Shine on: Phase out of incandescent bulbs delayed

EAST LONGMEADOW, Mass. (WWLP) - The mandatory switch away from incandescent light bulbs is still going to happen, but not on January first.

Incandescent light bulbs are the lights that many of us grew up with, they're cheap but they do the job, however they're not particularly energy efficient.

A 2007 law outlined a move away from incandescent light bulbs that was supposed to begin on January 1st beginning with 100 watt incandescent bulbs, but on Friday congress voted to push the beginning of the phase out to October.

The purpose of the law was to phase out the less energy efficient incandescent light bulbs and push people to buying more energy efficient bulbs like these compact fluorescents, but not everyone's willing to get rid of their incandescents.

"We've been seeing some people stocking up. Nothing crazy at this point, the primary bulbs of 75 watts, 60 watt and 50 watts aren't going to be phased out for a couple more years so we imagine 2013, 2014 will be the big rush for these bulbs,” said Seth Dihlmann of Rocky’s Ace Hardware in East Longmeadow.

By 2014 all incandescents will be unavailable for purchase, but some people believe this push for energy efficiency impacts our freedom of choice.

"I think it's better to have the choice, this is a free country and we should be able to have a choice…It's difficult to ask people in these economic times to ask people to pay more for things when people are having a very difficult time economically," said Marie Mireault of Springfield.

While the new law means the US energy department won't enforce the new standards until October, individual states can enforce the standards earlier.