I have two lamps in my room and a desk light.  At nighttime I rely so heavily on those three sources of light.  Several months ago one of the lamps closest to my bed had burned out and I didn’t bother to replace the bulb.  I figured that the other lamp was doing a fine job by itself.  This morning I turned on the light switch and in a shocking *burst, I no longer had a “legitimate” source of light in my room… that desk lamp is as useful as a lit matchstick in providing my room with light.  *(I would like to point out that my light bulb burst wasn’t as extreme as in the above video)

I unscrewed both light bulbs and saw that they both were 75-watts.  I had to remember that number when I later went to CVS in my pursuit to purchase new ones.  Honestly, I didn’t really understand the significance of how many watts were in a light bulb… I must have skipped that day of physics.

Shopping for bulbs is an adventure.  There are too many different shapes, sizes, types, and… watts.  I chose to go with 60-watt bulbs thinking that it was close enough to what I had originally.  Four energy saver bulbs that, according to the box will last me 9-years, for $11… I didn’t even think twice.

I screwed both bulbs in and stood in the doorway to see what I could make of my newly lit room.  All I could think was wow I should have purchased those 75-watt bulbs instead.  15 watts make a huge difference to the lighting!  My room is lit, but it’s not that bright.  Between both lamps there is a dark shadow that simply cannot be reached by the 60-watt range.  Maybe I’ll move my desk lamp there… or maybe I’ll just go out and purchase those 75-watt bulbs.