A Biden Administration ban on incandescent light bulbs went into effect on Tuesday.
Issued in 2007 during the Bush Administration, the Energy Independence and Security Act was to go into effect in 2012, but was delayed during the Obama Administration, and was reversed by the Trump Administration.
But in 2022, President Joe Biden put out a new rule — similar to the old rule — from the Department of Energy, which now bans the sale of incandescent light bulbs. It does not prevent consumers from using the ones they already have.
Incandescent light bulbs are considered inefficient from an energy perspective, using about 90% of the electricity they draw to make heat, rather than light.
Alternatives are compact fluorescent light bulbs, and LEDs.
Some specialty uses for incandescent lighting are not banned, including appliance lights, black lights, bug lamps, colored lights, plant lights, flood lights, reflector lamps, traffic signals, and marine lamps. The full enforcement notice is at this link.
