DOE Updates Energy Efficiency Standard for General Service Lamps

The Energy Department is amending energy efficiency standards for general service lamps, in a final rule (here). The standard adopts a new definition of general service lamps, as follows: a lamp intended to serve in general lighting applications and that has the following basic characteristics: 1) an ANSI base (with the exclusion of light fixtures, LED downlight retrofit kits, and exemptions for specific base types); 2) a lumen output of greater than or equal to 310 lumens and less than or equal to 3,300 lumens; 3) an ability to operate at or between 12 V, 24 V, 100 to 130 V, 220 to 240 V, or 277 V; and 4) no designation or label for use in non-general applications. Products covered by the definition will be subject to a minimum of 45 lumens per watt under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, effective Jan. 1, 2010. Only LED light bulbs currently meet that standard, according to a press release (here) issued DOE when it published the underlying proposal in 2016.