Lowes Utilitech phaseout?

[ctgoodman]

I've been in my local Lowes a couple of times this past week. I have noticed that there is not a Utilitech bulb in the whole store besides the clearance rack. My local store has nothing but GE Halogen, CFL and LED on the shelf at this point. no other brand that I can see anywhere. Whats everyone else seeing at theirs? I had a couple store pickups of utilitech bulbs canceled this week due to availability even though it says they have them in stock online.

 

[86turbodsl]

Same here. All GE now. I think they made some sort of sales agreement. Oh well, plenty of other places to buy non-GE bulbs.

 

[ctgoodman]

I've bought the Utilitech bulbs on and off over the years both CFL and LED. I've not had an LED fail yet. I have some CFLs that have lasted longer than ten years before they quit. Though most have been replaced with LEDs at this point.

So what is the take on GE bulbs? Are they ok or are they considered ****? Price wise they where definitely a higher cost than the Utilitech bulbs have been.

 

[cybrdyke]

GE made a deal with Loews to become their primary lamp supplier. Utilitech isn't really a company, so there's probably an upgrade in the quality of the product.
CD

 

[Norcal]

Utilitech is Lowe’s housebrand that other companies make for them.

 

[reader2580]

I've bought the Utilitech bulbs on and off over the years both CFL and LED. I've not had an LED fail yet. I have some CFLs that have lasted longer than ten years before they quit. Though most have been replaced with LEDs at this point.

I bet the manufacturer changed every year or two as Lowe’s put the contract out for bid. Ultitech is just a store brand name.

 

[reader2580]

I’m happy with GE LED bulbs from 2014 installed in my bathroom. 100 watt equivalent.

 

[American Locomotive]

Not really impressed by any of the GE bulbs that Lowes offers. They seem pretty mediocre. Home Depot has a better selection of bulbs - it's mostly Phillips, but they offer many other brands as well.

 

[BillK]

They seem pretty mediocre.

In what way ???

 

[American Locomotive]

Selection, efficiency, color rendering. Just super average.

 

[LXCam]

Well that explains why I got the retrofit recessed lights so cheap last weekend. Maybe I should buy a couple extra to keep as spares since these are sealed units.

 

[Max]

My wife and noticed the GE only selection as well. I agree that the selection is mediocre. We bought a couple anyway, and the bulbs were on the physically large side. Not generally an issue, but these were for a hunter fan/light that had limited clearance. I ended up swapping with another LED bulb in the house to get a smaller one, and with so many other good LED bulbs out there I wont be buying any more GEs.

Max

 

[Ak Jim]

Well that explains why I got the retrofit recessed lights so cheap last weekend. Maybe I should buy a couple extra to keep as spares since these are sealed units.

There is a lot of truth to this. In part of the garage I have 20 can lights with LEDs. I ended up buying 4 extra. Most likely none of them will ever quit but if any of them do I would never find one to match.

 

[EOC_Jason]

They've been phasing out Utilitech since Jan/Feb.... Yes, they are going with GE as their main brand as far as I can tell...

 

[blueplate]

Home Depot has a better selection of bulbs - it's mostly Phillips, but they offer many other brands as well.

The “CREE” bulbs at Home Depot have been outstanding in my experience. Wirecutter.com rated them highly as well.


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[LifeLongWNYer]

It is great that Lowes is now changing to GE bulbs, GE is a great company and have been around for a long time, so "more power to them"! HOWEVER, decisions such as this are made by Lowes bean counters in some high-rise office building, who have absolutely no loyalty, to anything, other than profit. In 36 months, they could easily decide they can make a tenth of a penny per bulb more profit to dump GE and change to some other manufacturer. With the number of bulbs that they sell, company wide, 1/10 of a cent, per bulb, is a LOT of money.

Pardon me for singling out Lowes, ALL the chains are equally disloyal.



.

 

[ransil]

It is great that Lowes is now changing to GE bulbs, GE is a great company and have been around for a long time, so "more power to them"! HOWEVER, decisions such as this are made by Lowes bean counters in some high-rise office building, who have absolutely no loyalty, to anything, other than profit. In 36 months, they could easily decide they can make a tenth of a penny per bulb more profit to dump GE and change to some other manufacturer. With the number of bulbs that they sell, company wide, 1/10 of a cent, per bulb, is a LOT of money.

