LED lights

[sleepywheel]

Anyone know where I can get about 20 of the Phillips Ambient LED 12.5 watt lightbulbs for my house fixtures at a decent price? Home Depot has them on sale with a BC Hydro discount of $20 each but I think that's still pretty expensive when the bill comes out to $400 plus taxes. I spent a pile of money doing our kitchen reno so now I have to start counting my pennies to stay within budget.

[Devastator]

Costco. Check out redflagdeals for the ones with the bc hydro discount. Scroll down on my link till you see the led bulbs.

[Home] Costco West Deals Oct 8-14: Advil, Dove, L

[sleepywheel]

Looks like I have to make a trip to Costco this week. Need to pick up a water filter kit anyway. Thanks Devastator.

[Matlock]

Electrical wholesalers sell the stuff. Call in to ask for a price. They are probably cheaper than your big box stores.

Cash sales usually won't take returns just fyi

Gescan, Nedco, Guillevan, etc.

[sleepywheel]

Funny you mentioned that. Both the electrician and the construction people all recommended that I buy from Home Depot because the wholesalers can't match their prices. I had my electrician call his supplier and they couldn't match HD's price for the recessed pot lights, but the switches and receptacles were cheaper. Not all wholesalers carry the light that I wanted and the ones that did, were not any cheaper than HD.

HD will sell some stuff cheaper but make back the money on the other things that go along with what you buy. It's the same with the wholesalers.

Thanks anyway for the suggestion.

[Smallermouse]

Wholesalers won't be cheaper unless u got a credit account there or ur buying around 1000.

[jackmeister]

I was just in a similar situation buying 8 LED flood lights.

For the exact same thing, I compared prices from HD in bellingham and HD in Richmond. It was $180 for 4 in the US ($45 each) whereas it was $54 here, but 8 dollars off each, effectively $46 each. And then you have to factor in the Sales Tax in the US. It was for work for me, so the HST doesn't matter. Sometimes the stuff can be cheaper here, if you look close enough.

As well, there may potentially be insurance issues with American bought products.

[sleepywheel]

Well, I ended up buying the ones from Costco. Went to the one off Willingdon but they didn't have the one I was thinking of in Devastators post. They did have another one I decided to get but only found 3 of them, had to go to the downtown one to buy another 13. Price was cheaper too, and at $11 each, can't go wrong.

[Gridlock]

That's the thing with any products at a wholesaler or even stores that are open to the public but cater to contractors. Whenever I apply for an account, I need to list my anticipated spending in order to achieve a discount. Then you need to actually spend it to get a better one.

In my four years, the only discount I've managed to build is my paint discount at Sherwin Williams.

[Matlock]

Oh really? Interesting. I haven't priced out LED bulbs, but I know for a fact that my wholesaler sells me MR16 50ws for about $2 when home depot sells them for $8 per bulb.

If you're going with home depot, just remember that their non-LED pot lights are crap. They're not painted with proper powder coating like lightolier or better brands make. Home owners will often think they're getting a deal then wonder why their white light trims turn yellow after a few years. The LED pot lights should be ok, because they don't give off as much heat.

[hamsup]

i also found that ikea has some cheap LED bulbs.. not sure what types but I did buy some for my track lighting (i think they were MR16..)