T5 Lights Double In Price?

Its that time of the year when I run out of spare 4ft 6500k t5 lights...

I have been browsing and the last purchase was 10 bulbs for $39.50 from amazon for ipower bulbs on December 26, 2021

Now its like $40 for 5 with free ship and it goes up from there

Is there an out;et im missing, where are you all going for feplacement bulbs? I run 8 4ft t5 6500k bulbs....

“Are fluorescent bulbs being discontinued?


New is that the RoHS directives from 2023 will tighten the mercury regulation, which means that both fluorescent T5 and T8 tubes and compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) will be phased out during 2023.Jan 11, 2023”


This is for Europe. I’m guessing the manufacturers are reading that handwriting on the wall and they’re gathering cash.

Then there’s this

“After being warned for some time now, today our national pricing service alerted us to a 35% increase in most fluorescent lamps. This is due to a worldwide shortage of Phosphor, one of the main ingredients on the inside of the fluorescent lamps. We have also told to be ready for another 40 to 60% increase in just another month. This means that by the end of next month fluorescent lamps could easily be double or more from what we were paying for them last month.”

LEDS
I abandoned my t5 for just that reason a few years ago

Boo-Urns....I still like T5 lights for certain applications. The amount of light and heat given off is perfect for a propagation area.