The Lighting Facts label will emphasize lumens
and is designed to help you choose the right bulb.
You're undoubtedly familiar with the
U.S. Department of Agriculture's Nutrition Facts label, which appears on all kinds of packaged foods and is designed to help you make informed choices about what you eat.
Lightbulbs are getting their own version of the Nutrition Facts label. The
Federal Trade Commission has announced a final rule that starting in the middle of 2011 manufacturers must use a Lighting Facts label on the back of lightbulb packages (shown). What's more, the front of lightbulb packaging must emphasize the brightness of bulbs, measured in lumens, instead of the current wattage information that's now prominently featured. The goal is to help you choose the best and most efficient lighting for your particular needs.
The Lighting Facts label, says the FTC, will show the bulb's brightness (lumens), light appearance (on a warm-to-cool scale), wattage, estimated life expectancy, and estimated annual energy cost, akin to the
EnergyGuide label that adorns many appliances. Bulbs that contain mercury, as
most compact fluorescent lightbulbs do, will include wording on the back of the package that reads, "Contains Mercury: For more on cleanup and safe disposal, visit
epa.gov/cfl." The lumens output will also be printed on each bulb as will a disclosure about mercury for bulbs that contain it.
The emphasis on lumens is key since there's confusion among consumers about all the different lighting types they see in stores—incandescents, CFLs, LEDs, halogens. While wattage represents how much power a lightbulb uses, lumens indicates its brightness and is a more useful measurement when you're choosing bulbs. Remember, a 60-watt incandescent bulb and a 13-watt CFL typically have a similar light output, but the CFL uses less than a quarter as much energy to do so. Read more about
how much you can save by replacing incandescent bulbs with CFLs.
—Steven H. Saltzman Essential information: To find the right type and best bulbs for your uses at home, use our how to choose advice and refer to our ratings of spiral, indoor and outdoor flood/reflector, and porch/post covered CFLs (available to subscribers).
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