchase. I would import them. The two better importers for small items in my area are Transexpress Vimenca (you pick up at Western Union office in Sosua) or EncargoPaq (they deliver to my house). The price is about 150 pesos a pound.
I currently use EncargoPaq almost exclusively for such items after buying them on Ebay. Almost anything comes out to be less expensive to import and I don't have to waste my time looking in several places and they deliver to my door.
I will be looking into LED bulbs in the future, but at 60 pesos each for a 13 watt CFL bulb versus the price of an equivalent LED bulb I need to know the trade offs a bit better. Someone I know just "lost" all their expensive LED bulbs in a power surge.
We still have several CFL that I bought from Home Depot last year and I have replaced one so far. It was the under-stair bathroom one that my wife accidentally hit. It's still going strong and I think we still have like half dozen left. I would definitely recommend bringing in from US since I went through several bulb that was bought from baylon. When all my bulbs dies then i'll think about going for LEDs,
I bought both LED's and CFL's from pricemart some time ago. The LED's I bought had a relatively low light projection, maybe they have brighter LED's now. But I can say that the LED's last and Last and last... I have used some nearly 12 hours per day for two years straight and they are still working even with outdoor exposure... So, at least the ones being sold at Pricemart are of good quality and durability. I remember them to be very expensive and it took me a while to make the decision to buy... Hopefully the price of LED's come down and they are getting brighter...
LED Bulb 9 Watt Compatible to 60 Watt Incandescent Bulb Warm White USA Seller | eBay
$9.99 each.
Philips EnduraLED 12 5 Watts 60W LED A19 Better Than 423343 422154 Version | eBay
$30 each but uses as much power as a CFL.