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From: levy@ttrdc.UUCP (Daniel R. Levy)
Newsgroups: net.consumers,net.sci,net.audio,net.video,net.analog
Subject: Re: Line Voltage
Message-ID: <903@ttrdc.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 1-Jun-86 16:29:38 EDT
Article-I.D.: ttrdc.903
Posted: Sun Jun  1 16:29:38 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 4-Jun-86 00:17:53 EDT
References: <446@hropus.UUCP> <5436@alice.uUCp> <1039@kitty.UUCP> <290@cbmvax.cbmvax.cbm.UUCP> <1908@calmasd.CALMA.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T, Computer Systems Division, Skokie, IL
Lines: 37
Xref: linus net.consumers:4897 net.sci:664 net.audio:7986 net.video:2559 net.analog:843

In article <1908@calmasd.CALMA.UUCP>, jnp@calmasd.UUCP writes:
>In article <290@cbmvax.cbmvax.cbm.UUCP>, grr@cbmvax.cbm.UUCP (George Robbins) writes:
>> 	A friend tells me that an electric utility in the Chicago area still
>> supplies light bulbs as part of it's service.  I wonder if they are the same
>> quality as the kind you buy in the stores...
>It's true. Commonwealth Edison will give you a new bulb for each one you bring
>in (replacement policy).  They are good bulbs and seem to last at least as
>long as you would expect any bulb to last.  They are, as I remember, though
>in "funny" denominations - i.e. 52W, 70W, etc.
>These opinions are solely mine and in no way reflect those of my employer.
>...{ucbvax|decvax}!sdcsvax!calmasd!jnp   John M. Pantone @ GE/Calma San Diego

Note:  you have to pay an extra fee per month to get the bulb service; they
aren't free.  Also you have to bring your bill in, in person, to get the bulbs;
you can't get the bulbs by mail or delivered by the meter-reader.  Thus I have
never signed up for the bulb service (I'm kind of big on fluorescents, anyway,
having replaced the bathroom and kitchen ceiling lamp bulbs in my apartment
with GE Circline(TM) screw-in fluorescent lamps which have proved very good so
far; I'd replace more if they weren't so awkward to put in shade-type lamps and
small wall lamps).

My personal surmise about the odd-wattage bulbs is that they are "high-
efficiency" versions which are supposed to put out as much light as their
standard cousins--like the 52W bulb would be as bright as a 60W standard,
and the 70W bulb would be as bright as a 75W standard, etc.  (I've seen
similar wattages sold in supermarkets as "Miser" (sp? tm?) bulbs.  Their
average life according to the package is not as great as that for a standard
bulb--I guess because of a hotter filament which puts out more radiation in
the visible spectrum for a given electrical input than a standard bulb does.)
-- 
 -------------------------------    Disclaimer:  The views contained herein are
|       dan levy | yvel nad      |  my own and are not at all those of my em-
|         an engihacker @        |  ployer or the administrator of any computer
| at&t computer systems division |  upon which I may hack.
|        skokie, illinois        |
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