You’ve probably heard a lot of chatter recently about the Federal Government’s “ban” on incandescent light bulbs, those beloved, warm lights that Thomas Edison perfected 130 years ago. You might have heard that we will all be forced to use only those awful, bluish-white swirly florescent bulbs from now on. As it turns out that is not at all the case.

In 2007, George Bush signed into law the Energy Independence and Security Act. Among other things, it mandated that light bulbs be approximately 25% more efficient than they are now. This doesn’t ban incandescents, but because the standard 100-, 75-, 60-, and 40-watt bulbs we’ve been using for decades could never be that efficient, it will effectively phase them out in the next few years.

Because the law only prohibits the manufacture and importation of inefficient bulbs, stores will be allowed to sell out their inventory. And twenty-two types of incandescents, including appliance lamps, colored lights, “grow” lights, chandelier bulbs, and 3-way bulbs, will be exempt unless they double in price after the law goes into effect. This will keep them from taking market share from the new, more efficient lights.

What does this mean for you and your CX lights? It means that you can sit back, relax, and enjoy your lights for a long time to come because you have plenty of options.

If you happen to own any of our clear-glass Cristallo lights, our recommended bulbs for those lights — 60-watt appliance bulbs and halogen bulbs — are exempt from the law.

If you have an Aqua or Medusa Sprite, we recommend using Edison reproduction filament bulbs, which are also exempt.

If you own any of our colored Scavo lamps, there are two ways to go. One is actually those swirly Compact Florescent Lights (CFLs). The bluish-white ones work well inside our blue and green globes while the warmer CFLs enhance our warmer colored globes. CFLs have come a long way from their buzzing basement-workshop florescent beginnings. There are versions that replicate a warm incandescent glow and even work with dimmers. They are costly, but they are up to four times more efficient and last up to ten times longer than incandescents, so they are much less expensive overall. Their big drawback is their mercury content. If you use them, please dispose of them properly them at a recycling center.

The other great choice for our Scavos is a halogen bulb, which is another type of incandescent light. Halogens have a longer life, higher light output, greater efficiency, more compact size, and whiter, brighter light than conventional incandescents, and they light our globes beautifully because of their superior light dispersion.

It appears that LED bulbs will be more prevalent in the future. Right now they are too expensive, too hot, have a garish blue-white color, and don’t disperse light well, but they are by far the most efficient form of alternative lighting, and the technological hurdles are quickly being overcome. We expect that someday we will recommend them alongside the all options above.

We at CX Design applaud all these changes. More efficient bulbs are not only good for the environment, they are good for our pocketbooks. And if they help us kick our addiction to foreign oil, they are good for national security as well. We give them a glowing A+.