For the past several years, the energy-efficient alternative to incandescent light bulbs for consumers has been the compact fluorescent lightbulb (CFL), which use about 75% less energy and last about ten times longer than incandescent bulbs. CFLs do, however, represent a waste issue, as they contain a small amount of mercury sealed within their glass tubing.
Another alternative to incandescent lighting lasts even longer than CFLs, without the concerns about mercury. Light-emitting diodes (LED) last between two to five times as long as CFLs. LED lights are also more expensive to purchase than CFLs, to the point that few households have used them as an alternative lighting souce.
That is changing. Recently, the New York Times reported that the price of LED lights is coming down.
Home Depot fired a new marketing salvo in what is expected to be a broader national effort to get home customers to adopt LED lighting.
The retail giant began selling some light bulbs in its highly energy-efficient lineup at a surprisingly affordable price of just under $20 online. Bricks-and-mortar stores will follow in September.
While $20 hardly sounds like a deal at first blush, such bulbs are expected to last as long as 30 years. Not long ago, such bulbs were not expected by most experts to cost less than $30 until 2012.
Federal regulations go into effect in 2012 requiring that all bulbs sold in the United States be 30% more efficient than current incandescent bulbs. Should the LED continue to decline in price, its widespread availability could allow manufacturers and retailers to comply with federal regulations while giving consumers light bulbs that may last up to 30 years. (There is also the risk that bulb manufacturers may exaggerate the performance of their bulbs, as the Federal Trade Commission recently charged in its lawsuit against Lights of America.)
Use of LED lighting and other technological and policy changes to conserve energy are themes explored in several Roosevelt courses, including SUST 210 The Sustainable Future (offered by Professor Carl Zimring at Roosevelt’s downtown campus this fall, and by Professor Mike Bryson at Roosevelt’s Schaumburg campus in Spring 2011), and SUST 310 Energy and Climate Change. For more information on these or any other of our courses, please visit our Sustainability Studies website, call 1-877-277-5978 (1-877-APPLY RU) or email applyRU@roosevelt.edu.
