The lighting revolution is already successful
A revolution in lighting is underway, and it is being led by consumers, retailers and manufacturers. Current sales demonstrate unequivocally that NEMA members and consumers are driving the market to more energy-efficient lighting installations. This is a marketplace success story that has largely occurred within and beyond congressionally specified government regulation.
In 2007, Congress directed that general service light bulbs — the standard pear-shaped bulb familiar to all consumers that comes in incandescent, fluorescent and LED technologies — consume less energy than a 45 lumens per watt light bulb in every general service light bulb socket. (Lumens per watt is a measure of a light bulb’s effectiveness.) Amazingly, the marketplace exceeded Congress’ goal without a change in federal light bulb efficiency standards.
In the third quarter of 2017, the LED bulb became the top-selling technology in the general service lamp category, and its share has continued to grow, eclipsing both compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and halogen incandescent bulbs. NEMA estimates that LED bulbs and CFLs will account for at least 80% of the general service lamps in sockets by the end of this year, and the halogen incandescent bulb will account for approximately 20%. By the NEMA estimate, the weighted average efficacy of the three technologies of these lamps is near 69 lumens per watt, exceeding Congress’ 2007 goal.
The same trend is occurring with respect to other types of consumer light bulbs, including LED reflector lights and LED decorative lamps. Last year’s shipments of LED reflector lamps exceeded incandescent reflector lamps for the first time, and LED shipments of these lamps are expected to continue penetrating reflector lamp sockets in greater quantities.
The tipping point for the consumer adoption of energy-efficient light bulbs has already occurred, and the efficiency revolution in lighting is rolling forward, not backward. Kevin Cosgriff is president and CEO of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA).