Demand Management, Energy Efficiency, Industrial  -  February 10, 2016

GE exits fluorescent light bulb manufacturing in favor of LEDs

If the trend toward energy efficiency was not already clear, GE's recent announcement that it will stop manufacturing fluorescent light bulbs by the end of the year certainly underlines the overwhelming market support for the technology.

"We're designing smart LED lighting systems that are networked with sensors, capturing data on usage and energy consumption to improve productivity," Todd Alhart, a spokesman for the GE Global Research Center in Niskayuna, New York, reportedly told the Albany Times Union. "And these systems will become part of a larger digitally connected energy ecosystem that changes the way we use energy."

According to GE, compact fluorescent bulbs were introduced in the 1980s and once made up 30% of the light bulb market, but that figure has declined to about 15%.

Fluorescent bulbs contain mercury, consume more energy, take time to heat up and don't last as long as their LED counterparts. LED lighting, on the other hand, has come down in price, lasts roughly 20 years and is much more energy efficient. 

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