On Sun, 27 Mar 2011 18:35:01 -0400, aemeijers wrote:

On 3/27/2011 6:08 PM, zzzzzzzzzz wrote:
On Sun, 27 Mar 2011 14:49:14 -0700 (PDT), Shaun Eli
wrote:

Pricing- manufacturing and parts is a small fraction of the total
cost, so the difference between the bulb and the housing plus bulb is
minimal.

They sell the whole unit cheaper than the (most expensive) part
because they move a lot of whole units. If they don't sell very many
replacement bulbs (and at this price they probably don't) then the
cost of inventory's much higher- they stock something that takes two
years to sell, that costs them something.

And if they didn't stock the replacement bulb people would complain-
What do you mean I can't buy a bulb, I have to buy a new one, throw
away the whole thing and reinstall it?

Why not take the bulb out of the new one and throw it (the new one) away?

'Cuz that just ain't NATURAL. I'm sure people on this group have whole
piles off stuff out back that is just missing one part. Too expensive to
fix, but too good to throw out, etc. And every few years, you get to
look like a hero to family or friends, because you had that
now-hard-to-find spare whatever in stock.

Are there any tinkerers and DIY's that don't have a touch of OCD?

After the last three moves, and probably at least one more sometime in the
future, I don't keep much that isn't used regularly.