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Light Bulb Ban: Traditional Spotlights and Some Halogens Are Next
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by Scott Wu | September 8, 2009 at 10:35 am
355 views | 12 Recommendations | 4 comments
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The incandescent light bulb ban in the EU came into effect on September 1, 2009. Now the European Commission is planning to expand the ban to include traditional spotlights and some kinds of halogen downlighters, which are commonly used in kitchens and bathrooms.
The currently law bans the sale of 100-watt and frosted incandescent light bulbs. The new ban will be put before the European Parliament in mid 2010 for adoption.
The ban of incandescent light has already caused consumer backlash, but officials say the measure is necessary to cut carbon emissions by reducing energy use. Critics insist that the switch to low energy alternatives to these types of light would be too expensive. A technical report is being prepared by a team of external consultants, which will be released later this month.
Some worry the lack of alternative.
Giles Chichester, conservative energy spokesman in the European Parliament, said: "While I am in favour of switching to low energy bulbs, I do not believe this should be a compulsory measure.
"There is a lack of alternatives available at the moment and it is going to leave consumers in a difficult position.
"I have a particular type of wall lights in my own home and cannot find energy efficient alternatives for them.
Low energy halogen reflectors, which have been identified in draft reports compiled for the European Commission as the best option to replace them, cost nearly 20 times as much and last just five times as long.
LED light is a promising technology in the future, but it is still currently too expensive, costing £40 for a light bulb.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (4)
at 13:18 on September 8th, 2009
Yes but LED's will come down in price and they are by far the best choice. CFL's are dangerous.
at 09:25 on September 9th, 2009
Our house is only five years old. Many of our lighting fixtures have no alternative for the fixtures. We have changed those that we can, and are getting used to the fact that they start out so dim and gradually warm up. We went so far as to buy 'dimmable' fluorescents for the stairway. They turn themselves off after a few minutes and leave the stairway darkened unless they are left on full. Each new fluorescent comes with a tiny load of mercury, I wonder what cumulative effect that will bring in the future.
at 09:55 on September 10th, 2009
I tried to look for those dimmable fluorescent lights but could never find them. I agree mercury in CFL deserves special attention like better recycling initiatives.
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Eric J (not verified)at 19:01 on September 24th, 2009
Retrofit/screw-in Led alternatives are brutally underpowered, expensive and have a fraction of the lumen output for the sources they are replacing. I’ve only found acceptable LED alternates in dedicated led fixtures which are pricy, even the beater (~700 lumens) LED downlights from cooper or lithonia are over well over $100 and not applicable to retrofit. CFL (self ballasted) screw-in's are garbage - they generally have poor colour rendering with limited versatility. Again, fixtures designed around the CFL are the only good alternate but that’s a +$50 cash investment + a whole lot of labour. Banning incandescents is a step in the right direction, but i dont think the politicians fully understand lighting, or the issue. I think we would be all better off if we replaced light switches with occupancy/vacancy sensors... an easy $30 fix.