Buyers stock up on incandescent light bulbs

Jan 6 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Mary Beth Cleavelin The Virginian-Pilot

The rush on traditional light bulbs started a few days after Christmas. It was a quiet grab of the soon-to-be-gone 40- and 60-watt incandescent bulbs. A handful bought here and there.

By Thursday morning, only half a shelf of the bulbs remained at the Home Depot on Virginia Beach Boulevard in Virginia Beach.

"What's down there is all we have left for now. People have pretty much wiped us out," said Annette Kelly, the electrical department manager.

It became illegal Wednesday to manufacture or import those bulbs under federal energy-saving rules approved in 2007 by President George W. Bush. Seventy-five- and 100-watt incandescent bulbs were phased out earlier.

Last week, dozens of shelves holding more expensive but more efficient compact fluorescent, halogen and LED bulbs surrounded the last of the common light bulbs. A lone 40-watt four-pack sat next to about 150 boxes of 60-watt incandescents.

"We typically see an increase this time of year when it gets darker sooner, but we've definitely seen some activity with the 60-watt recently," said Joel Elliott, South Atlantic district manager for Home Depot.

There's no rush yet. Warehouses for home-improvement stores are stocked with extra bulbs, which they can still sell and consumers can still use. Home Depot expects its inventory to last at least through the first half of the year, a company spokeswoman said.

The demise of Thomas Edison's innovation seems to be more of a gradual dimming than a quick burnout.

The change to inventory was less apparent at Lowe's on North Main Street in Suffolk. Shelves were stocked almost to capacity. Most people buying the incandescent bulbs are older, said Adam Nussbaum, department manager.

"People buy what they're comfortable with and what they grew up on," Nussbaum said.

For the most part, anyone born in the past 130 years grew up using traditional incandescent light bulbs. They accounted for almost half of the 8 billion light bulbs in use in the country in 2010, according to the Department of Energy's U.S. Lighting Market Characterization.

That number is bound to change as consumers are forced to find new favorites.

Josh McClintock of Virginia Beach made the switch to LED light bulbs in the past year when he saw how much he could save on his energy bill.

"It's more money upfront, but, overall, it's a good investment," McClintock said.

Energy-efficient light bulbs can last up to 25 times longer than traditional incandescents, according to the department.

Mary Beth Cleavelin, 757-222-5561, marybeth.cleavelin@pilotonline.com

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