Dim lights to create a more energy-efficient bulb

Looking for a more energy-efficient light bulb? Make it dimmer.

According to lighting experts, there are several ways to make a light bulb more efficient. More often than not, manufacturers resort to dimming the light bulb itself.

How did it all start? Regulators in California decided to mandate a 5 percent reduction in bulb wattage for incandescent bulbs, in order to help energy efficiency in the state. This happened a few years back, and since new bulbs hit the market ever since, the bulbs save energy by being dimmer. The new bulbs are each 5-watts less than the old, and keep your home a little darker at night.

A more efficient bulb does not have to be a darker one. Experts report that bulbs can be filled with different types of gases and advanced filament designs can also be used. In California, the bulbs seem only to be dimmer. A study by Ecos, a consulting firm and energy-efficiency program developer working for utilities and government agencies shows almost all of the new bulbs in California are on the low end of allowable brightness for each class of light-wattage. Many of the lights are even much dimmer... 10 percent more so than the models they replaced.

Does cutting back on bulb brightness set a bad example? According to a New York Times article, some analysts think so. Chris Calwel, a senior research fellow with Ecos, says "In general, efficiency advocates want to see no loss in the service delivered, so even a 5 percent reduction in lumens is unfortunate. It would be nice if a manufacturer would offer an improved incandescent product that legitimately matched the light output of today's incandescents and achieves all of its energy savings from higher efficiency."

For now, not that many people have been rushing out to buy brighter and higher-wattaged bulbs since they've hit the market in 2008, according to manufacturers. However, they have in the past. GE has misled consumers in the early 90s, and settled the dispute with the F.T.C. The F.T.C. found that the packaging misled consumers, by not adequately disclosing the bulbs were dimmer than the bulbs they were to replace. Sound familiar?

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