Last month, a change that has been coming for quite some time finally took effect. You probably didn’t even notice it happen, but it involves something that you use every single day. As of August 1, 2023, retailers are no longer allowed to sell incandescent lightbulbs, nor will they be manufactured in the United States.
The U.S. Department of Energy has been working for years to ban incandescent bulbs and switch to more energy-efficient LED bulbs. LED stands for Light-Emitting Diode.
You may wonder why incandescent bulbs were put on the chopping block. New standards require a lightbulb to produce a minimum of 45 lumens per watt. Most incandescent bulbs emit only 15 lumens per watt. It’s possible that within the next few years, compact fluorescent bulbs will be phased out as well. While CFLs last much longer than incandescents, they can’t compare to the efficiency of LEDs. LEDs typically produce 75 lumens per watt. The Department of Energy is hoping that this change will result in a reduction in carbon emissions by 222 million metric tons over the next three decades. They’re also projecting that the change will save the American consumer $3 billion dollars on utility bills.
A question I’ve been asked is if this means that you must throw away any incandescent bulbs you have at home. You’re allowed to continue to use incandescent bulbs that were purchased prior to August 1, 2023. There are certain types of incandescent bulbs that you will still be able to purchase such as appliance lamps like fridge and oven lights, bug lamps, infrared lamps, plant lights, and flood lights.
If you want to find an LED bulb that’s equivalent to the incandescent you have, stop thinking in terms of watts, and instead think lumens. If you have a 100-watt bulb you want to match, you’re going to need an LED that has 1600 lumens. An LED that produces 750 lumens is equivalent to a 60-watt bulb. Almost every LED will have the wattage equivalent listed on the packaging.
What about the temperature of the light from the lightbulb? The coolness or warmth of the light is measured in Kelvin. The higher the kelvin, the cooler the light will appear. For lamps and lights in living areas, you might want to stay somewhere around 2,700K to 3,000K. If you want to replace a bulb in a workshop, try a bulb that is closer to 5,000K for that brighter, bluer light.
Change can be uncomfortable for many, myself included! I just remind myself that these new bulbs are much improved over previous models and that it will save me from the inconvenience of having a burned-out bulb. On top of that, I’ll save money in the long term! If you have questions or are unsure about which bulb is right for your home, remember that at Randy’s Do it Best Hardware, we don’t mind your questions! We don’t mind them at all!
