Best (cheapest) place to buy PAR30 and PAR20 LED bulbs?

March 17, 2014 7:00 PM

I'm remodeling the house and have converted everything to can lights. I have to go buy about 36 PAR30 bulbs and about 12 PAR20 bulbs. Where can I get the best deal? Difficulty: NO EBAY.

Please make sure you see that part about no eBay.

When I budgeted, I didn't realize that the bulbs were not included in the quote (I assumed the can lights came with bulbs). So, now I need to buy them and they're not super cheap. So help me out, Metafilter.

posted by jeffamaphone to Home & Garden (10 answers total)

I'd post a "wanted" on Craigslist (only 25% ebay!) and check out local Habitat Re-Stores. There's a group out here in Florida called Lightbulbs Unlimited who have a website, but I'd talk to a lighting store or a big box store about getting contractor packs of bulbs.
posted by tilde at 7:13 PM on March 17, 2014

Best answer: So far, home depot and costco have had the best prices on LED bulbs that I have seen, and I know they sell them for can lights.
posted by rockindata at 7:57 PM on March 17, 2014

Best answer: Check out 1000bulbs.com. The per unit price is always great, just be sure to factor in shipping costs since they charge what it actually costs. This also means that you save the most on shipping costs if you purchase an even box of something.
posted by metahawk at 8:12 PM on March 17, 2014

Ikea has them!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 5:47 AM on March 18, 2014

Do you HAVE to use PAR30 or can you use BR30 as well?

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-65BR30-FL-4-GV-Great-Value-65W-Halogen-BR30-Light-Bulb-White-4pk/26560438

Less than $2 each in packs of 4
posted by sandra_s at 6:36 AM on March 18, 2014

Response by poster: I'm not certain what the difference between PAR30 and BR30 is, but I can look into it.
posted by jeffamaphone at 7:03 AM on March 18, 2014

BR30 and PAR30 are generally interchangeable; the main difference is that BR have a wider beam.

One thing to watch out for: super-cheap CFL bulbs are the worst. Light bulbs aren't a commodity anymore; there's a wide range of quality and to a certain extent you get what you pay for. Before you commit to a purchase make sure you read enough user reviews of that particular bulb to be certain you're not buying flickering laggy junk that'll short out in three months.
posted by ook at 7:27 AM on March 18, 2014

Response by poster: Oh no, I'm specifically looking for LED. There shall be no CFLs in my house.
posted by jeffamaphone at 7:27 AM on March 18, 2014

My mistake, sorry! I missed that you said LED in the question title.
posted by ook at 7:35 AM on March 18, 2014

Response by poster: Well, it's looking like CostCo has the best price on LED PAR30s. They didn't have any PAR20s, but Home Depot has some decently priced BR20s that I'm going to use.

1000Bulbs.com looks like an awesome resource in general, but not the discount prices I was hoping for.

Thanks all.
posted by jeffamaphone at 8:30 AM on March 19, 2014