Pardon me for singling out Lowes, ALL the chains are equally disloyal.



.

You have not looked st GE lately. Once maybe great not anymore .
Does GE even still own the lighting bussiness?

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[mike93lx]

You have not looked st GE lately. Once maybe great not anymore .
Does GE even still own the lighting bussiness?

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Yes, but it is for sale.

The exclusive deal with Lowe's was announced a while back, maybe to spurn some interest in a sale of Lighting, but so far, no biters

 

[NUTTSGT]

You have not looked st GE lately. Once maybe great not anymore .
Does GE even still own the lighting bussiness?

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Yes, they still own GEL, but the local plant is supposedly doing some hiring. I mean like a lot of people. This is great news for us here in town.

I know they were losing money hand over fist trying to make some 8 foot LED replacements. Hopefully, they got smart and abandon that idea.. . . let somebody else do those 8 footers.

 

[enochian]

My store has a a bunch of Utilitech LED replacement bulbs on clearance.

Do these work in old fluorescent fixtures from the 1990's?

The box isn't clear.

 

[Falcon67]

My store has a a bunch of Utilitech LED replacement bulbs on clearance.

Do these work in old fluorescent fixtures from the 1990's?

The box isn't clear.

I'd say no unless they use newer electronic ballasts.

I've had decent luck with Utilitech bulbs, with maybe the exception of their Edison base 3000 K look-a-like replacements. We have been using those in fixtures like over vanity and such and they seem to go out fairly regular. Problem also is that you buy another brand bulb that is "3000K" or "3500K" and the color is different, so you end up buying a full set for any specific fixture when you change brands.

 

[Falcon67]

My store has a a bunch of Utilitech LED replacement bulbs on clearance.

Do these work in old fluorescent fixtures from the 1990's?

The box isn't clear.

I'd say no unless they use newer electronic ballasts.

I've had decent luck with Utilitech bulbs, with maybe the exception of their Edison base 3000 K look-a-like replacements. We have been using those in fixtures like over vanity and such and they seem to go out fairly regular. Problem also is that you buy another brand bulb that is "3000K" or "3500K" and the color is different, so you end up buying a full set for any specific fixture when you change brands.

 

[skatep]

I was able to get some clearance Utilitech Smart home items on clearance. not bad. So will Lowes no longer have a "house brand" in light-bulbs?

 

[Crazyjake8493]

My store has a a bunch of Utilitech LED replacement bulbs on clearance.

Do these work in old fluorescent fixtures from the 1990's?

The box isn't clear.

All of the Utilitech 4ft LED replacement tubes require a fixture with an electronic ballast (usually T8's) to function, except for item #778115 which was a ballast-bypass tube.

 

[Crazyjake8493]

There was some sort of contract made with GE/Lowes to be their main light bulb supplier. There's still a few Sylvania CFL bulbs still stocked, as GE does not manufacture CFL bulbs. I've used both Utilitech and GE and haven't had any problems with either, though I suspect the GE name is a bigger customer attraction for Lowes than the Utilitech brand.

 

[Duster346]

Utilitech T8 LED's were JUNK. Every one I bought burned and almost caught on fire. Absolute garbage. And that was in there fixtures as well.

Replaced them with the GE LEDs and couldn't be happier.

 

[thesilverone]

Bought a GE LED bulb 2 weeks ago. The PCB looks exactly the same as the Great Value(walmart brand) bulbs

 

[paul.nmedia.net]

GE was bought be ABB in February. Look for it to change over the next year as they shut down common resources and jettison the dumb things GE did under Jack Welch. Quality control and support have been atrocious in most product lines.

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[cybrdyke]

GE was bought be ABB in February. Look for it to change over the next year as they shut down common resources and jettison the dumb things GE did under Jack Welch. Quality control and support have been atrocious in most product lines.

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ABB bought GE's Industrial Division, not the lighting division.
GE Industrial was breakers, panels, controls, etc.
GE Lighting is still owned by GE, but it's for sale if anyone's dumb enough to buy it.
CD