Out like a Light

By Tibni Valle

Hardware store employees are smashing lightbulbs due to a new ban put into effect this year by the Biden administration.

In 1880, Thomas Edison was credited with “creating the first bulb.” In truth, the first light bulb was already invented by Humphry Davy in 1802. Edison created the longest lasting filament for that light and patented his discovery, which came to be known as the incandescent light bulb. One hundred and forty-three years later, Edison's invention could be fizzling out. 

On August 1st, the Biden administration put into execution a ban on incandescent light bulbs, preventing their sale and manufacturing. The aim of the ban is to increase energy efficiency and cut utility costs for Americans, claiming that the shift away from incandescents will save Americans $3 billion per year in energy costs and save American families $100 dollars per year on energy bills. 

The ban has warranted mixed reactions as Americans will have to switch to alternative light sources, like LEDs, or “light-emitting diodes.” 

Jessica Wilson, the manager of the Northgate ACE Hardware in Bowling Green, Kentucky, notes that the bulbs affected were not meeting standards.

“We were unaware until the ban that they had been producing the bulbs not up to standard,” but, “there's still many incandescents not banned,” says Wilson.

Pushback on the ban is being seen from customers who consider incandescent bulbs to be the cheapest lighting option, countering the government's goal of decreasing American utility costs. 

But, Wilson, like other Americans, argues that “switching to LED bulbs will help people save money on their electric bills,” ultimately decreasing costs. 

LEDs also last 25 to 50 times longer than incandescent light sources and use less energy. The new standards set in place require at least 45 lumens (a measure for brightness) per watt (energy used) to be emitted by any bulb on the market. Incandescents produce 12 to 18 lumens, while LEDs emit 75 lumens per watt.  

The ban, “required a lot of research to know which bulbs not to carry and which to pull from the shelf and destroy safely,” stated Wilson.

However, this is not the first time the government has made efforts to regulate incandescent light bulbs. In 2007, President George W. Bush signed into law the first National lightbulb efficiency standards proposed by Congress, the Energy Independence and Security Act. The law marked the first efforts by the government to regulate incandescent bulbs in order to increase power efficiency. From 2010 to 2012, the Environmental Protection Agency shifted their focus to LEDs setting specifications acknowledging LEDs as potential replacements for incandescents.

Despite resistance from the Trump administration in 2019, incandescent light bulb regulations went into full effect with the ban in August this year. 

These new regulations are not the last that the administration is pushing for. The Biden administration is proposing new standards that will affect the use of Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs (CFLs). These standards could go into effect in 2025. America is looking to become a more energy efficient country and with this comes new regulations.