New laws about light bulbs spur hoarders to scoop up incandescent models

When it comes to buying light bulbs these days, the chief tactic may be buy-and-hoard.

"People are coming in and buying $150 worth of incandescent bulbs," said Steve Richmond, co-owner of Richmond Hardware in Braintree. "I was amazed."

What's driving the hoarders are new federal standards, originally meant to go into effect in the new year, requiring 100-watt bulbs to be more energy efficient.

But then Congress, in a bill passed this month to keep the government running, delayed enforcement of the new law until October.

"I see more people grabbing the incandescent one," said Paul Kustka, manager at Curry Hardware in Hanover. "But it's going to come to a point where they'll have to switch."

 Retailers will be able to keep selling their supply of 100-watt incandescents until they're out of stock. Manufacturers can't import or make more bulbs that draw the same amount of energy as the existing models, but they are continuing to make a new version of incandescent bulbs that meet the stricter standards.

Four of today's commonly purchased incandescent bulbs – 100-watt, 75-watt, 60-watt and 40-watt – are targeted by a wide-ranging federal law aimed at improved energy efficiency from cars to industry. The incandescent bulbs are considered wasteful because much of the power they consume is released as heat, not light.

As of Sunday, a bulb that puts out the same amount of light as today's 100-watt bulb will be required to draw only 72 watts of power. In January 2013 and January 2014, similar new standards will go into effect for the other three bulb wattages.

Those new, more energy-efficient bulbs are primarily the curly shaped compact fluorescent lamps, known as CFLs, which last 10 times longer than incandescent and, while more expensive, can pay for themselves in nine months.

At Curry Hardware, one 60-watt compact fluorescent bulb was priced at $4.49, compared to a four-pack of the same wattage for $2.50.

Light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, are about 75 percent to 80 percent more efficient and are meant to last 25 times longer than a regular incandescent light bulb. They're still much more expensive – $25 for a 60-watt-equivalent bulb recently on Home Depot's website, compared with about $5 for a five-pack of CFLs – but prices are expected to drop as more people start using them.

Curry Hardware carried the LEDs for a while but they were so pricey that nobody bought them, said Kustka.

"I think people are totally uninformed and confused about the law," said Richmond in Braintree.

One issue complicating the CFLs is the presence of mercury. The Environmental Protection Agency said that the levels are very small – about 4 milligrams of mercury sealed within the glass tubing – but some consumers worry about it.

"That makes me nervous," said Rose Opanasets of Quincy, who was in the checkout line at Target in South Shore Plaza. "I'm keeping the old stuff until they force me to change."