Incandescent lighting fast becoming history as states push for more energy efficient technology

Thursday, June 07, 2007 by: David Gutierrez, staff writer
Tags: incandescent bulbs, incandescent lighting, light bulbs

(NewsTarget) Fluorescent light bulbs and LED lights are rapidly coming to replace the incandescent bulbs perfected by Thomas Edison in the late 1800s, as state governments encourage a switch for the sake of energy conservation. In California and New Jersey, laws have been proposed that would actually ban the use of incandescents in some contexts. Australia has already begun a three-year phase-out of incandescent bulbs.

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What you need to know - Conventional View

• Incandescent bulbs, which function by forcing electricity through a thin filament, use more than twice as much energy for the same light output as fluorescent bulbs, which produce light by heating up a trapped gas. Fluorescent bulbs also last four to 16 times as long.

• LED light bulbs are ten times more efficient than incandescent lights, lasting up to one hundred times as long and producing far lower CO2 emissions due to power consumption. They are, however, far more expensive in the initial purchase.

• Many states encourage consumers to switch to fluorescents, in cooperation with the federal Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency.

• Fluorescent light bulbs, however, contain mercury. There is enough mercury in one fluorescent light bulb to contaminate 2,000 gallons of water. LED lights, in contrast, contain no mercury and are more environmentally friendly.

• In 2005, Thomas Edison's home state of New Jersey distributed more than 1.2 million fluorescent lamps and fixtures as part of its Clean Energy Program.

• Approximately 22 percent of electricity usage in the United States is consumed by lighting, most of which remains extremely inefficient incandescent lights.

• New Jersey Assemblyman Larry Chatzidakis has introduced a bill calling for the phasing out of incandescent bulbs from state buildings over the next three years. California Assemblyman Lloyd Levine has announced plans to introduce a bill that would ban the bulbs his state altogether.

• Quote: "The light bulb was invented a long time ago and a lot of things have changed since then. I obviously respect the memory of Thomas Edison, but what we're looking at here is using less energy." - New Jersey Assemblyman Larry Chatzidakis

What you need to know - Alternative View

• "It is time for modern society to move beyond the outdated technology of incandescent lights. We now have safer, cleaner and far more efficient lighting technology available, and we can help save the future of our planet while reducing American's dependence on fossil fuels by switching to LED lights in our homes and businesses." - Mike Adams, founder of EcoLEDs.com, an LED light bulb importer and retailer.

Resources you need to know

• EcoLEDs.com - a company dedicated to reducing energy consumption and CO2 emissions by encouraging consumers and business to switch to LED light bulbs.

Bottom line

• Incandescent lighting is an outdated, inefficient technology that will soon be replaced by fluorescent bulbs and LED light bulbs that use far less energy.

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