It's almost lights out for the traditional light bulb. Countries around the world including Canada are moving towards phasing out the sale of inefficient incandescent bulbs.
Many consumers have been reluctant to adopt other options like LED lights because of the higher price tag, but they can reduce your bill and lead to big savings in the long run. Consumer Reports put a variety of LED bulbs through tests in its labs. These bulbs can be very expensive from $20 for a table lamp bulb to more than $60 for a floodlight.
However, they last much longer then incandescent or compact fluorescents bulbs and overtime will save you money.
Bob Markovich with Consumer Reports says "even with an LED's high cost, you can still save $100 or more over its life compared with a standard incandescent."
LEDs also have some distinct advantages over CFLs as they reach full brightness instantly, and some are also better at dimming. But tests found not all LEDs are good at distributing light. They found a LED bulb from Sylvania, the 60-watt Ultra LED, would shine most of its light up towards the ceiling.
They did give top marks to an LED that is a good choice for table or floor lamps. The $40 Philips Ambient. It's the equivalent of a 60-watt incandescent bulb and claims to last almost 23 years.
Key points:
- LED lights have a higher initial cost per unit but a significantly longer life span compared to incandescent or fluorescent bulbs
- LED bulbs do not get hot or have a filament that can burn out. They also do not contain mercury.
- The Philips Ambient LED 12.5W bulb costs $39.98 and is the first LED replacement for the commonly used standard 60W incandescent bulb
- It is supposed to last about 25,000 hours (almost 23 years), 25 times longer than the traditional incandescent bulb
- The Ambient LED Indoor Flood Par20 Bulb costs $29.99 and the DecoLED chandelier bulb costs $15.99
- It takes approximately four to ten years before you recoup the costs and start saving with an LED light
- CFL light bulbs generally range in price between $7 to $15 dollars
- 60W incandescent bulbs usually cost about $1 to $1.50 dollars
About the Phase-Out of Incandescent Light Bulbs
Canada
In 2007, the federal government announced it would ban the sale of inefficient incandescent light bulbs by 2012. However, earlier this year, the phase-out was postponed for two years. In January 2011, the province of British Columbia banned retailers from ordering 75 or 100-watt incandescent bulbs.
Worldwide
Governments around the world are passing measures to phase out incandescent light bulbs to encourage the use of more energy-efficient alternatives. In the U.S., light bulbs will be required to be 30% more energy efficient than incandescent bulbs by 2012-2014. This will start with 100W bulbs in January 2012 and end with 40W bulbs in January 2014.
Brazil and Venezuela began phasing them out in 2005 whereas the EU, Switzerland and Australia started to phase them out in 2009.
