General Service Lamps: Incandescents plus CFLs, GSLED, GSOLED

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THE PRODUCT:

General service incandescent lamps are the familiar pear-shaped light bulbs found throughout most homes in the United States. These products commonly come in 40, 60, 75, and 100 watt versions, but often slightly lower wattage "energy-savings products" are available. Some of these lower-wattage products have improved fill gases (such as halogen) or other improvements so that they produce the same amount of light as their higher-wattage cousins.

THE STANDARD:

The Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007 raised standards for common light bulbs requiring them to use about 25-30% less energy than today's most common incandescent light bulbs. The efficiency standards, which will be phased in between 2012 and 2014, set the maximum wattage for light bulbs according to their brightness or lumens. New standards for the traditional 100-watt bulb became effective in 2012. The traditional 75-watt bulb will follow suit in 2013 and the 60- and 40-watt bulbs in 2014. See table below for the maximum wattages.

EISA 2007 Prescribed Standard for General Service Incandescent Lamps

The new efficiency standards, which are technology neutral, can be met by some advanced incandescents, compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), and light emitting diodes (LEDs), all of which are more efficient and last longer than traditional incandescent bulbs. Advanced incandescents meeting the future standards from GE, Phillips and OSRAM/Sylvania are available in stores now. California set similar standards in 2008 with a phased-in implementation which began in January 2011, one year before the federal standards. For more information on the federal standards from EISA, click here.

DOE is required to initiate a new rulemaking for general service lamps in 2014 with a final rule expected in 2017. General service lamps include general service incandescent lamps as well as compact fluorescent lamps, general service light-emitting diode (LED or OLED) lamps, and "any other lamps that the Secretary determines are used to satisfy lighting applications tradtionally served by general service incandescent lamps" (DOE Fact Sheet - see link below).

KEY FACTS :

The conventional (and incorrect) use of 'watts' as a measure of brightness is losing steam as more efficient lighting technologies are developed that require fewer watts (or energy) to achieve higher light outputs. The more accurate term for light output or brightness is lumens. New labels by the Federal Trade Commission include both lumens and watts, as well as information about light appearance and yearly energy costs.