Local second-hand listings are your friends then! Got an enormous amount of interesting lamps and ballasts from second-hand sites. Some truly unique. How about a NOS pure gallium-filled 400W violet metal halide lamp for just a few bucks? Or a blue 1kW one?



 

The Oregon ban started right as I started collecting fluorescent lamps, and light bulbs in general. That actually kickstarted my interest in them. The Oregon law prevents stores from stocking up on new fluorescent tubes, and they have until Jan. 1st of 2025 to sell the remaining stock of pin-base fluorescent lamps (CFLs were banned in 2024). The Home Depot near me has some pretty slim pickings, but other stores like the Ace Hardware in Progress Ridge still has a fairly good supply.

The bans don't really affect me that much because I can always drive to Washington or get the lamp shipped to me if I really need to buy a new one. Most times I can find one in a thrift store or on Craigslist for cheap, though.

I am wondering if there's any good stores in Albuquerque, NM since they're ban-free. It's a 5 hourish drive but if there are any stores stocking good tubes and fixtures it'll be worth it. Down in time for lunch and a bit for shopping, back in time for late dinner.

Yeah, that's what blows about the LED tubes.

One interesting thing I noticed last time I was in the local Home Depot & made a point to walk through the light aisle & look at tubes, it was mostly still LED, but at some point they brought back a limited selection of fluorescents (stuff like F32's)

I wonder if any of you in Colorado had problems with purchasing high CRI F40 tubes online.

I haven't tried (have no need for any more F40's), but as long as you can find them should be no issues until after the end of the year.

Local second-hand listings are your friends then!

And technically banned in CO (even if given away free, since that's still a "transfer") starting next year, though it'd be hard for them to control such...

I am wondering if there's any good stores in Albuquerque, NM since they're ban-free. It's a 5 hourish drive ...

I wonder the same about Wyoming (closest cities would be a 3+ hour drive... way too far for me, but wouldn't be surprised if there's still some good stuff there)

Another thing I've wondered about is out on the eastern plains of CO, there's all those small towns that might have little old hardware stores full of interesting stuff. If I ever go stormchasing out there, I'd be tempted to stop in one. .lol.