Global
As part of global efforts to promote efficient lighting, United Nations Environment Programme with the support of the GEF Earth Fund, Philips Lighting and OSRAM GmbH has established the initiative. The initiative seeks to accelerate global commercialization and market transformation of efficient lighting technologies by working at the global level and providing support to countries. In doing so it aims at promoting high performance efficient technologies, phasing out inefficient lighting technologies, and substituting traditional fuel-based lighting with modern, efficient alternatives, with consideration for environmentally sound technologies (including mercury-free).
Public opposition
The phase out has been referred to as "light bulb socialism". The consumer preference for light bulbs in the EU is for incandescent bulbs, with many complaining about what was described as the ugliness or the cold, flat, unnatural, dull light emanating from CFLs. Objection has also been raised to being forced to adopt CFLs.
Bulk purchasing of incandescent bulbs was reported ahead of the EU lightbulb ban. Many retailers in Britain, Poland, Austria, Germany and Hungary have reported bulk purchasing, and in Germany, sales rose by up to 150% in 2009 in comparison to 2008. Two-thirds of Austrians surveyed stated they believe the phase-out to be "nonsensical", with 53.6% believing their health to be at risk of mercury poisoning. 72% of Americans believe the government has no right to dictate which light bulb they may use. The Czech Republic President, Vaclav Klaus, urged people to stockpile enough incandescent bulbs to last their lifetime.
Museums and individuals have been stockpiling incandescent lightbulbs in Europe, owing to CFLs' inferior colour representation. The European Association for the Co-ordination of Consumer Representation in Standardisation has called for a speedy reduction of the mercury levels contained within CFLs from the current 5mg limit to 1 mg. The European Consumers' Organisation, BEUC, said that phasing out incandescent bulbs will be detrimental for people suffering light-related health issues, and called for the continued availability of incandescent bulbs:
"The EU Regulation falls short of the needs of some consumers who need to use the old-style light bulbs for health-related reasons such as light sensitivity. We call on the European Commission to take immediate measures to ensure that people who rely on incandescent light bulbs will be able to buy these bulbs until suitable alternative lighting technologies are available. There are also concerns about the risks to health from the high mercury content of the new bulbs."
A campaign group called SPECTRUM was formed by the charities Lupus UK, Eclipse Support Group, ES-UK, XP Support Group and The Skin Care Campaign as an 'alliance for light sensitivity' to oppose 'UK and EU plans to phase out incandescent lightbulbs'. Their campaign has been picked up and amplified by the British Association of Dermatologists, calling for access to incandescent light bulbs for those who are medically sensitive to CFLs and other non-incandescent bulbs, and the charity Migraine Action, stating that its members still suffer adverse effects from CFLs despite protestations from the light bulb industry.
In the United States, one supporter of the incandescent light bulb is the lighting designer Howard Brandston, a fellow of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America and Honorary Fellow of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers. He has attempted to raise awareness of what he believes are negative effects of the phase out through media outlets and industry forums, and he was invited as one of six experts to testify before the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on March 11, 2011.
Environmental and health concerns
CFLs, like all fluorescent lamps, contain small amounts of mercury as vapor inside the glass tubing, averaging 4.0 mg per bulb. A broken compact fluorescent lamp will release about 4% of its mercury content. Safe cleanup of broken compact fluorescent lamps is different from cleanup of conventional broken glass or incandescent bulbs. After a proper cleanup, any potential short term exposure offers no significant health risks to adults, including pregnant women, or to children. If all electricity was generated by a coal power plant (which produce about half the electricity the U.S. consumes) and fluorescent light bulbs were all recycled with no mercury being lost, nearly 75% less mercury could be released in power plant emissions if incandescent bulbs were replaced by fluorescents, and with significantly less total mercury release even if no recycling occurred. However, a concern is that broken bulbs will introduce the mercury directly into a populated indoor area. Though more recent analysis indicates that the concerns about mercury release from broken bulbs may be overstated, and can be ameliorated by taking a few simple steps.
No mercury is used in the manufacturing of LED lamps, a different technology replacement for incandescent lamps. In addition, LED lamps do not require warmup time in cold weather, and in fact, perform better in colder temperatures, making them an excellent choice for use in cold locations, such as refrigeration units. LED lighting also better matches the wavelengths of light to which our eyes are most sensitive in low-light conditions, providing a low energy lighting option for street lighting, outdoor floodlighting, etc.
Cost
The cost of CFLs and LEDs are higher than incandescent light bulbs. Typically this extra cost is repaid in the long-term, as both use less energy and have longer operating lives than incandescent bulbs, although some CFL manufacturers have consistently overestimated the actual usable lifetime of their lights. However there are some areas where the extra cost of a CFL may never be repaid, typically where bulbs are used relatively infrequently such as in little-used closets and attics.
Dimmers
Some CFLs may not be compatible with existing dimming circuits, although more dimmable CFLs are expected to become available as the phase-outs continue. Mains voltage halogen bulbs provide a more efficient dimmable alternative to common incandescent bulbs and are readily available.
Dimmable LED lamps are available from several vendors, although not all LED lamps are compatible with dimmers and their color temperature may not lower, as it does with incandescents.
Other concerns
While the excessive heat produced by incandescent light bulbs is frequently seen as a drawback, in certain applications it is seen as an advantage. For example, automotive applications in cold climates have traditionally benefitted from the radiated heat to melt potentially visually-obstructive snow and ice on taillights and halogen emergency vehicle lighting.
Alternatives to incandescent bulbs
An incandescent lamp approximates to a Planckian locus spectral distribution. Some of the proposed alternatives use phosphors to produce light and have significantly irregular spectral distributions, which can result in colour casts in photography and failures of colour matching when compared to incandescent produced light or daylight. Moreover, improved phosphor formulations have improved the perceived color of the light emitted by CFLs, and some sources now rate the best "soft white" CFLs as subjectively similar in colour to standard incandescent lamps.
Halogen lamps are however, widely available for those wishing to use energy-saving incandescent bulbs and although not as energy efficient as some of the alternatives, they are up to 45 percent more efficient that standard incandescent lamps (up to 70 percent for low voltage halogen bulbs).
The first widely available replacements for incandescent light bulbs, compact fluorescent lamps, are now (as of 2010) joined by two alternative technologies - light-emitting diode lamps (LED) and electron stimulated luminescence (ESL) lamps. Both LED and ESL technologies are mercury-free, eliminating the need for special disposal or handling, and both have long lives when compared to incandescent bulbs.
LED lamps are used for both general and special-purpose lighting. Where colored light is needed, LEDs come in multiple colors, which are emitted with no need for filters, and also produce a more robust color than incandescent bulbs. This improves the energy efficiency over a white light source that generates all colors of light then discards some of the visible energy through a filter.
Compared to fluorescent bulbs, advantages for LED light bulbs are that they contain no mercury, that they turn on instantly, and that lifetime is unaffected by cycling on and off, so that they are well suited for light fixtures where bulbs are often turned on and off. LED light bulbs are also less apt to break.
Electron stimulated luminescence technology is about 70 percent more energy efficient than incandescent lamps, and are rated to last up to five times longer than incandescent lamps. ESL lamps produce light by stimulation of a phosphor, a technology used in cathode ray tubes, and produce light of a similar quality.
