Energy-gobbling halogen spotlights will be phased out across Europe from Thursday, in a boost for super-efficient LEDs ahead of a wider halogen bulb ban in 2018.
Directional halogen bulbs already in stores can still be sold after today but no new retailer orders will be possible for the spotlights, which can waste up to 10 times more energy than LEDs.
First hit by the ban will be GU10 halogen spotlights and PAR30 halogen floodlights (big reflector lamps). Bulbs with an energy label rating of B or above, such as low-voltage halogen spotlights, will not be affected.
Which? magazine last month advised its readers to switch to LEDs, which can cut lighting electricity bills by up to 90%, according to the coolproducts efficiency campaign.
The European commission also sees lightbulb efficiency rules as a no-brainer, arguing that EU standards across all product ranges will save the average consumer €465 a year on energy bills by 2020.
It will also rein in greenhouse gas emissions, as lighting accounts for about as much power use as the residential electricity consumption of the UK, France, Italy, Portugal and the Netherlands combined.
While the new EU benchmarks could be replaced by UK-only rules after Brexit, this might also force manufacturers to adjust their production lines to meet the differing efficiency standard, with costs passed through to consumers.
Campaigners fear it could also lead to importers deluging Britain with shoddy products that ramp up energy bills.
A 50W Osram halogen spotlight for a kitchen or bathroom currently retails at around £1.50 per bulb, considerably cheaper than a £4.99 high quality LED. But the halogen lights also fail so fast that eight are needed to match the lifetime of a single LED spotlight.
LED spotlight prices have fallen by more than 80% in the last five years, according to the market experts, prompting Ikea to remove halogen bulbs from its stores last year.
Los Angeles has now relit all its streets with LEDs, changing the tint of movies set there from yellow to blue, while Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena football stadium and the Sistine chapel have also gone over to LED lighting
In 2013, 154m directional halogen bulbs were sold in Europe, a fifth of the overall 772m halogen bulb market that year. (The Guardian)
PHOTO: Directional halogen bulbs already in stores can still be sold but no new retailer orders will be possible.
CREDIT: Richard Leighton/Alamy Stock Photo.