The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible - Arthur C. Clarke
Options for home interior lights as well as home exterior lights were greatly increased with the advent of electricity and Thomas Edison’s incandescent light bulb. Prior to the invention of the incandescent light bulb, homes were often lit using candles. While candle light can surely help to provide light as well as ambiance to the living space, its functionality of lighting a room is limited. All this changed when lighting a room using electricity became available. In fact, for over one hundred years, Thomas Edison’s incandescent light bulb design has provided home lighting to countless homes in the United States and other parts of the world. All this is about to change.
The Congress of the United States has mandated new energy standards that will phase-out the traditional low energy efficiency incandescent light bulb from the markets in the United States over the next few years. Traditional incandescent light bulbs will be replaced with high energy efficient bulbs, such as LEDs (light emitting diodes) and the compact fluorescent.
The marked difference between the low energy efficient incandescent light bulb and high energy efficient light bulb can be illustrated by comparing a common 60 watt incandescent bulb to a high energy efficient compact fluorescent bulb that uses 14 watts. The 60 watt incandescent light bulb illuminates for about 1000 hours before burning out. It provides 840 lumens. The high energy efficient compact fluorescent light bulb that uses 14 watts illuminates for about 10,000 hours before burning out. It provides 900 lumens. Thus, the energy efficient light bulb illustrated above uses less wattage, while providing more light and lasts many hours longer than the incandescent light bulb.
The implications for the United States transitioning to high energy efficient light bulbs has implications for the natural environment as well as the pocketbook. Clearly, by using less electricity, the natural environment benefits. Additionally, by consuming fewer light bulbs, given that they last longer, fewer need to be disposed, also beneficial to the natural environment. Regarding the household pocketbook, if less electricity is consumed, household electricity consumption costs ought to also be reduced.
Thus, while Thomas Edison facilitated home lighting for countless households worldwide with his incandescent light bulb, it is time to retire it after one hundred plus years of proving lighting options to households. Given new technologies that make energy efficient lighting possible, the incandescent light bulb will be replaced with bulbs that are more energy efficient.
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