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September 2011 Featured Story
Lighten your energy load with new lighting options
 On hot summer evenings children love chasing fireflies, often catching them in jars. Then the real magic begins, as the intermittent glow captivates the captors.
That same sense of wonder can be found in labs as scientists refine the process of making light-emitting diodes — highly efficient light bulbs that are comparable to a firefly’s glow.
Light-emitting diodes, more commonly called LEDs, have been used as solitary sensor lights in electronics for quite some time. Now, manufacturers are searching for economical ways to contain a colony of LEDs in a single lighting shell. Just as children attempt to gather enough fireflies to make a lamp, an LED “jar” would create enough light output (lumens) to match that of traditional incandescent bulbs.
This research is part of national effort aimed at redefining household lighting. Starting in January 2012, 100-watt incandescent bulbs — a technology developed in the United States by Thomas Edison in 1878 and largely untouched since — must become more energy efficient.
Federal mandate
Why is the government shining a light on lighting? The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates we use 13.6 percent of our nation’s energy supply to keep the lights on, and a lot of that power is wasted. If you’ve ever touched a traditional light bulb when it’s on, you realized much of the energy — 90 percent — is released as heat.
To tackle this issue, Congress passed the Energy Information and Security Act of 2007. The law mandates that by 2014 household light bulbs using between 40 and 100 watts will need to consume at least 28 percent less energy than traditional incandescents. This will save Americans an estimated $6 billion to $10 billion in lighting costs annually. By 2020, bulbs will need to become 70 percent more efficient (LEDs already exceed this goal).
“As the rules change and technology advances, consumers have many more lighting options,” said Jim Crowcroft, vice president of marketing for Technical Consumer Products, Inc., a leading developer of energy efficient lighting. “As they look for ways to save money, it’s important to have the right information to make the best choices.”
Look for labels
Having that right information means consumers will need to switch from thinking about light bulbs in terms of watts (amount of energy used) to lumens (amount of light produced). While watt measurements are familiar to consumers and have been featured on light bulb packages for decades, watt measurements alone make it difficult for consumers to compare traditional incandescent bulbs to more efficient bulbs, such as CFLs. A CFL may be able to produce the same brightness as an incandescent bulb using significantly less energy, or watts.
“Lumens, not watts, tell you how bright a light bulb is, no matter the type of bulb,” explained Amy Hebert at the Federal Trade Commission. “The more lumens, the brighter the light.”
The ratio between lumens and watts is the key. “The more lumens per watt you get, the more efficiency,” explained Rob Kirkpatrick, chief operating officer of Service Concepts, an Indiana electric cooperative resource that assists with energy efficiency programs. “More watts once meant more light. Now more watts can mean more waste — and less light.”
The Federal Trade Commission has designed a “Lighting Facts” label and shopping guide that compares a bulb being purchased with traditional incandescent light bulbs based on wattages and equivalent lumens. Modeled after the “Nutrition Facts” on food packaging, the label will help consumers better compare the lighting options available. Beginning in 2012, the mandatory labels on the front and back of light bulb packages will emphasize a bulb’s brightness in lumens, annual energy cost, and expected lifespan. In addition, they will also let consumers know the “warmth” or color of the light the bulb produces.
Is this a bulb ban?
Contrary to popular belief, the federal Energy Information and Security Act of 2007 does not ban incandescent bulb technology; it requires bulbs use less energy.
“It’s equivalent to standards passed in the 1980s to make refrigerators more energy efficient, and we’re reaping those benefits,” said Brian Sloboda with the Cooperative Research Network, a division of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, the national trade arm of local electric co-ops. “Refrigerators use less than one-third of the electricity today than they did in the mid-1970s, but consumers can’t tell a difference in how their food is cooled. The premise is, why not do the same for light bulbs?”
EISA halts the manufacture of inefficient light bulbs, but stores will not remove tried-and-true incandescent bulbs from shelves come New Year’s Day. Current inventory will still be available for sale until exhausted. And the improved efficiency requirements only apply to screw-based light bulbs; specialty bulbs for appliances, heavy-duty bulbs, colored lights, and three-way bulbs are exempt.
 Explore your options
Once traditional incandescents go the way of leaded gasoline, residential bulbs will largely fit in three categories. Each stacks up a bit differently:
• Halogen Incandescents: Use 25 percent less energy, last up to three times longer than regular incandescent bulbs (please see related story);
• Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs): Use 75 percent less energy, last up to 10 times longer;
• LEDs: Use between 75 percent and 80 percent less energy, last up to 25 times longer.
CFL, halogen, and LED technologies all offer energy savings, but at different intervals, and all with their own pros and cons, noted Crowcroft at TCP, which makes most of the CFLs distributed by Indiana’s REMCs/RECs.
For consumers comfortable with their old incandescent bulbs, halogen incandescents will be an easy first step. Featuring a capsule of halogen gas around the bulb’s filament, they’re available in a variety of familiar colors and can be dimmed.
“Halogen does offer some efficiency improvement over standard incandescent bulbs,” said Kirkpatrick. “They meet the new minimum qualifications. They won’t lower your light bill as much as CFLs and LEDs, but will provide a good, crisp light.”
The most familiar options on the market today — and most economical — are CFLs. The technology operates the same as fluorescent lighting in offices or the kitchen. The bulbs are now available in a wide array of colors and some can be dimmed. Always check the package to make sure a bulb meets your needs.
According to Kirkpatrick, CFLs are generally best used anywhere where lighting is left on for extended periods and full brightness is not immediately necessary, such as family rooms, bedrooms and common areas. As with all fluorescent bulbs, each CFL contains a small amount of mercury (five times less than a watch battery) and should be recycled. Many retailers offer free CFL recycling; visit http://www.epa.gov/cfl for details.
The final choice (remember the fireflies?) is LEDs. Although still developing, quality LED lights are on store shelves now (see stories at right and atop page 5), offering solutions for recessed fixtures and some lower wattage replacement bulbs. Currently, most residential LEDs are used for outdoor lighting where fixtures are left on for extended periods and changing bulbs is not easily done. But as they come down in price, utilities looking to delay adding costly but needed generating capacity — like electric co-ops — hope homeowners will embrace them.
LEDs are more expensive than other options: a replacement for a 60-watt incandescent bulb costs between $30 and $60. But costs will fall as manufacturers respond to growing consumer demand.
LEDs are not without their problems: they have to stay cool to operate efficiently, and when several bulbs are placed together for a brighter, more consumer-friendly light, lifespan decreases. Manufacturers are accounting for this by adding cooling elements. The best ones feature a spine or fin design to allow air to flow around the base.
Can you see a difference?
As lighting technologies advance, consumers probably won’t notice a marked difference in the color of light, how that light is dispersed or necessarily a difference in bulb shape from one technology to the next. Lighting manufacturers now offer covered CFLs and LEDs that even look like the old familiar incandescent bulbs.
The big difference will be found on the monthly electric bill — more efficient bulbs use between 25 and 80 percent less energy than traditional incandescents, and last much longer. The U.S. Department of Energy claims each household can save $50 a year by replacing 15 traditional incandescent bulbs.
“With these new technologies, homeowners will be spending less on electricity bills for lighting, and changing fewer bulbs,” said Kirkpatrick.
Story by Megan McKoy-Noe, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, additional material added by Electric Consumer staff. To learn about lighting options, visit energysavers.gov/lighting. For details on the change and shopping tips visit ftc.gov/lightbulbs.
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