when one wrong makes one right

They were in a box of 12 and I didn't notice at the time, but .. I bought the wrong size indoor floodlights. Turns out they were actually the right ones.

R30 = 30/8 = 3-3/4 inch diameter
R40 = 40/8 = 5 inch diameter

My survey showed that I have 71 indoor floodlights. A few days ago, I was at Home Depot and bought a box of 12 bulbs. Once I got home and opened the box, it was obvious they're physically much larger bulbs, and won't fit some of my receptacles:


The larger (R40) bulbs are 130volt (75 watts) and should last 2x as long, so say The Experts.

Although I've lived here 10+ years, I hadn't noticed that 21 receptacles (my electrician calls them "cans") are larger than the others (6-inch vs 4.5-inch). They're in 3 rooms and 2 hallways. All along, I've been putting R30 floodlights in all 71 sockets, so this was my golden opportunity to fix that for my new box-of-12. Some cans already had large R40 bulbs - they were installed that way - so only four have the smaller R30 bulbs now; when they burn out, I'll replace them with larger ones (just have to Read The Fine Print - inside the can - to ensure they accept R40).

Silly me, I never noticed that R40 bulbs were available; I just got into the habit of buying a box of 12 indoor floodlights and going merrily on my way. Now I have a stash of used R30 bulbs (from the 6" sockets), which will go into the fifty 4.5" sockets as those burn out.