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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Taking light bulbs from old house to new house

325 replies

EasterBun2001 · 05/01/2020 09:46

When we bought our first home we invested in LED lightbulbs throughout which are not cheap but have paid for themselves in ridiculously low energy bills.

Now looking at moving, my sensible head wants to bring the bulbs with me but I feel like this would be unreasonable for anyone moving in.

What would you do?

OP posts:
SchadenfreudePersonified · 05/01/2020 12:36

Take the bulbs - put ordinary ones in.

Dontsweatthelittlestuff · 05/01/2020 12:38

Good quality LED bulbs are not cheap. I have gradually replaced all mine and if I had to do it as a one of purchase you are looking at several hundred pounds. I have 7 alone in my lounge and 5 in my dining room.
I would get down to Poundland and buy replacements and take the LED. The new owners will still have working lights and you can reuse the LED in your new home.

confusedandtired99 · 05/01/2020 12:42

it doesn’t matter how expensive they are I wouldn’t take them. The light bulbs helped create an ambience which might have helped your sale. I think I’d feel a bit cheated if the lighting quality had suddenly changed after purchase (with the cheaper light bulbs). I’d feel it wasn’t sold as seen as it were. I also wouldn’t have known why this had happened, because I didn’t know light bulbs like the ones you’ve purchased existed. I’ve learnt something new today, so thank you.

CuriousaboutSamphire · 05/01/2020 12:43

(We had to re-arrange the house back to looking like a show home with its' random meaningless vases and ornaments before vacating, but that's unrelated.)

That's so the inventory clerk (maybe me) doesn't charge extra for having to track them all down, or miss some meaning you pay to replace them! I probably hate the stupid tat more than you did Grin

FleaTrainerExtraordinaire · 05/01/2020 12:47

Well, who'd have thought a thread about light bulbs would have attracted so many dicks, just like moths to a... oh, never mind.

FlamingoAndJohn · 05/01/2020 12:50

The light bulbs helped create an ambience which might have helped your sale. I think I’d feel a bit cheated if the lighting quality had suddenly changed after purchase

Seriously? The ambience of my house when I looked round came from their lovely little boy and friendly cat. Perhaps I should have asked to keep them?

DecisioNN · 05/01/2020 12:51

That’s really tight imo. If you were talking hundreds and hundreds of pounds worth of specialist lightbulbs, then yeah fair enough but other than that, then absolutely no need.

SunshineCake · 05/01/2020 12:51

I wouldn't take them all or if I wanted to I would leave some regular, in the fittings, so that they don't discover they can't see when it's too late.

CuteOrangeElephant · 05/01/2020 12:53

I would only take smart lights, as they might be useless to the new inhabitants anyway!

I am in the process of getting ready to sell and will be leaving spare bulbs actually. I really can't imagine being so stingy to the point of leaving people in the dark!

catlady3 · 05/01/2020 12:55

When we bought our house, the contract actually stated they had to leave light bulbs and also curtains or blinds.

ChocolateTeapots1 · 05/01/2020 13:00

Buy cheap bulbs and take the expensive ones with you. I'd be thoroughly pissed off if I moved into a house and there wasn't a single bulb in the house.

Some friend's of my in laws bought a house with beautiful light fittings in every room, when they got the keys the previous owners and removed every single fitting and replaced with the cheapest one they could find in b&q. Funny thing is he's a solicitor that did our conveyancing and he'd been had! Removing nice bulbs isn't on par with taking entire light fittings, just don't leave them in the dark!

Bluerussian · 05/01/2020 13:01

You're unreasonable, leave them!

greeneyedlulu · 05/01/2020 13:03

Buy cheaper bulbs and replace them.

NomNomNomNom · 05/01/2020 13:04

Not me but a friend when he moved house the old occupants took the bloody fitted carpets with them, so he decided to take his old fitted carpets with him too. Bloody ridiculous because they obviously didn't fit the new rooms and looked terrible and now the new owners of his old house will have the same problem.

JosefKeller · 05/01/2020 13:04

Depends

If you had decent buyers, just be civil in return.

If you had pain in the ass ones, trying to drop the price at the last minute, full on unreasonable request, making the whole process a stressful nightmare, go for it.

No one reasonably expect to find light bulbs, it's a bonus if there are, but it depends how well the sale went.

Ruddle91 · 05/01/2020 13:06

I took my bulbs I'd bought Hive ones so dear. Replaced with 90p ikea ones.

NigellaAwesome · 05/01/2020 13:10

I took the remaining oil from our tank before I moved to ensure the buyer who fucked us over and had us and our very young children moving into a house which didn't even have a toilet wouldn't benefit.

Fucker.

But in the normal scheme of things I'm not usually so petty and would leave the lightbulbs.

FlamingoAndJohn · 05/01/2020 13:11

I took my bulbs I'd bought Hive ones so dear.

By doing that you are boasting, showing off, have no taste and are cheap. Also you are robbing people of the ambience in their house. (According to this thread anyway)

OhTheRoses · 05/01/2020 13:13

A good solicitor would write this into the contract. Of course you don't take the lightbulbs.

thecapitalsunited · 05/01/2020 13:14

Even if I left my smart bulbs you wouldn’t get the same ambience using the switch because they’re set to a specific brightness or set to react to a motion sensor or to come on based on my location. The switch just turns them on at full brightness and off again. And you wouldn’t be able to use the smart features because because my Hue hub would be in my new house and you’d need to buy your own and set it up. Replacing with standard LEDs would have no effect if you couldn’t use the smart features anyway.

JosefKeller · 05/01/2020 13:14

I don't think most fixture and fittings go as far as including the lightbulbs, but the cheapest ones would do if they were specified. Same with door handles and everything.

haukeli · 05/01/2020 13:17

Either leave them or take them but replace them with cheaper bulbs.
I'd probably just leave them though and buy new ones for the new house.

jeremypaxo · 05/01/2020 13:19

Agree with PP who have said to put cheap bulbs in and take the expensive ones with you (if you're sure they'll fit the sockets in your new house).

When we moved in to our house, the previous owner had replaced all the interior doors with crappy ones that were too short, plus taken all the lightbulbs, bathroom mirror etc, and left a huge scratch on the wood floor. I was pretty upset! It was a bad start and got things off on a very sour note.

wanderings · 05/01/2020 13:20

@Iminthewrongstory You're right about Nigel Hawthorne, it was indeed he who played the character who took all the light bulbs. That film "The Chain" was great, full of MN dilemmas! Maurice Denham timing the removal men's tea break was spot on.

@viques I bet the person who took the toilet seat was on MN. "AIBU to think that nobody shits through that toilet seat but me?"

Glad to know about Poundland bulbs, though. Ideally I want to replace all the bulbs in my house with LED ones, but I can't justify getting rid of perfectly good existing bulbs.

NewPapaGuinea · 05/01/2020 13:23

LED bulbs aren’t even that expensive anymore if you avoid places like B&Q