Common Household Item is Now Illegal to Buy Here in Arizona

We live in a world filled with constant innovation. We may take for granted that certain everyday items, so ubiquitous to our everyday life, can suddenly disappear and become a distant memory. But that's what's happening to one common household item.

Ye Olde Boob Tube

If you grew up in the era of tube television sets and cathode ray tube (CRT) computer monitors, you might be able to understand what a big change this is.

At one time, a television set was a piece of furniture and it existed in a large wooden cabinet. It's possible your grandma put your framed school photo on top - along with all 17 of your cousins and siblings. That's how big it was.

Over time, the old telly shrank in size. It was eventually replaced with the slim, wall-mountable screens we see everywhere. There's no denying that in many ways, the newer models are much better and more efficient than the TVs of old.

Get our free mobile app

Is This a Lighter Light?

You might want to check your household cabinets because I'm about to shed a little light on another big change.

Lighting up our homes and our world since Thomas Edison patented the lightbulb way back in the 1800s, it's hard to believe this little device could undergo such a radical change. Or that the original invention could have to be phased out and banned. That's exactly what's happening to the simple light bulb as we know it.

Incandescent Lights Out - LED Lights In

With a top-down energy-efficient push of late, the LED bulb has become the new standard for lighting. The Department of Energy says LED lights provide 75% more light and last 25% longer than less efficient incandescent bulbs.

Beginning in August, consumers will no longer be able to purchase incandescent lightbulbs from retailers. The Department of Energy is enforcing an official ban, coming in August, to be replaced by a much more efficient LED lightbulb.

The DoE states switching to LED lightbulbs, "will conserve energy and help consumers save on their energy bills."

 

DoE expects consumers to save nearly $3 billion per year on their utility bills.

What Happens If I Use an Incandescent Bulb After the Ban?

What if you still have incandescent bulbs after the ban? Will you be able to use them?

In a word, yes. The ban applies to the manufacture and sale of new light bulbs. If you've got the older bulbs in your cabinet, you don't need to run out and replace them with new LED bulbs. You can use what you have and replace them with LED bulbs in the future.