$3 bulb w/rebates
 

OK, so local poco (PSE) has instant rebate on 4 pack of 12W LED bulbs, $3 each. Greenlite brand.

So, there are24 ea indivicual LEDs in the bulb, on a flat 1" dia wafer at about where the neck transitions to bulb on an incandescent.

Then there is a white CARDBOARD piece inside the plastic covering so the light only comes out the ring around the sides - how dumb is that, as least for a lot of uses. Apparently trying to make the bulb 'omnidirectional. Same LEDs in a similar bulb without the cardboard has 800 lumens vs 450 at the same 12W

So, eye cutoff the stupid plastic cover (indoor use) and the subjective lumen level at the floor is about 10x that of the way the thingy is sold. Why cut lumen output in half simply so it 'looks' like a 60W incandescent from the side??

Sounds like a racket to me. Imagine this:

Yuppies go couponing on Saturday, spend their coupons on x many bulbs. When a hall light goes out, the bulb gets changed for an LED equivalent. Yuppie discovers however long later, after receipt is lost, that LED light isn't perfect, swaps LED hall light with incandescent attic light. Recycled attic light quickly dies and is replaced... process continues until all short-lived incandescent lights are replaced with new technology bulbs at great profit to retailers. Money is spread around between retailers, vendors, and power company so they can roll out the next half-baked marketing campaign. Yuppies everywhere save very little money on their power bills but brag that they use new technology bulbs when surveyed. Attic and porch lights everywhere last forever.

Maybe next campaign the vendor will have received enough complaints to warrant a revision, but by then they will be rolling out something else...