In less than a year, 100-watt incandescent lamps will no longer be produced in or imported to the United States per the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 in order to reduce energy waste. IKEA, a home décor and furniture company, and the state of California have already phased out the incandescent lamps at the start of this year. At the starts of 2013 and 2014, the 70-watt, 60-watt, and 40-watt lamps will also be phased out.
Incandescent bulbs produce a large amount of greenhouse emissions and their short lifespan means a high consumption of raw materials in production, packaging, and transportation. Mary Beth Gotti, member of the National Lighting Bureau’s board of managers and manager of the GE Lighting Institute explained in a press release that lighting is measured in lumens (the amount of light produced) per watt, and the banned 100-watt lamps produce about 17 lumens per watt, which is very inefficient compared to alternative lighting available. Halogen bulbs, which work similar to incandescent bulbs, produce about 37 lumens per watt and have a 72-watt lamp equivalent to the 100-watt incandescent. Compact fluorescent lamps produce about 62.5 lumens per watt and have a 26-watt equivalent to the banned incandescent. Solid state lighting, the most efficient, produces about 75 lumens per watt and has a 10-watt equivalent to the banned incandescent! They even last 60-70 times longer!
As the incandescent phase out continues, please choose LEDs for your lighting needs!
