Nuked Hey there, my tech-loving followers! It’s your funny guy Nuked here, ready to bring you some interesting news about the good old incandescent light bulb. So, let’s dive right in!
When you picture an incandescent light bulb, you might imagine a simple droplet of water made from opaque white glass, with a big screw on the bottom. These bulbs consume quite a bit of power, ranging from 40 to 150 watts, to illuminate your space. But guess what? As of August 2023, those “normal” light bulbs are officially banned from being sold in the United States.
Now, before you panic, let me clarify something. You can still use those bulbs if you already have them installed, but you won’t find them on store shelves legally anymore. Instead, you’ll come across more energy-efficient options like LED or fluorescent bulbs.
This ban isn’t a sudden surprise like back in 2014 when everyone thought the incandescent light bulb was dead. Manufacturers and retailers have known about this for a whole year (pdf), and August 2023 marks the month when the Department of Energy will start fully enforcing the law. They’re even ready to sue companies that break it. No loopholes this time!
The ban covers any normal bulb that generates less than 45 lumens per watt. Basically, it rules out both incandescent and halogen technology altogether. But hold on! There are exceptions to the rule. Let me give you a rundown of some not-so-normal bulbs that are excluded:
- Appliance lamps
- Black light lamps
- Bug lamps
- Colored lamps
- G shape lamps with a diameter of 5 inches or more as defined in ANSI C79.1-2002
- General service fluorescent lamps
- High-intensity discharge lamps
- Infrared lamps
- J, JC, JCD, JCS, JCV, JCX, JD, JS, and JT shape lamps that do not have Edison screw bases
- Lamps that have a wedge base or prefocus base
- Left-hand thread lamps
- Marine lamps
- Marine signal service lamps
- Mine service lamps
- MR shape lamps that have a first number symbol equal to 16 (diameter equal to 2 inches) as defined in ANSI C79.1-2002, operate at 12 volts, and have a lumen output greater than or equal to 800
- Other fluorescent lamps
- Plant light lamps
- R20 short lamps
- Reflector lamps that have a first number symbol less than 16 (diameter less than 2 inches) as defined in ANSI C79.1-2002 and that do not have E26/E24, E26d, E26/50×39, E26/53×39, E29/28, E29/53×39, E39, E39d, EP39, or EX39 bases
- S shape or G shape lamps that have a first number symbol less than or equal to 12.5 (diameter less than or equal to 1.5625 inches) as defined in ANSI C79.1-2002
- Sign service lamps
- Silver bowl lamps
- Showcase lamps
- Specialty MR lamps
- T shape lamps that have a first number symbol less than or equal to 8 (diameter less than or equal to 1 inch) as defined in ANSI C79.1-2002, nominal overall length less than 12 inches, and that are not compact fluorescent lamps
- Traffic signal lamps
Now, let’s be real here. These exceptions aren’t exactly the bulbs you’d typically use in your everyday lamp, right? So, instead of trying to force them in, let me suggest something better – LED bulbs! They have come a long way in the past decade. While they might not last a full 10 years as some companies claim, you can easily find high-CRI bulbs that bring out the natural colors in your home while saving loads of electricity.
Oh, and before we wrap this up, let’s address the political side of things. Some folks on the right-wing like to make this a partisan issue, since Trump blocked the phase-out of incandescent bulbs (though not until 2019) and now the Biden administration is bringing the idea back. But
