The Hammer Reports from ICC the Builder

Happy 2014!

We recently came across a great news item about light bulbs – yes, light bulbs. Did you know that a ban on 40 and 60 watt incandescent light bulbs went into effect on January 1 of this year? If you didn’t, you’re not alone. In a recent study by an independent research company, less than 1/3 of adults knew these light bulbs would no longer be available.

Incandescent 40 & 60 watt bulbs represented 60% of all the light bulbs sold in the U.S. The study also found only 10% of the 1,000 adults surveyed, were familiar with energy-efficient light bulbs such as LEDs (light-emitting diode) and CFLs (compact fluorescent light).  These energy-efficient light bulbs use up to 75% less energy and can last 25 times longer than the incandescent bulb.

credit: homechannelnews.com

As you can see on this infographic, one of the issues with energy-efficient lighting for your home is that not of all of these bulbs are dimmable. Good news is that dimmable CFLs and LEDs are available at your local hardware and Big Box stores. However, please know that regular and dimmable energy-efficient bulbs are not interchangeable. You cannot use a “dimmable” bulb where you don’t have a dimmer switch.

Please feel free to contact us with your questions. You can use the contact form available on our website or post a question on ICC's Facebook page. We’re happy to help in any way we can!

Until next time – this is The Hammer Reports