Congress: New lightbulbs bright idea

WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 (UPI) -- A new U.S. law to take effect in four years will make old-fashioned incandescent light bulbs a thing of the past, a report said.

The law says any bulbs sold beginning in 2012 must significantly reduce the amount of electricity used, The Washington Post reported Sunday. A bulb giving off the equivalent light of today's 100-watt bulb, for example, would have to use only 72 watts of power.

Today, the only light bulbs on the market that would be able to meet that standard are the swirly-shaped fluorescent ones that have so far failed to catch on with most homeowners who complain they are expensive and give off less pleasant light, the newspaper said.

The legislation has the potential to save a lot of energy, the report said. Residential lighting accounts for as much as 10 percent of U.S. energy consumption, and the U.S. Department of Energy estimates if every American household replaced one incandescent bulb with a fluorescent bulb it would save enough energy to light 3 million homes and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of taking 800,000 cars off the road.