It's official. President Bush signed a large energy bill into law recently. It requires new efficiency standards for a variety of products, including lighting. Initially, general service incandescents in the 310-2600 (40-135 watt) lumen range must use nearly 30% less wattage by 2012-2014. The 100w lamps will be banned first, with lower wattages eventually being banned. Philips' new Halogena Energy Saver line already meets this standard. Also sought by the bill is an increase to a minimum of 45 lumens per watt by 2020. Currently, only CFLs meet this standard however if GE is successful in making their future high efficiency incandescents reach their promised 55-60 lumens per watt they can also meet the 2020 standard. Also under consideration are standards for rough service, vibration service, reflector, and 25-60 watt vanity globes but currently it's the 40-100 watt general service lamps slated to be phased out. One last thing, the bill also sets minimum efficiency requirements for metal halide ballasts used in fixtures that operate the lamp vertically. Pulse start ballasts must meet at least 88% efficiency, probe start must meet at least 92% efficiency. Current probe start MH ballasts cannot meet this standard but it doesn't mean it won't be improved in the future. T-12 fluorescents, specialty/decorative incandescents, and mercury vapor lamps are unaffected by this bill. Just thought to keep ya updated!

You just banned MV lamps in the USA, are panicing over mercury in thermometers and now you are ordering the import of tons of mercury in cheap, poorly designed and constructed lamps made by the cheapest contractor?

Thor Chemicals dumped a couple of thousand tons of mercury waste in this country, nothing much happened apart from the funny fish, the dead plants and the workers who kill snakes that bite them just from the toxins in the blood. At least we got a enviromental affairs minister who does things, like banning vehicles on beaches, tourism, fishing.

Unreal, Lighting as we know it will never be the same.

I'd like to know what of high wattage incandescents? (200-1500 watt)

I wonder what the plan is to dispose of those Chinese made CFL's with who knows what kind on toxin is lurking in them once incandescents are banned?

SeanB~1: The mercury lamps are not banned, only the ballasts are. That'll be enforced in a matter of a few days. However I wouldn't be surprised if mercury lamps are banned in the future.

NiMo: No those high wattage incandescents won't be affected but not many places still use mogul incandescents anymore.

mercuryvaporisking: Yeah be prepared for a drastic change.

jercar954: Nope the recycling thing is still an issue that some say may be a good 5 years away.

If Mercury ballasts are (or will be) banned in USA, what is the situation of the mercury lightig in Canada?

Most metal halide ballasts of like wattages will operate the Merc equivalent. The saddest thing for me is seeing the long list of multiple and series streetlighting lamps get pared down to just a couple lamps.  I suggest everyone go to their local electrical supply houses and try to buy up some 58w, 103w, 189w, 202w, 327w, 448w etc. lamps before they go the way of the dodo bird! There may still be some collecting dust out there!

My town that i live in just got rid of 2000+ mercury fixtures and replaced them with HPS fixtures. 

They need to start making low mercury CFL lamps!

They should ban ALL incadescant lamps!!

No! I want incandescent lamps, they have better CRI, and they work well with deaf devices for flashers, CFL do not last long on deaf devices from flashing, most members here do not want incandescent banned!

Why insult what Edision perfected?

by the way low mercury CFL is already made and man they don't last long at all, the older CFL from the 80s lasted like 15 years, making lower mercury CFL actually means MORE and faster mercury spills!!!!! And todays CFL are prone to catching fires!

So I would not want incandescents banned at all!

M-400A1:

I absoutely refuse to use current CFLs in most applications even if they are low mercury. Where I need fluorescent lighting I just use linear fluorescent. While CFLs do allow less burning of fuel to make electricity, banning the good ol' Edison bulb will NOT greatly reduce strain on the electrical grid. The reason is that most CFLs are low power factor, so the overall VA consumption is typically twice the rated wattage. We are only billed for the absolute wattage as shown on the lamp, but the extra VA can put a strain on the electrical grid. Not to mention the tendancy for modern electronic CFL junk to smoke up and occasionally create a fire hazard. Check my post in the general discussion thread about a CFL that torched a house. Also I have a spectroscope, and incandescents are the only electric light sources that have exactly the same spectral wavelength as the sun, thus they get the CRI of 100. Making a CFL (all kinds of fluorescent really) or HID reach a CRI of 100 is impossible because gas discharges always have missing spectral lines. While it's not critical in many applications, but when I sit down and read in the comforts of my home I prefer the 100 CRI of an incandescent or halogen. Also, note that reducing mercury in CFLs and even linear fluorescents will result in a shorter life. In the 80s the early CFLs were the best, they were lasting 10+ years. And the good ol' incandescents made in the 70s and earlier lasted forever if you used them in closets, hallways, etc where they're not often used. You just have got to learn more about lighting, its not just all about absolute values of efficiency.

Well said Dave! Perfect points! Spectroscopes don't lie either!

Don't forget the fact that these spiral CFLs these days have a high VA and actually use more power because of that and also they sometimes dump interference into the power lines causing dirty power!  Incandescents don't have these problems, and neither do the older preheat CFLs.

I have to admit, I use CFLs in many places in my home, but they havent replaced incandescent lights in all cases.  Most lamps (mostly 3-way) still use incandescent bulbs.  Lights that are on dimmers, motion sensors or that use candelabra base bulbs are all incandescent also.  The lights in the shop (unheated) are incandescent and my porch lights are halogen.  Even those have made a difference in the electric bill.

Nothing is sadder than a CFL at -20 degrees    They burn themselves out trying to light at -40