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Incandescent Light Bulbs Are So 2013

Sara Newman |
December 29, 2013 | 2:40 p.m. PST

Executive Producer

Bye Bye Incandescent Light Bulbs, (Anton Fomkin/Creative Commons)
Bye Bye Incandescent Light Bulbs, (Anton Fomkin/Creative Commons)
If you’re the type to get nostalgia over Skip-Its and Dunkaroos, get ready to add another item to the list of things you can’t buy anymore: incandescent light bulbs. 

Starting Jan. 1, incandescent light bulbs will be illegal in the united states—meaning that either expensive LED lights or oddly colored fluorescent lights will have to take the place of your trust 40- and 60-watt bulbs. It looks as if 2014 you’ll have to make good on that New Year’s resolution to reduce your carbon footprint. 

This next phase of the 2007 ban passed during the Bush administration outlaws both the production and importation of incandescent bulbs. 

Yet, it turns out that only 40 percent of Americans are even aware of ban that will go into effect in just two days. 

Larry Birnbaum, however, found a loophole in the new regulatory policy, realizing that the ban only outlaws general service incandescent light bulbs, not rough service incandescent bulbs.

Capitalizing on the apparent loophole, Birnbaum’s company became one of the two companies licensed to produce these bulbs in the U.S. 

His Newcandescent bulb lasts about 12 times longer than traditional incandescent bulbs, but still provides the warm glow that millions of Americans were raised to expect from light bulbs.

Whether you’re planning on stocking up on old-fashioned incandescent bulbs, buying the new variety, or finally making the switch over to compact fluorescent or LED bulbs, say goodbye to Thomas Edison’s famous light bulb. 

 

Contact Executive Producer Sara Newman hereFollow her on Twitter. 



 

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