Old-fashioned, inefficient light bulbs live on at dollar stores

For years, Deborah Turner bought her light bulbs at one of the many dollar stores that serve her neighborhood in Columbus.

But the bulbs for sale were highly inefficient, shorter lasting, incandescent ones — the pear-shaped orbs with glowing wire centers — meaning that over time Turner, who lives in a neighborhood where a quarter of the residents are below the poverty line, would spend hundreds of dollars more on electrical bills, because of the extra power they use, than if she had purchased energy-saving LED lights.

It is a pattern repeated nationwide. Research has shown that lower-end retailers like dollar stores or convenience shops still extensively stock their shelves with traditional or halogen incandescent bulbs, even as stores serving more affluent communities have shifted to selling far more efficient LEDs. One Michigan study, for instance, found that not only were LED bulbs less available in poorer areas, they also tended to cost on average $2.50 more per bulb than in wealthier communities.

“You just don’t see them in places like Dollar General,” said Turner, a semi-retired addiction-treatment counselor.

The continued prevalence of incandescent bulbs in the United States is one result of a successful effort during the Trump presidency, by an industry group representing the world’s biggest light-bulb makers, to stall energy efficiency standards in the United States. By contrast, in the European Union, those same companies have adhered to a phaseout of incandescent bulbs.

The delay has enabled manufacturers to prolong profits from an inefficient technology, often at the expense of lower-income households, which end up having to replace the shortlived bulbs more frequently, while also paying more to power them.

For the world’s biggest manufacturers — like Signify, the Dutch multinational that makes Phillips light bulbs — that is a lucrative strategy. Signify’s financial reports show that profit margins for conventional lighting are significantly higher than for its LED business. In its corporate reports, Signify has called extracting value from its conventional lighting a “cash engine” for the company.

That is partly because investment in manufacturing equipment has long been paid off (incandescent bulbs have been around for more than a century) and there is relatively little competition. The LED market, on the other hand, has attracted new manufacturers and has become far more competitive.

Incandescent bulbs were supposed to be phased out in the United States beginning a decade ago. While the older types of incandescent bulbs have mostly disappeared, the halogen-filled types, which are not much better though they are often marketed as environmentally friendly, are still easy to find everywhere from dollar stores to big-box hardware chains.

About 30% of standard bulbs sold in the United States in 2020 — excluding California, which phased out most halogen and incandescent light bulbs in 2020 — were still incandescent or halogen bulbs, according to the most recent data available. In the European Union, that percentage has been close to zero since 2018.

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association said the industry had already contributed greatly to trimming electricity use by investing in energy-saving LED technology in the first place. Lighting manufacturers supported accelerating a transition toward more efficient LED bulbs in a way that “continues to drive energy savings while offering a range of choices for consumers,” the group said.

Signify said LEDs represent more than 80% of its sales. It also said prices for energy-efficient light bulbs had continued to fall, making them available to a broadening audience. Dollar General said its offerings reflected local community and customer demand, and that many stores did carry LED options that allowed its customers “to choose what best fit their budget and preference.”

A typical 60-watt incandescent bulb uses as much as 12 times the electricity as a 5-watt LED that provides nearly the same amount of light. And LED bulbs typically last far longer. According to the manufacturers’ own ratings, at three hours of use per day, an incandescent bulb would be good for one to three years, while a typical LED would last at least 10 years.