Why is incandescent bulbs illegal

Unfortunately, little of that is true. There is no such thing as an incandescent light bulb ban in the United States. Or a watt incandescent bulb. Or a three-way incandescent light bulb. Or one with a more durable filament for "rough service" applications. There are literally dozens of loopholes.

So what is actually happening on January 1st? The cost of an ordinary light bulb will drastically rise — and hopefully your electricity bill will fall. The so-called bulb ban is simply a government-mandated energy efficiency standard at work.

They simply require that the most popular light bulbs are roughly 25 percent more efficient — that you only need 43 watts to generate the same amount of light as a watt incandescent. Halogen incandescent bulbs complement the tungsten filament of a traditional incandescent bulb with halogen gas, which helps them burn more efficiently.

Now, manufacturers claim halogen incandescents look and work nearly identically to the original. GE says they can have the same shape, size, brightness, color temperature, color rendering index CRI , and dim the same too. Unfortunately, they cost a lot more. In technological terms, this basically means they're prehistoric. But why are theseincandescent bulbs banned? They create lighting by heating a filament until it glows, which is a highly inefficient method of lighting because almost all the energy is wasted on heat - hence why you may have had the misfortune of touching a bulb that's still hot even when turned off.

Economic and environmental factors have persuaded governments to bring in measures to increase the use of more efficient lighting sources to reduce energy bills and carbon emissions.

There was resistance to these measures initially over fears that alternative lighting sources would be in short supply and pricing would be high. However, both objections have been disproven,with there being a high availability of efficient lighting sources that also pay for themselves by saving consumers on their electricity bulls. Due to this, governing bodies are planning to ban halogens too. Keep reading to learn what you need to know about the proposed incandescent light bulb ban, and make sure to call our experienced electricians for lighting services and more.

All the way back in , President George W. As these new standards were first put in place between and , watt incandescent bulbs were eventually phased out.

This would have effectively banned the use of almost all incandescent light bulbs. The rule would have prohibited the sale of bulbs that do not reach a standard of efficiency, and could have seen an end to incandescent bulbs. Many countries have phased out older bulbs because they waste energy. But the US energy department said banning incandescent bulbs would be bad for consumers because of the higher cost of more efficient bulbs.

The Department of Energy said it had withdrawn the ban because it was a misinterpretation of the Energy Independence and Security Act. Specifically, the law stipulated that restrictions on bulbs could only be implemented when it was economically justified , Shaylyn Hynes, a spokeswoman for the Department of Energy, told the New York Times. Activists say the government has come under pressure from manufacturers.