KEY POINTS:
The days of the energy-inefficient but cheap light bulb are numbered.
The Government today launched a campaign to phase them out by the end of next year.
New ecobulbs cause considerably more to buy but save a great deal in electricity costs over their life.
Some critics note they can take longer to reach their full light.
Energy Minister David Parker said: "The traditional light bulb is very old technology - and very inefficient.
"Only five per cent of the energy it uses generates light - the rest is wasted as heat."
Once new standards are introduced, no new stocks of the incandescent bulbs can be imported for sale.
The Efficient Lighting Strategy was developed by the lighting industry, the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority, and the Electricity Commission.
It aims to reduce lighting energy consumption by 20 per cent by 2015.
This will be achieved through more efficient lighting, phasing out inefficient products and setting minimum energy performance standards.
Jeanette Fitzsimons, Government spokesperson on energy efficiency and conservation, said technological advances in the area meant there were more and more options.
Some are Electricity Commission subsidised.
New Zealand spent about $660 million on electricity for lighting a year generating about 2.65 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.
Almost $500m could be saved by 2020, "just by changing the lights", Ms Fitzsimons said.
Consumer.org.nz's light bulb calculator
- NZPA, NZ HERALD STAFF
