February 04, 2012
Saturday AM

From wikipedia: In December 2007 (during the Bush Administration) , the federal government enacted the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which contains maximum wattage requirements for all general service incandescent lamps producing from 310 2600 lumens of light.[38] However, these regulations never became law, as another section of the 2007 EISA bill overwrites them, and thus, current law, as specified in the U.S. Code, "does not relate to maximum wattage requirements."[39]

The efficiency standards will start with 100-watt bulbs and end with 40-watt bulbs. The timeline for these standards was to start in January 2012, but on December 16, 2011, the U.S. House passed the final 2012 budget legislation, which effectively delayed the implementation until October 2012.[40]

Light bulbs outside of this range are exempt from the restrictions. Also exempt are several classes of specialty lights, including appliance lamps, rough service bulbs, 3-way, colored lamps, stage lighting, and plant lights.

From 1000bulbs.com: On December 31, 2011, manufacturers will stop production of 100 watt incandescent light bulbs. You ll still be able to buy them, however, because EISA does not forbid retailers, including 1000Bulbs.com, from selling their existing inventory.

Other wattages will not be affected until 2013, when 75 watt bulbs will be banned, and 2014 when 40 and 60 watt bulbs will be banned. The same rules still apply: You can buy them as long as stores still have them.

So when they are all gone, what do you do? You have three choices: Compact fluorescents (CFLs), LEDs, and halogens.

You probably already have a few CFLs in your home, and you either love them or hate them, but a 23 watt CFL replaces a 100 watt incandescent. LEDs aren't yet bright enough to replace a 100 watt bulb, but you can expect to see several that do in the next one or two years. Halogens are EISA s silver lining for incandescent lovers: A 72-watt halogen replaces a 100 watt incandescent and looks and functions almost identically to an incandescent.

The rundown:

January 2012:

Shelley Stallings
Ketchikan, AK

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