Lights out: 40W and 60W bulb phase-out begins January 1, 2014

The writing has been on the wall for years: incandescent lighting isn’t just inefficient, it’s an easily solvable problem. A solution was put forth — at least in the US — in 2007 when the Energy Independence and Security Act was passed. The bill, more popularly known as the Clean Energy Act, essentially spelled out the death of the incandescent bulb. That death was planned to start in 2012 and extend to 2014; on the first day of that year, 40W and 60W incandescent bulbs will no longer be produced.
Despite efforts to strike down the law, traditional 40W and 60W incandescent bulbs will stop being made on January 1. This isn’t a ban on incandescents or the outlawing of these inefficient relics — bulbs will still be sold and g-men aren’t going to kick your door, ziptie your hands behind your back, and rip out your drawers looking for 60W bulbs.
In fact, some incandescents will still be sold after the phase-out because all the act really did was mandate that bulbs from 310-2600 lumens would have to be 25% more efficient by decided upon dates. The bill is technology agnostic, though, so some clever companies were able to get halogen bulbs to be efficient enough to work within the more stringent standards.
In a more practical sense, this phase-out means that the consumer lighting segments will be restricted to efficient halogens (sort of the clean coal of the lighting world), CFLs, and LEDs. This is, to some extent, the government stepping in in place of the market and pushing out incandescents before their time. Even so, LED bulbs are finally dropping below the $10 mark and it’s just a matter of time until people recognize their benefits and start adopting them en masse.

Still allowed… but why?

This is the last step on a staggered phase-out of inefficient lamps (known as General Service Incandescent Lamps). The first step was on January 1, 2012 when 1490-2600 lumen (1ooW) bulbs were killed off. At this time they needed to last for over 1,000 hours and operate at under 72W — a feat that only an efficient halogen, CFL, or LED can pull off. The next phase-out was on January 1, 2013, which would affect 1050-1489 lumen products, and on New Year’s Day bulbs from 310-1049 lumens will be affected. This hits the bulk of the home lighting market: the 40W and 60W bulbs.
Of course, the upside of all this is that excellent, affordable 40W- and 60W-equivalent LED bulbs are available today, often in the $10 range. Whether you want  top-notch light quality or a liquid-filled design, there are options available.
And, before you get worried, it’s worth noting that specialty bulbs were not affected by the legislation. This means that your Easy Bake Oven and other non-standard applications were, and will continue to be, unaffected. The same goes for your nightlight.
In a more practical sense, the big takeaways here are that inefficient incandescents will no longer be made, but the current stockpile of these bulbs will still be sold well into this year because the sale of existing inventory and warehoused products is still legal. Secondly, efficient (in a relative sense) incandescent bulbs will still be sold, in case you simply refuse to use modern lighting technology. Today a 100W-equivalent halogen will consume 72W and cost about $4. And finally, today’s LEDs aren’t just good enough to replace the incandescent, they are advancing at a rapid pace and are getting both better and cheaper every month. The only area where LEDs can’t yet compete is at the 100W (1600 lumen) level, where products are still rare and too expensive for consumers to consider.

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