Thomas Edison’s incandescent light bulb discovery was a landmark 19th century invention. But it’s the 21st Century, gang.  People are questioning old habits and creating new “green” lifestyles. it’s a never ending job!

This month, IKEA, the Swedish based furnishings retailer, begins phasing out ALL incandescent light bulbs in their US stores. IKEA plans to have all energy wasting incandescents- the ones we all grew up with- off the shelves by January 1, 2011. IKEA is the first US retailer to completely phase out incandescent light bulbs.

IKEA has long been a leader in environmental initiatives. They were strongly influenced by The Natural Step protocols in the early 1990’s and have been innovating ever since.  It’s part of everyone’s job at IKEA, not just the “environmental “folks.

Lighting Science

“IKEA is committed to integrating sustainability into all IKEA strategies and practices in the entire product life cycle. We also believe our customers are looking for every day environmentally responsible solutions for themselves. Eliminating incandescents is a simple way to lead the charge for IKEA customers to use energy saving light bulbs, thus reducing energy consumption and reducing the amount of greenhouses gases. It’s a little step with a big impact on our planet,” commented Mike Ward, US IKEA President.

IKEA is taking the lead before federal legislation that will begin to phase out incandescent light bulbs in 2012 takes effect. This will save many additional kilowatts of juice. “It’s important for major retailers to take a step, because what they do has a major impact,” commented an IKEA Stoughton, MA store customer.

IKEA offers a range of energy saving bulbs. Compact fluorescents (CFL) are most popular, but IKEA also stocks LED lamps which are 70% more efficient than incandescent bulbs, and halogen lamps which are 30% more efficient while offering a ‘white light’ alternative. IKEA also offers solar powered lamps, including their SUNNAN desk lamp and their ‘SOLIG’ range of outdoor lights. In the fall, IKEA will offer a retro-fit halogen bulb which can be used in a standard light socket.

Environmental groups are happy with the phase-out.

"By only putting good options on the shelf, retailers can make it easy for customers to do the right thing--in this case, reduce their energy use and impact on the environment," said Jason Clay, Senior Vice President of Markets at World Wildlife Fund (WWF). "As the first major retailer to completely phase out incandescent bulbs, we hope IKEA's leadership will be contagious."

“The Alliance to Save Energy is very pleased to recognize IKEA for its steps in phasing out sales of inefficient incandescent light bulbs well ahead of the 2012 implementation date of new federal standards,” commented Jeffrey Harris, Vice President for Programs, Alliance to Save Energy. “As a leading retailer, IKEA will also be educating its customers to choose more energy-efficient lighting technologies, and thus helping to speed the coming market transition.


A few lighting factoids:

-      CFLs last from 6-10 times longer than incandescent light bulbs (6000 - 10,000 vs. 1,000 hours) and use 80% less energy. Due to this lower energy use, they can save $30 or more in energy costs over each bulb’s lifetime. (EnergyStar.gov)

-      If every American household replaced 1 incandescent bulb with a CFL bulb we would save enough energy to light 3 million homes for 1 year. (EnergyStar.gov)

-      According to 18seconds.org, if every American home replaced just one light bulb with a CFL, we would prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than two million cars and families would save more than $600 million in annual energy costs. The average American family spends $1,900 on energy bills each year.

-      Lighting expenses account for almost 25% of electricity costs of customer’s homes. (EnergyStar.gov)

-      Halogen bulbs use 30% less energy and last 2-4 times longer than conventional bulbs. (IKEA Group)

-      IKEA LED lights use 70% less energy and burn at least 20 times longer than a standard incandescent bulb. (IKEA Group)

The best thing you can do both energy wise and financially is to crush every incandescent you have in the house- and replace it with a CFL, LED, or halogen bulb. You’ll save bucks and energy while helping Ol’ Mother Earth.