European Union Initiates 3-Year Progressive Phase Out of Traditional Home Lighting

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Everyone wants to save money, and we’ve all learned that changing our light bulbs to more energy efficient ones is the easiest way to do it. So why haven’t more people around the world been doing it?

In its memo, Phasing Out Conventional Incandescent Bulbs, the European Commission found that the resistance to change is because people would rather spend less money up front, than pay more initially and later have the savings result from lower energy bills.

Psychologically, it’s easier to see an exact savings amount on a receipt during a purchase, than it is through a utility bill.

The lack of voluntary change in most people’s buying habits is what prompted the European Commission to put into effect the mandatory phasing out of the manufacturing of household conventional incandescent bulbs to be replaced with energy saving alternatives.

The active start of the phase out began in September 2009 and will slowly continue until completion in September 2012. The phase out plan is occurring on the following timetable:

• September 2009
  • Non-clear bulbs/lamps
    • Incandescent
    • All Halogen
  • Clear bulbs/lamps
    • Incandescent/Conventional Halogen greater or equal to 100 Watts.
• September 2010
  • Clear bulbs/lamps
    • Incandescent/Conventional Halogen greater or equal to 75 Watts.
• September 2011
  • Clear bulbs/lamps
    • Incandescent/Conventional Halogen greater or equal to 60 Watts.
• September 2012
  • Clear bulbs/lamps
    • Incandescent/Conventional Halogen less than 60 Watts.

Comparable alternatives to these bulbs/lamps are the following:

• Compact fluorescent bulbs/lamps (CFLs)

Stock Photo.

Its main interest is in its long lifetime and high efficiency. The bulbs/lamps will use between 65 percent and 80 percent less energy for the same light output compared to conventional incandescents. CFLs contain a minimal amount of mercury (about five milligrams compared to about 500 milligrams in dental amalgam), but should still be sent to the appropriate recycler and not disposed of with regular garbage.

• Conventional low-wattage halogen bulbs/lamps

Photo courtesy of Home Depot.

Many standard halogen bulbs/lamps are low voltage, which are more efficient than main voltage (220 V) bulbs/lamps. They can live up to 4,000 hours, which is four times longer than conventional incandescents.

• Halogen bulbs/lamps with xenon gas filling

Photo courtesy of European Commission.

With xenon gas filling, the halogen bulb/lamp will use about 25 percent less energy for the same output compared to the best conventional incandescent, even at main voltages.

• Halogen bulbs/lamps with infrared coating

Photo courtesy of the European Commission.

Applying an infrared coating to the wall of halogen bulb/lamp capsules considerably improves their energy efficiency. They use about 45 percent less energy for the same light output compared to the best conventional incandescents. However, for technical reasons, this is only possible with low voltage bulbs/lamps, so a transformer is needed.

• Light-emitting diodes (LEDs)

Photo courtesy of European Commission.

Their efficiency is on par with that of CFLs, however they do not contain mercury and live even longer. LEDs for room illumination are today only in the first phases of commercialization. They are likely to become alternatives to the full range of bulbs/lamps in the near future.

These regulations were developed by the European Commission on a mandate from the Ecodesign Directive of the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers of the Member States.

The European Commission estimates in its memo that the “European Union citizens are expected to save close to 40 TWh (terawatthours), or the equivalent of the yearly output of 10 power stations of 500 megawatts. The regulation is thus expected to reinject five-to-10 billions euros into the EU economy.”

The memo also calculates that, “If all the households switched to the exclusive use of compact florescent bulbs/lamps and LEDs, at the EU level, we would be saving 86 billion kilowatthours by 2020, which is 11 percent of the electricity consumption of households.”

Bulbs/lamps exempt from the regulation will include:

• All florescent bulbs/lamps (with the exception of self-ballasted compact fluorescent bulbs/lamps).
• All high-intensity discharge (HID) bulbs/lamps.
• All reflector bulbs/lamps (spotlights)
• Colored bulbs/lamps
• Christmas lights
• Studio/Stage lights

Readers can finds more information about the light conversion program at European Commission Energy, and about the EU’s global warming initiatives at ClimateAction.

Reader comments and input are always welcomed!