It started in 2012 and will reach the full effect of the legislation in 2014 when the balance of the A19 incandescent lamps will reach the legislated categories. Most "General Service" Incandescent Lamps, Reflector Lamps and Fluorescent Lamps will be eliminated, in place of lower wattage, higher efficiency lamps. The key factor to the legislation, even though it is talked about in wattage, the legislation is written based on lumens.
Many of the linear fluorescent 4' and 8' T12 lamps were regulated out of use in June of 2012. The lighting industry is now concentrating it's effort on incandescent and reflector lamps. The legislation targets "General Service" lamps
What does this mean? For incandescent lamps the simple definition is; "Any lamp that has a rated wattage between 30 and 199 watts, has a medium screw-in base and a rated voltage range of between 115 and 130 volts, and is not a reflector. The regulation also includes many other familiar shapes of incandescent lamps such as; globes, tubular, chandelier and pear shaped lamps, not just the A-Shape lamps. The simple definition of "General Service" for reflector lamps is; any lamp, R18 or larger and between 40 to 205 watts operating on line voltage, with a medium screw-in base.
What are the options moving forward? Most customers will choose from one of three technologies; Halogen, CFL or LED. Each alternative has advantages and disadvantages, and in an effort to make it easier to understand these options and their benefits Premier Lighting created the following set of worksheets called
"Application Based Decisions", that provide a side-by-side comparison of the options, along with estimated costs and savings for each option.
For more information on the lighting regulations, lighting options and to order an energy saving alternative for a lamp being eliminated through the DOE 2007 regulations, contact
Premier Lighting.