IncandescentLightBulbs
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IKEA becomes the first major retailer to stop selling incandescent light bulbs
Remember The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 which mandated that all US retailers must stop selling incandescent bulbs by 2012? If you don't, you're apparently not alone, since according to a lighting survey conducted for IKEA back in 2010, 61% of Americans weren't aware of the legislation either. Luckily for those not in the know, IKEA was kind enough to remind the world of the upcoming change by proudly announcing that they've stopped selling the power-sucking bulbs a whole year early -- making them the first retailer in the US to comply with the bill. To help customers deal with the switch the furniture giant will sell visitors compact fluorescent and halogen bulbs -- in addition to LED lamps. That's seems like smart business considering the same lighting survey says 67% of Americans care about using energy saving lights, while 81% say using more efficient lights is a good environmental practice. So much for incandescent bulbs making a comeback eh?
GE closes last US factory making incandescent light bulbs
There may still be plenty of competition among potential successors to the incandescent light bulb, but there's little question that the traditional light bulb is on the way out -- a fact now further backed up by GE's closing of the last major factory making the bulbs in the US. GE had apparently considered a $40 million investment to retrofit the plant -- located in Winchester, Virginia, and employing some 200 workers -- to manufacture compact fluorescent light bulbs, but it says that bulbs made at the plant would have cost 50 percent more than ones from China, which is where the vast majority of CFLs are made. Of course, that shift hardly happened overnight -- be sure to hit up the Washington Post article linked below for a brief history of what led to this point, and a closer look at the plant itself.
