SALT LAKE CITY - The incandescent light bulbs that have been in homes for decades are being phased out in favor of higher-efficiency bulbs, and the older bulbs took another big step towards obscurity this week.
Last year 100-watt incandescent light bulbs disappeared. This year, it's 75-watt. Next year, 60- and 40-watt bulbs will get the ax.
That doesn't mean it's illegal to use the older incandescent bulbs. They're still around, but not being manufactured anymore.
But the bulbs aren't the only thing going away; the language is going to be history, too.
"Instead of saying, 'I need a 60-watt bulb,' you'll say, 'I need a 600-lumen bulb,'" said Kirk Thrift, who works at the ace Hardware on 400 South. "We corporately across the nation have changed with our GE partners and our Westinghouse partners to a new set to be able to explain and tell the story to the customers."
CLFs (or compact fluorescent lights) are becoming cheaper and save a lot of energy. LED bulbs cost a lot initially, but they use almost zero energy and last much longer than both CFLs and incandescent bulbs.
Thrift says that some customers are coming and stocking up on the older incandescent bulbs, but others say they don't mind the newer, more efficient bulbs.
