Mercury Vapor Lamp Price Issue

[MercuryVapor175]

A problem that I've noticed among MV lamp prices is that; clear bulbs cost MORE than coated (DX) lightbulbs. THis doesn't make sense to me, as the clear lamps have less material and also 1 less step (the coating process). Is anyone else aware of this and if so do you know what causes this?

[Mike]

not sure... i've noticed clear incandescents are more expensive than soft whites too. It's probably because there's more of a demand for the coated lamps. the few massive merc installations left typically used coated lamps. Seekonk Speedway in Seekonk, MA still uses all clear lamps though since the owner doesn't like the "pinkish glow from the coated lamps". he must be using sylvania lamps...

[MercuryVapor175]

Don't know much about the incandescent lamps, but other brands of coated lights also have a pink starting color. For incandescent lights it doesn't matter much to me as the light is the same anyways, but with MV's the coating DOES change the lamp's spectrum, so that's why I prefer clear MV lights.

[Mike]

sylvania lamps actually cast a pinish glow though, i don't really like it either but the color rendition is the best I've seen. I don't look like shreck under a /DX sylvania lol. The reason i prefer coated lamps over clear (this goes for all lamps) is because my eyes are REALLY light sensitive so clear lamps prevent me from looking at lit streetlights because they're just too glarey for me. If i light a clear lamp in my basement in a fixture i need to grab my sunglasses or i end up squinting and getting a headache! I sorta do like /DX MV lamps over clear thougb but cleartops are the BEST because they have a little of both!

[MercuryVapor175]

I personally prefer clear lamps as you can see the actual spectrum of the discharge.

[joe_347V]

I think it's more of a supply/demand thing, I've noticed that only a few wattages are even still made in clear now whereas the full range (excl 700w) is still made in /DX.

Also if you get the Feit MV bulbs, those only have a diffusing coating on the bulb so the spectrum isn't actually affected.