Last week California joined Vermont and the European Union in enacting a ban on fluorescent lamps. The California ban covers:
- Screw or bayonet base CFLs beginning January 1, 2024
- Pin-based CFLs beginning January 1, 2025
- Linear fluorescent lamps (aka fluorescent tubes) beginning January 1, 2025
The ban isn’t complete because there are some specialty fluorescents that are not included, such as those used for copiers and scanners, disinfection, sunlamps for tanning, and specialized lamps for medical purposes. However, it does apply to:
- CFLs of all tube diameters and all tube lengths, including PL, spiral, twin tube, triple tube, 2D, U-bend, and circular
- Linear fluorescents including:
- single-pin, two-pin, and recessed double contact
- all tube diameters, including T5, T8, T10, and T12
- all tube lengths from 6″ to 8′
- all lamp shapes, including U-bend and circular
Over the next few years hundreds of thousands, probably millions, of fixtures will need to be replaced or, if possible, converted with LED retrofit lamps. From the perspective of efficiency and quality of light replacement is certainly preferred, but it won’t be cheap. It’s not clear if California or utilities will offer any sort of financing to make the change.
You can download the law here.