Farewell to the old 100-watter

Sunday marks the dawn of a new era of lighting.

The incandescent bulb as we know it is on its way out.

New federal standards that require bulbs to be more efficient are leading to the demise of the old 100-watter, with other wattages to follow.

But rest assured, panic-stricken public. New incandescents that put out the same amount of light but use 25 percent less energy are taking the old bulbs' place.

"Incandescent bulbs aren't going away. They're just getting better," said Noah Horowitz, senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council, a national environmental group.

That, plus an onslaught of even more efficient bulbs - those swirly compact fluorescents and high-tech LEDs - mean consumers now have more options to reduce their electric bills than ever before.

The new bulbs are more expensive - some significantly so. But, ultimately, researchers estimate the new government efficiency standards will save the typical household $100 to $200 a year in electricity costs.

The saving for homes and businesses nationwide could add up to more than $10 billion annually and avert the need for 30 new power plants, proponents say.

Expecting confusion, stores are ramping up their education efforts.

Lowe's is putting up informational signs and has produced an online video showing how to pick a new bulb.

Home Depot has scheduled lighting clinics on Saturdays throughout January. CFL bulbs are getting prime real estate at check-out counters.

For months, as consumers became aware of the standards that go into effect today, reports of bulb hoarding surfaced.

"I bought a lot ahead, as a matter of fact," Philadelphia retiree Elizabeth Mooney said. She likes the light quality and was worried about the alternatives.

Brad Paulsen, lightbulb merchant for Home Depot, said that in the last year, the company had an uptick in incandescent bulb sales.

There's still time for die-hards. The law applies to manufacturers and importers, so shoppers will still see old-style 100-watt incandescents for a few weeks or months in stores that have excess inventory.

But efficiency experts warn that cheaping out up front on bulbs may cost consumers much more in the long run because of the amount of electricity needed to light them.

The new standards have not come without political conniptions. Last year, Republicans sought to repeal them. They said an intrusive federal government didn't need to be nosing around in how people light their homes.

"If you are Al Gore and want to spend $10 for a lightbulb, more power to you," said U.S. Rep. Joe Barton (R., Texas). But "let people make their own choices."

Misinformation ricocheted from radio talk show pundit to politician to public and back again.

They said the law "banned" incandescent bulbs. They said people would be "required" to buy CFLs.

Supporters of the standards pointed out it was a Republican administration that implemented them.

In 2007, Congress passed a broad measure, the Energy Independence and Security Act, calling for efficiency upgrades in the nation's cars, fuels, appliances - and lightbulbs.

Though our fridges and washing machines and other energy-intense devices had grown steadily more efficient - largely because of legislation that leveled the playing field - our incandescent lightbulbs had plodded along pretty much unchanged for more than a century, shoving electricity through a tungsten filament to make it glow.

The problem is that only about 5 percent of the energy produces light; the rest is wasted as heat.

Given that the typical household has upward of 40 bulb sockets and expends 15 percent of its energy use on lighting, the bulbs seemed ripe for a change.

Congress showed the bill bipartisan support, sent it to the White House in a Prius, and President George W. Bush signed it, saying it would result in "a nation that is stronger, cleaner, and more secure."

Last year, as political wrangling over repealing the standards continued into December's waning congressional sessions, Republicans were the butt of mockery. "Dim and dimmer," one op-ed headline proclaimed. "How many Republicans does it take to screw in a lightbulb?" a pundit taunted.

The standards will be phased in over several years. Next year, old-style 75-watt incandescents will bite the dust, followed by 40- and 60-watters in 2014.

Congress did direct the Department of Energy not to spend any money enforcing the law, but many said the move was irrelevant.

Manufacturers had been preparing for years to meet the requirements, investing millions of dollars in research and manufacturing changes, said Joseph Higbee, director of marketing and communications for NEMA, a trade association representing 95 percent of the U.S. lighting manufacturing industry.

"We're still committed to and supportive of the standards," Higbee said. "Our manufacturers are, of course, law-abiding companies and will follow the law."

Last week at the King of Prussia Home Depot, hundreds of packages of the last of the traditional 100-watt bulbs were displayed prominently at the end of an aisle.

But just around the corner, taking up every shelf along 90 feet of aisle, were hundreds of other bulbs.

The three basic options are: the more efficient incandescents, CFLs, and the new bulbs on the block, LEDs, which use light-emitting diodes to produce light.

Going along the spectrum from incandescent to CFL to LED, the bulbs cost progressively more, but they last longer and the saving in electricity rises steeply.

The new incandescents still have a tungsten filament, which keeps the light quality the same. But the innards have been tweaked and the bulbs are filled with halogen, which makes the filaments work better.

The CFLs are about 75 percent more efficient than the old incandescents.

When they came out 25 years ago, they were hardly a hit. People complained the bulbs took a long time to get to full brightness, were dim even when they did, and the light was a sickly color.

All that has improved, and stores are seeing a decided shift from incandescents to CFLs. "A lot of consumers come in specifically looking for them," said Andrew Waslo, assistant store manager at the King of Prussia Home Depot.

Neil Goldstein of King of Prussia was about to try his first one - a three-way CFL in a package that claimed the bulb would save him $141 over its lifetime. "That matters to me," he said. "I'm going to give it a shot."

The bugaboo for CFLs has been mercury. When the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency put out directions on how to clean up a broken bulb - it suggested evacuating and aerating the room for 15 minutes - people freaked.

The amount of mercury has declined. Supporters say incandescents have a bigger mercury impact because of the mercury emitted by coal-fired power plants that produce the energy to light them.

Mercury is also used in regular fluorescent bulbs like the fixtures in so many garages, basements, schools, and hospitals. But for those who remain concerned, lighting experts advise simply choosing from the other bulb options.

For now, LEDs cost more than most people will pay for a bulb - $15 and up - even though they are expected to last more than 25 years and save consumers hugely.

And, so far, there are no widely available LED bulbs as bright as a 100-watt incandescent. "People are expecting those to come down in price and in the long term be the workhorse for residential lighting," said Steven Nadel, executive director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.

Consumers will find a lot of new lingo on the new bulbs as well. Linked with the new efficiency standards, the Federal Trade Commission is launching new labels that will emphasize lumens - the actual brightness of a bulb, rather than the energy to produce it.

A standard 100-watt incandescent is 1,600 lumens, and a 60-watter is 800 lumens.

Many of the technological innovations would not have come without the legislation, the NRDC's Horowitz said.

"Regardless of what you think about incandescent bulbs," said Home Depot's Paulsen, "customers have three really good options they can use to save money and save energy."

How do you navigate the confusing array of new lightbulbs? www.philly.com/bulbs

Tips for buying lightbulbs:

Experts advise people new to energy-efficient lighting to start by replacing the lights they use most often that are the brightest.

Buy an Energy Star bulb. The government stamp of approval is not just for energy efficiency, but is also an endorsement of quality.

Look for educational materials in stores. Many have displays showing the different "colors" of the light - from the warm white of an incandescent to brighter, cooler whites available in CFLs and LEDs.

There's an app for bulb-buying from EcoHatchery. Enter the type of lighting fixture and specs about the bulb to be replaced, and it suggests a more efficient alternative.

Though some bulbs are expensive, Peco Energy Co. offers on-the-spot discounts in hundreds of Southeastern Pennsylvania stores as part of its energy-efficiency initiatives. More information: www.peco.com/smartideas

Department of Energy site on lighting efficiency: www.energysavers.gov/lighting

Natural Resources Defense Council light bulb guide: http://www.nrdc.org/energy/lightbulbs/

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