Let there be light !

there are at least 165 light-emitting things at my house: this includes night lights, floodlights, light bulbs, and more. the obscure ones are inside the oven, and 4 inside the refrigerator-freezer.

why do I know the exact number? (queue digression) it's overcast this morning, and has started to rain (gauge total: ¼"). the low 90's will be a welcome relief from the 100F+ heat. it rained yesterday, but there wasn't significant rainfall where I live. so, i'm inside, counting lightbulbs for the pure glee.

well, okay, the truth is that it all started when I went outside (under cloudy skies) to fetch the DMN (7 paces off the sidewalk .. no tip today) While moseying down the sidewalk, I noticed that one of the floodlights which illuminates the front of my house has burned out. this isn't uncommon, given the large number of floodlights: 20 outside and 76 inside. so, it makes sense that I should buy them in bulk.

there are different types of bulk floodlights (they come in cases of 12). most of the time, Home Depot™ stocks 2 or more brands. the most visible ones are sold in a white box; they are Philips' "Value Pack" and located near the front of the store. during one visit, an employee pointed out a cheaper alternate: Contractor's Choice™ bulbs (they come in a brown cardboard box, and are shelved several aisles away). i opened the individual boxes from both, and see that they are identical! they're made by Philips in Mexico, are rated for 2000 hours @ 120 volts. same bulbs, same store, yet cheaper; go figure.

i nosed around the Philips Lighting web site, and noticed something about a longer life bulb marketed under the name of DuraMax™. I wonder if they're manipulating the numbers; these bulbs are not rated in hours, but in years (with a disclaimer "Based on a minimum of hours usage per day / 7 days per week"). this makes it impossible for the consumer (me) to compare apples-to-apples. What's the chance of me buying a DuraMax, based on their advertised specs? Z-E-R-O

I've tried some of the full-spectrum lights such as Verilux' [Compact Fluorescent Natural Daylight] which is rated for 10,000 hours, and GE's reveal™ bulbs. These lights are easier on my eyes but the filament ones don't last as long as standard bulbs.

In case you're wondering, here's the descending count:
65-watt indoor floods: 76
60-watt white bulbs: 17
100-watt white bulbs: 10
ceiling fan (chandalier) bulbs: 8
halogen tubes (only 1 is indoor): 8
120-watt outdoor floods: 8
45-watt (halogen) outdoor floods: 5
indoor spots (R-20): 5
60-watt bug-foiler (yellow) bulbs: 3
3-way (50-100-150 watt) bulbs: 1
miscellaneous, specialty bulbs (high pressure sodium; garage door (vibration resistant); globes (chandalier); fluorescent bulbs; fluorescent tubes; microwave oven; refrigerator door (water/ice); infrared heat floods): 14

alas, this (anal-retentive) task is now complete; in a future blog, I will count the different types of batteries in my home. Please try not to get overly excited while you wait for this thriller.

Anyhoo, I'm now off to my next task: counting the number of Bad Movies I've seen.