This article is in reference to USA Federal legislation that will ban *SOME* *but not all* household incandescent lamps in stages from 2012 through 2014.
UPDATE 1/2 and 1/11 2012: There is a temporary defunding of one government agency for enforcement of this ban in a short term spending bill, HR 2055.
The good news is that the USA Federal 2012-2014 ban has many exemptions.
The portion of the ban scheduled to go into effect in 2012 affects household lightbulbs with light output around that of 100 watt ordinary "standard" incandescents, and on the low side of output typical of 150 watt ones.
The portion of the ban scheduled to take effect on 1/1/2013 affects light bulbs with light output around that of usual 75 watt ones.
The portion of the ban scheduled to go in effect 1/1/2014 affects light bulbs with output typical or on the low side of usual for ones of 40 and 60 watts.
The ban is on manufacture within USA and importation into USA. Posession and sale of affected products within USA is not to be banned by this.
This exemption includes at least basically all 120V incandescents rated 25 watts or less. This includes all common incandescent exit sign lamps, night light bulbs, and 120 and 130V incandescent indicator lamps.
This includes most photographic, projector, and stage lighting lamps. This also includes most 750-hour-rated 150W lightbulbs and most 200 watts or more.
All of these halogen models have 2-3 times the life expectancy of "standard" incandescents.
The 40 watt "intermediate screw" "high intensity" bulb that is about the size of a ping pong ball is also excluded on this basis.
MR11 and MR16 pin-base units are exempted on this basis, whether or not they qualify for exemption on basis of low voltage or "specialty lamp".
UPDATE 3/5/2011: NOT EXEMPTED ON THIS BASIS - oddball proprietary screw
bases of sizes not listed in
FURTHER QUALIFICATION: Candelabra base is not exempt above 60 watts
and intermediate base is not exempt above 40 watts. However, I have yet to
see such screw bases used in wattages above these limits.
Exempted from the ban on "Specialty Lamp" basis:
S includes most theater marquee lamps and a slightly-common 40 watt "high
intensity" desk lamp bulb. F includes most flame-shaped decorative bulbs.
UPDATE 3/5/2011: Further info, sources:
FACT SHEET: General Service Incandescent Lamp Provisions Contained in EISA 2007
Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007
Sections 321-322 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007
(pages 82 to 98) are the relevant ones for light bulbs. There are additional
requirements taking place after 2014 that I have yet to mention, but I don't
find them significant yet.
1) The exemption on range of light output ends.
2) The exemption on basis of energy efficiency gets tightened, to require
energy efficiency of at least 45 lumens per watt. And, this applies to
"general service" bulbs of all technologies, not only incandescent.
Exempted incandescents similar to about-to-be-banned ones may come in
short supply, especially yellow "bug bulbs". CFL "bug bulbs" already exist
and they work well.
Where CFLs can be used, use CFLs. For some hints, look in my
CFL Top Page.
One hint: CFLs with outer bulbs tend to start dimmer and take longer to warm
up than bare spiral CFLs.
RECESSED CEILING FIXTURES - Those are especially difficult to achieve
satisfactory CFL operation in. The CFLs that are most optically suitable
for those tend to have outer bulbs, meaning likely starting very dim and
taking 2 minutes to warm up. Heat buildup in these fixtures often shortens
the life of the electronic ballasts inside screw base CFLs.
Thankfully, the 2012-2014 ban does not affect most reflector flood
incandescents used in such fixtures.
There are already LED replacements for some recessed ceiling fixtures,
notably Cree's LRM4. The entire fixture is replaced with the LED unit.
One specific example is Cree LMR040-0700-27F9-10100TW, available from
Digi-Key for $60 plus tax and shipping. It consumes 12 watts and produces
700 lumens, roughly the output of a 60-65 watt reflector floodlamp. This
is of Cree's better "True White" series, with color rendering index of 90.
As for getting incandescents in other applications where CFLs are not
acceptable and suitable LED lightbulbs are not yet available:
First, I would not worry much about the mercury in CFLs, since on average
replacement of incandescents 60 watts or more with CFLs reduces mercury
pollution. This is because most mercury pollution comes from burning coal
to generate electricity. Also, on average, CFLs have about 12% as much
mercury as 4-foot fluorescent lamps had as recently as the 1980's.
UPDATE 1/2/2012: LED bulbs are becoming more feasible to replace
non-directional incandescents. Philips has some 40, 60, and 75 watt
equivalent LED ones with a nice warm color, available at Home Depot. They
should not be used in small enclosed fixtures, and the 60 and 75 watt
equivalent ones should not be used base-up in recessed fixtures. They can
be used with the usual type of dimmers. The yellow color of the bulb is
not the color of the light produced - the light has color about that of a
40W 120V 1500 hour soft white incandescent.
If you need an incandescent anyway, there are the many exemptions above,
such as rough service, vibration service, shatter resistant, and traffic
signal. Sadly, these tend to have lower energy efficiency than the
incandescents that are about to be banned.
UPDATE 1/2/2012 Availability of incandescents that are exempt on
basis of energy efficiency has improved. These are available at Lowes,
Home Depot and Target.
After 2014, the Department of Energy may issue regulations that expand
the banning of incandescents, depending on advancement of technology and
change in sales rates of exempted incandescents.
However, 12 volt versions appear to me less-affected. There are 12 volt
50 watt incandescents that produce as much light as 60 watt 120V ones,
with no compromise in life expectancy. (There are a couple of economies
of scale where a shorter, thicker filament favors greater efficiency of
producing light.) 12 volt 50W light bulbs are available at some auto
parts stores. There is a wide variety of 12 volt transformers and
"transformers" available for powering the already-somewhat-widely-used
12 volt MR16 halogen lamps - which are exempted on both design voltage and
base style.
Dimmable CFLs: One obstacle to use of CFLs is the fact that most
CFLs are incompatible with usual-type dimmers. However, CFLs that are
compatible with these dimmers have been becoming increasingly available in
the past year or two. These have been available at Target at least since
early 2010.
Dimmable CFLs don't dim as well as incandescents do. However, dimmable CFLs
are rated for being safe to use with dimmers. Other CFLs have increased risk
of burning out in a bad way or burning out a dimmer if used with dimmers.
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5. Many Specialty Types
Specifically *NOT EXEMPTED* from the ban on "specialty lamp" basis:
NOTE - Many R, BR, PAR and K types run into a mild energy
efficiency requirement that already took effect in 2008.
UPDATE 3/5/2011: G (globular) is exempt on this basis if at least 5
inches in diameter, T (tubular) is exempt on this basis if rated wattage is
40 watts or less or length exceeds 10 inches.
UPDATE 3/5/2011: If rated power consumption is 40 watts or less.Credit To:
Paul Eldridge, for posting most of this in a January 18 2008 posting in
the Usenet newsgroup alt.home.repair, in article (message ID)
<2n12p3hhhjb104qjfuhvnf2o8r39ldmpi6@4ax.com>How this ban expands in 2020
In 2020, this ban is scheduled to expand mainly in two ways:What to do about this
Where you use incandescents of types unaffected by this due to any or any
combination of the above exemptions, you usually do not need to make any
changes.
Written by Don Klipstein.
Please read my Disclaimer.