The energy department announced on Monday that it had finalized new rules restricting the sale of energy-inefficient incandescent and halogen lightbulbs, effectively obliging manufacturers to switch to compact fluorescent and LED lighting in the Biden administration’s latest effort to promote energy efficiency.
The new rules ban the sale of lightbulbs that illuminate at a rate of less than 45 lumens per watt, de facto banning most incandescent lightbulbs—a standard incandescent lightbulb produces about 15 lumens per watt, whereas fluorescent and LED lightbulbs can produce light at a rate of up to 100 lumens per watt.
