Recently, we came across an article that noted that the FTC Lighting Facts label would be getting an extended deadline before becoming a must-have on all medium screw based light bulbs. While true (the FTC label will now be enforced beginning January 2012), the article unfortunately included a picture of the DOE’s Lighting Facts label as its image reference. To clear up any confusion that the two lighting facts labels may be causing, we’re including a breakdown of each and why they are being used.
The FTC will be enforcing that their Lighting Facts label be included on packaging of all medium screw based light bulbs (or the Edison based bulbs as we also like to call them). This label will include on the front of packages, the brightness shown in lumens and the estimated annual energy cost.
And, on the backs of the packaging, you will now see the following label, which also includes the expected life, appearance, energy use and whether the lamp contains mercury. The new label will also require that the lumen output be directly printed onto the base of the bulb.
The purpose of the FTC’S Lighting Facts label is to assist people in saving money by selecting the most efficient bulb for their needs, and to begin using lumens rather than watts as the “brightness” source. Something to keep in mind is this label does not require testing to show the information that is included.
The U.S. Department of Energy, created a Lighting Facts label to assure and improve the quality of solid state lighting products. Participating in the program (as we do) is voluntary, and the label includes performance results from actual test data. We’ve mentioned it before, but it looks like this and can already be found on packaging…
For now, it’s a possibility that you will see both labels included on bulbs that you purchase. However, the DOE will not encourage the use of its label on packaging once the FTC label is required on January 1, 2012.
