New EU directive: Say goodbye to the light bulb

You should upgrade your Flash Player

The EU directive with requirements for energy-related products shows the way of the future

The criterion of the guideline with requirements of energy-related products concentrate on the energy consumption during the entire product lifecycle. For household lighting a phase-out scenario exists, starting in 2009 to phase out less efficient light sources step by step. OSRAM offers innovative efficient technologies and a wide range of energy-saving alternatives to conventional lamps.

Picture

These products are replacing the traditional incandescent lamp

There are three product groups, which can be direct substitutes for your incandescent bulbs: Halogen lamps HALOGEN ECO which are sustainable due to less power consumption than a standard light bulb and a longer lifetime. Compact fluorescent lamps and LED lamps even safe up to 80% energy and additionally have an extremely long life time.

 
null
Timeline -The step by step phase-out plan for household lighting*

2009

01.09.2009

  • Clear lamps: Minimum requirement for the Efficiency is Energy Class C for lamps ≥ 950lm; (i.e. phase-out of incandescent lamps > 100W)
    for other clear lamps Energy class E is sufficient.
  • For non-clear (e.g. frosted) lamps: Minimum requirement for the Efficiency is Energy class A for all lamps (i.e. phase-out of all frosted Incandescent- and Halogen lamps). The requriement  can currently fulfilled by Compact Fluorescent (CFLi) and LED-lamps only.)
  • Requirements for new product information on the packaging
  • New technical specifications required for each technology

2010

01.09.2010

  • Clear lamps: Minimum requirement Energy Class C for lamps ≥ 725 Im (e.g. phase out GLS ≥ 75 W)

2011

01.09.2011

  • Clear lamps: Minimum requirement Energy Class C for lamps ≥ 450 Im (e.g. phase out GLS ≥ 60 W)

2012

01.09.2012

  • Clear lamps: Minimum requirement Energy Class C for lamps ≥ 60 Im (e.g. phase out GLS ≥ 7 W)

2013

01.09.2013

  • Increased requirements for technical specifications, defined in 2009
  • Phase out lamps with S14, S15 or S19 bases

2014

01.09.2014

  • Review of the regulations by the EU Commission

2016

01.09.2016

  • Clear lamps: Mininum requirement for the efficiency will be increased from Energy class C to B. The increased requirements are not valid for lamps wit G9- or R7s-base.
  • Phase out lamps with E14/E27/B22d/B15d bases and voltages ≤ 60 V

 

* through minimum efficiency requirements
Information correct as of December 2010; data may differ from the final EU directive.

Definition of phase-out:

Phasing out means that the relevant product groups may no longer be placed on the
market in the European Union. This relates to initial marketing only.
Stocks at OEMs, wholesalers and end customers are not affected of course and
may continue to be sold and used as they are already on the market and the measures
do not relate to the use of the products.

Changes on product names and packaging

In addition the EU directive provides that the term “energy-saving" may only be applied to products with Energy Level A. In the future, packaging for energy-saving products is to provide information very simply on wattage, energy level, light color etc. with the help of pictograms. The new directive will also lay down new minimum quality requirements for lamps – to the benefit of the consumer.

Right time for replacement?

The new EU directive does not mean that incandescent lamps may no longer be used in the household. It solely regulates retail sales. Anyone still using incandescent lamps at home is not obliged to replace them – even if this would be worthwhile. Energy-efficient products are indeed initially more expensive to buy; however in most cases they already pay off after about a year, due to substantially lower energy costs.