Pro's and Con's: Facts on The Banning of Incandescent Lamp

Incandescent lamps has already began the banning phases. In 2012, the 100W incandescent lamp was banned. In 2013, the 75W was banned and in 2014 the 40W & 60W was banned from legally entering and importing into the US. It is still legal to use them, as long as stores have stock of them, but manufacturers are not allowed to order them and get them from overseas. So, considering this issue has already taken place, I’m not sure if any of them can and will be salvaged, unless, companies have millions of stock, and even when they run out, it will be the end of the incandescent lamps. I do, however, believe that we as a society owe it to Thomas Edison that he is the reason behind any and all light bulbs. If they completely take that away, the history of Thomas Edison that we all know of will eventually fade away. As a community and people of this world, we should honor at least one type of light bulb by keeping one incandescent light bulb that is still energy efficient and name it after him, so that we still remember who started and created the first light bulb and the reason why we have these new types of lighting today. If it wasn’t for him, who knows what we would have been using to light up our world?

Incandescent lamps “light bulbs”, have now been replaced with three types of lighting. CFL, Halogen, and LED lamps. A pro of an incandescent lamp would be that it is the lowest costing light bulb, running at $0.42 a lamp. A con would be that it produces heat that creates light. This is bad because it makes the electricity bill higher by having to use the air conditioner longer creating higher energy usages. So, even though it cost less to purchase one light bulb, it actually cost more because it uses more energy and heat. Incandescent lamps usually last 1,000 hours and this is another reason why they cost more. It is because you have to replace them more frequently. On the other hand, CFL light lamps cost an average of $1.22 -$2.75 they produce 10,000 hours of light. This cost is simply higher than incandescent lamps, but they last 10 times longer and will cost less because they won’t have to be replaced as often. CFL lamps use gases instead of heat. An advantage of this issue is that CFL uses less electricity rather than incandescent lamps, which means lower temperatures, which creates a lower risk of fires. Providing a safer more efficient home, business, or space. CFL does have a down side, however, they typically take longer to get to their full potential. They could take a few hours, a few days, or even weeks before they are at their full potential. Also, there is a small amount of mercury inside the CFL lamp, which can be toxic if exposed incorrectly. Although they have downsides, they still have more positive than negative. They are energy efficient, have a higher fire safety percentage, and they last longer than incandescent light bulbs.

Halogen bulbs are similar to incandescent lamps (light bulbs). They also produce around the same amount of their life span, which is around 1,000 hours of light. The positive side of the halogen lamp is that it uses only 43W per hour instead of the incandescent lamp, which uses 60W per hour. Halogen lamps are the lowest costing non-incandescent lamp, which cost an average of $0.92 - $1.50. They are more energy efficient than the incandescent lamp by using 2/3 less energy, according to Greenwald, Will. (pcmag.com).

LED lighting is the most expensive of the non-incandescent lamps. LED lamps may cost more, but they provide the longest lasting bulbs than any other. They provide up to 25,000 hours of light. The LED lamps (light bulbs) cost anywhere from $12 to $50. The best fact about LED lighting is that they do not have any toxic chemicals inside them creating a safe and hazardous free zone. They can also be disposed in the landfills because they do not produce toxic waste creating a safer ozone layer. So, even though they might have the negative of costing a lot of money when buying multiple LED lights, they will last the longest and produce enough light.

All in all, incandescent lamps “light bulbs”, are now being in the extinct ages, but hopefully we can salvage at least one energy efficient light, for the type of light it produces, the low cost of lighting, and the sake of remembering the reason behind the first light bulb and why we have light bulbs “lamps” today. Now a days, our future will rely on new types of lighting. CFL, Halogen, and LED lighting will save us money, time, and energy. This will all help to save our Earth and live a safe and sustainable future lifestyle. According to Junior Energy.org, “If the country converted to new technologies, the electricity consumed to produce light could be reduced by up to 70 percent! This would lower carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to removing one-third of the nation's cars from the highways. Reducing the electricity consumed by just one percent would eliminate the need for an average-sized power plant”(juniorenergy.org).

Cited Sources/Resources:

Steele, Jason. “Incandescent vs Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFL) – Energy Savings Worth the Cost?”. Money Crashers. N.D.Web. http://www.moneycrashers.com/incandescent-vs-compact-fluorescent-light-bulbs-cfl/.

“Are you still in the dark about the incandescent light bulb phase out?”. Legend Lighting. 2-11-2014. Web. http://www.legendaustin.com/lighting-tips-and-technology-tuesday/light-bulb-update.

Greenwald, Will. “What you should know about the 2014 Light Bulb Ban”. PC. 12-14-2013. Web. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2428279,00.asp.

“Light Bulb Facts”. Junior Energy. 2010. Web.