Saturday, January 25, 2025

Are Pink Incandescent Light Bulbs Back?

Soft Pink Sylvania Light Bulbs

Some of my most popular posts on Chinoiserie Chic have been on the "banning" of incandescent light bulbs. Read "No More Pretty in Pink" here. Put your reading glasses on and pour yourself another cup of coffee....

This is from The Edison Report - "On January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump signed the 'Unleashing American Energy' executive order, which, among other provisions, removed the ban on incandescent light bulbs. This action aims to 'safeguard the American people’s freedom to choose from a variety of goods and appliances, including but not limited to lightbulbs.'

Background on the Incandescent Light Bulb Ban

The move to phase out incandescent light bulbs began with the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which set energy efficiency standards that effectively limited the production and sale of traditional incandescent bulbs. In 2019, the Trump administration rolled back certain aspects of these standards, allowing continued use of some incandescent bulbs. However, in 2022, the Biden administration reinstated and expanded the regulations, leading to a full ban on the sale of most incandescent light bulbs by August 1, 2023. 

President Trump’s Executive Order

By signing the 'Unleashing American Energy' executive order, President Trump has reversed the 2023 ban, permitting the manufacture and sale of incandescent light bulbs once again. This decision is part of a broader initiative to promote consumer choice and reduce regulatory constraints on various household appliances. The executive order emphasizes the importance of market competition and innovation within the manufacturing and appliance industries.

'By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:

(f)  to safeguard the American people’s freedom to choose from a variety of goods and appliances, including but not limited to lightbulbs, dishwashers, washing machines, gas stoves, water heaters, toilets, and shower heads, and to promote market competition and innovation within the manufacturing and appliance industries…'

Implications of the Policy Change

Supporters of the policy change argue that it restores consumer freedom, allowing individuals to select lighting options based on personal preference, cost, and specific needs. They contend that some consumers prefer the light quality and immediate illumination of incandescent bulbs over alternatives like compact fluorescent lamps CFLs or LEDs."

(Edison Report)

Speaking for myself, I am delighted. I find LEDs and CFLs to be very unattractive light. And I have serious concerns whether they pose health risks. As you may know, I stockpiled pink incandescents prior to the ban and I have hundreds. Not kidding, hundreds....

But it is unfortunately, not that simple. What the article cited above does not fully explain is that the manufacture of incandescent bulbs was not ever actually banned. The legislation that was passed made energy efficiency standards so high that incandescent bulbs can't meet them or would be prohibitively expensive to manufacture.

The current efficiency standards, which effectively prohibit the manufacture and sale of traditional incandescent bulbs for general lighting purposes, were established under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) and the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 as discussed above. These laws set a minimum efficiency requirement of 45 lumens per watt for general service lighting, a threshold that traditional incandescent bulbs do not meet. This requirement is statutory, meaning it cannot be repealed or altered by executive order alone.

A little law school class - executive orders do not change legislation or the Constitution.

 So these standards are still very much in effect and will have to be changed/relaxed/repealed by Congress. This will likely happen at some point as this executive order does very much signal a change in policy direction toward deregulation. I suspect Congress will roll back these standards.

More bad news is that incandescent light bulb assembly lines have basically all been shut down. Corporations are going to have to have confidence that people want incandescents back as well as specialty ones like the pink. Will a major corporation invest millions of dollars into bringing back its old incandescent product lines? That is anyone's guess. Maybe someone will come out with a specialty line of incandescent light bulbs and call them Freedom Light Bulbs - LOL.

But I am going to enjoy this victory and hope for the return of my beloved pink light bulbs. One has to enjoy life's little victories.

So if any light bulbs executives are reading this, there is a market out here. My dream would be the return of the pale coral pink incandescent soft pink light bulb (previously made by Sylvania) that looked like the inside of a conch shell. They are pictured at the top of this post. So gorgeous and the most flattering light! Everyone looked great. Trump was quoted as saying in the past that LED's make him look orange. They are in fact not flattering to anyone! (G.E. also made nice soft pink bulbs).

So keep the faith and fingers crossed. It will not be overnight, but I am hopeful for the return of incandescent bulbs and especially our gone but not forgotten pink light bulbs. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.




13 comments:

  1. Ok I will write to Sylvania on this.

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    1. And G.E. just discontinued their soft pink much more recently.

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  2. OMGG - I totally despise LED lighting - please bring back incandescent !!!

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  3. I’m up in Canada (I do a little cross-border shopping also!) and I would really like to notified if any are found anywhere. I found ONE at an estate sale but it had a broken filament in it. The hunt continues….

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  4. Great article Beth, thank you for bringing this to our attention. You explained things so clearly, lawyer mentality well executed!! Kudos to you. I too have a stash of incandescent bulbs, they are gold!!! As a designer, I too, realize the importance of lighting.

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  5. Whooo hooo! We all need to make this happen. Freedom from horrible lighting!

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  6. Beth, you could make a fortune on this! Just looked on eBay and saw some for sale for $588.00😂

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  7. I'm with you on this Beth! I have every size incandescent bulb tucked away, hundreds of them - no LED for me.

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  8. I only bought 40 and am down to my last ten. You were very smart to go big and should be fine with 100's. As a lawyer myself, a lot of what Trump is doing now is for optics. He's obviously been advised that Executive Orders are non-binding.

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  9. A rollback can’t happen soon enough! I’m still on all incandescent in my home, and will never run out, as I hoarded over a thousand of them, every wattage available, over a five year period. But, my entire family hates LEDs and wants to go back to incandescent, so this is very hopeful news!

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    1. Wow - over a thousand - I am impressed. Fingers crossed!

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