Bright light, bright light

With a little more than a year to go before the federal phase-out of incandescent light bulbs (unless someone gets the bright idea to repeal it), a majority of the U.S. households contacted for a new survey say they are using at least one energy-efficient compact fluorescent (CFL) light bulb. But, strangely, only about one-third of them are aware of the planned phase-out, which begins in 2012 with the 100-watt incandescent bulb. Of those, 59 percent are eager to use more energy-efficient lighting options.

The most important factor in how consumers will choose replacement bulbs is brightness, according to the survey, the third such annual gauge of energy-efficient lighting perceptions undertaken by OSRAM SYLVANIA. In fact, 91 percent of the respondents, which covered more than 300 households, said brightness was the most important consideration when they purchase new bulbs. Personally, I'm not sure how they choose brightness, when most people are conditioned to look for certain wattage details but that is a matter for another blog post and maybe I am just abnormal.

Right now, CFLs are the most widely used lighting bulb option, after incandescent bulbs, with the survey disclosing that at least 72 percent of U.S. households are using at least one CFL bulb. The adoption of light-emitting diode (LED) options is much less today: approximately 9 percent (or one in 10 households). That's not very high, but the good news is that roughly 81 percent of Americans now have some familiarity with the term LED. Now, how that translates into sales is another matter.