New DOE lightbulb standards to save consumers nearly $3B annually
As part of Biden administration efforts to curtail climate emissions by 2050, the United States Department of Energy (DOE) announced new light bulb efficiency standards this week, instituting an update that had been put on hold by the prior administration since 2020.
Despite objections from light bulb manufacturers, the Biden administration claimed these standards will save consumers nearly $3 billion each year and reduce CO2 emissions by 222 million metric tons over the next 30 years. Nevertheless, the DOE will essentially allow companies to continue importing and selling noncompliant bulbs into next year — the update effectively put them on notice.
“This is a victory for consumers and for the climate, one that’s been a long time coming,” Steven Nadel, executive director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), said. “LEDs have become so inexpensive that there’s no good reason for manufacturers to keep selling 19th-century technology that just isn’t very good at turning electrical energy into light. These standards will finally phase out energy-wasting bulbs across the country.”
The update was put forth in two new rules. The first required that bulbs produce at least 45 lumens per watt, while the second made the standard apply not just to pear-shaped A-type bulbs, but also to reflector bulbs, candle-shaped bulbs and globe-shaped bulbs as well. Notably, each type put to this requirement also has more efficient LED bulbs widely available in their style.
According to the DOE, each additional month that inefficient light bulbs are sold and go un-upgraded costs consumers nearly $300 million in additional energy bills and will lead to another 800,000 tons of CO2 emissions over those bulbs’ lifetime. As of 2020, about 30 percent of light bulbs sold in the U.S. were still outdated incandescent or halogen incandescent bulbs, which turn most of their utilized energy into heat rather than light.
“It’s going to save people money because running a few dozen bulbs that waste most of the energy as heat really adds up,” Andrew deLaski, executive director of the Appliance Standards Awareness Project (ASAP), said. “The administration is allowing retailers to keep selling the inefficient bulbs well into 2023, but responsible chains ought to get them off their shelves as soon as possible and certainly by the end of this year. Many of these energy-guzzling bulbs have labels claiming they save energy, and it’s infuriating. People and the climate have paid the price.”
The new efficiency standard was mandated in 2007 and was set to take effect in 2020, before the threat of a lawsuit prompted the Trump administration to block that action.
