Internet, can I tell you something? Several years ago when the government decided for us to phase out incandescent bulbs and switch to the LED light bulb, I went in to hoarding mode as I absolutely adore a blazing 100 watt incandescent bulb. Bring on the light! Heck, if they’d made a 500 watt bulb, I WOULD HAVE BOUGHT IT.  I hate hate hate energy efficient bulbs. The light just isn’t the same – it’s either way too dim or the tone of the bulb is off (too blue or too yellow). Or it does that wonky slow-to-get-bright thing.  So I am on a continual mission to figure out an alternative solution.

Just the other day I told Simon that a non-negotiable for me is light. I need it everywhere all the time at all hours of the day (he loves this as he is prone to pop into the house and sing testily “EVERRRY LIGHT IN THE HOUSE IS ONNNNNNN”) – both natural and ambient. I can’t stand fluorescent overhead lighting (it makes everything look so grim, non?) and in my college dorm room at Pepperdine, I immediately snapped up lamps in lieu of the dim overhead fixture in the room.

I come by this obsession naturally as my mother is also a hater of the energy efficient bulb regulation. They have – and this is an estimation – no less than 50 can lights in their house, allllllll requiring light bulbs. This doesn’t include lamps, by the way. It is a lightbulb lollapalooza over there. And she has tried every possible kind of lightbulb and most don’t meet the Glenda Standard (this is an official title).

So what’s a light junkie to do?  In our house, we use regular ol’ bulbs as well as floodlights for the can lights. And I’ve tried almost all of them. For lamps, I’ve been using Reveal bulbs mostly as I do like the color of the light they produce. And I like halogen bulbs for the can lights, but they get pretty hot and I still end up buying them a ton as they burn out relatively quickly.  Ace Hardware sent me these GE warm white LED floodlights, and I had pretty low expectations (I’m a tough customer), but I have to say I haven’t even noticed these bulbs installed in the kitchen, which is a good thing. I realized the other day that I was actually pretty happy with the overall look of the kitchen. They are pricy at $25 each, which is probably why I hadn’t tried them yet, but I’m pretty impressed.

They also sent over these Feit LED bulbs in soft white, a brand I hadn’t heard of prior to this, as an incandescent 100 watt replacement and I’m pretty impressed with it too. And it doesn’t do that annoying slow-to-completely-turn-on thing that many LED bulbs do, which is a plus in my book.

Overall, I’m happy with the upgrade. And if these bulbs really do last 2 years as promised, color me impressed. I’ll be a customer for life.

THANKS TO ACE HARDWARE FOR SPONSORING THIS POST.

Quick programming note for a great charitable cause: On Saturday, September 5, Ace Hardware customers who make a five dollar donation will receive a limited edition five-gallon bucket and receive 20 percent off almost everything that fits in the bucket. One hundred percent of the donations will benefit Children’s Miracle Network Hostpitals.  Every Ace Hardware store has a local CMN Hospital that they raise funds for (in OKC, it’s this one) – so every dollar stays local – not one penny goes to headquarters or administrative costs.  If you’ve got some projects to complete over the Labor Day holiday, this is a great way to give back to an awesome cause.