Thomas Edison might roll over in his grave, but the experts say the rest of us should rejoice! The reason? The 100-watt light bulb is on its way out.
Why? Because this still-popular horse-and-buggy era light bulb wastes up to 90 percent of the electricity it consumes as heat, burning up hundreds of dollars every year in American households and increasing air pollution that harms human health and the environment, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. However, much of this expense is unnecessary and easily avoidable.
Enter the Energy Independence and Security Act, enacted by the federal government back in 2007. According to this act, manufacturers must stop producing the horse-and-buggy era 100 Watt A line incandescent bulbs in January 2012. 75 Watt A line incandescent bulbs will phase out in 2013, followed by the 60 and 40 Watt A line incandescent bulbs in 2014.
Did You Know?
- As a nation, we spend about more than one-quarter of our electricity on lighting, at a cost of more than $37 billion annually, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
- Only 36% of Americans are aware that federal legislation will phase out standard incandescent light bulbs and only 19% know that the 100-watt will be phased out first, starting January 1, 2012.
- Sixty three percent (63%) of the 7 billion lamps in the United States are incandescent, which only produce 10% of their energy as light. The remaining 90% is given off as heat.
By Peter Coyne
TheElectricWeb.com
