No more 100W bulbs from next week

The importation of 100W traditional light bulbs will stop from next week as the first in a series of clauses of a new EU directive intended to remove incandescent light-bulbs from the EU market by 2012 enters into effect.

According to the adopted by the EU last December, 100W light bulbs will be banned from September 1, with lower wattages targeted one by one over the next three years.

The directive will ban the sale of all incandescent light-bulbs by the end of 2012 as part of an EU strategy to reduce the use of energy and combat climate change. However, shops will still be allowed to sell their remaining stocks after the ban enters into force and households do not need to replace the existing bulbs.

Malta had agreed with the move when it was discussed at EU level.

According to the European Commission, households will now have a choice between compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs that typically deliver energy savings of 75 per cent, and halogen incandescent bulbs that offer the same light as traditional bulbs but deliver energy savings of between 25 and 50 per cent.

According to Brussels, the average household will save between €25 and €50 a year on their electricity bill as a result of the new rules.

In addition to the phasing out of inefficient domestic lighting, the EU also adopted similar regulations that set out new energy efficiency, functionality and product information requirements for office, street and industrial lighting.

According to figures from the Commission, the two new regulations combined will save close to 80TWh by 2020, roughly equivalent to the electricity consumption of Belgium, or the annual output of 20 power stations of 500 MW. The savings will also cut emissions across the EU by around 32 million tons.

Although the more efficient bulbs are currently more expensive to buy, environmental campaigners emphasise they are cheaper in the long run because they last longer and use far less electricity. Compact fluorescent lamps use five times less energy than the incandescent filament light bulbs.