New Hampshire software engineer Kevin Szmyd spent $1,700 to buy 4,800 incandescent lightbulbs before they’re banned. Now he says he has enough to last for the next 75 years. The 25-year-old says the incandescent bulbs are the gold standard for producing a sunlight-quality color, while LEDs often cast more of a blueish-green light that’s terrible. Kevin’s idea came months before the Biden administration’s ban on incandescent devices went into effect in August. The ban was to force switches to the most expensive energy-efficient LED bulbs. Kevin spent 6 weeks stockpiling as many lightbulbs as he could find on Craigslist and eBay, trying to get a lifetime collection. He even managed to run across an incredibly rare find in his parent’s basement: a soft-pink Sylvania 10576. The price of the lightbulbs that Kevin collected has since skyrocketed, with a $15 box he bought in June now selling for $150. Kevin says he plans to use the lightbulbs himself rather than face up to $2.6 million in fines by the Department of Energy if he got caught selling the now-illegal lightbulbs.
