Incandescent Light Bulb Hoarding

After years of looming as a distant threat, the federally mandated phaseout of some incandescent bulbs is about to become very real.

Many Americans have no idea that most traditional light bulbs are about to disappear, to be replaced by energy-efficient compact fluorescent lights, light-emitting diodes, and halogen incandescents.

There are signs that hoarders have been busy. Sales of standard incandescent bulbs are up by 10 to 20 percent over a year ago at The Home Depot, according to the chain’s chief bulb buyer. A 2010 survey by Osram Sylvania, the Danvers-based light bulb maker, found that 13 percent of consumers plan to stockpile. At Lucia Lighting & Design in Lynn, some customers are trying to figure out how many incandescents constitute a lifetime supply.

The new law won’t ban all bulbs. Specialty products, including three-way bulbs, appliance bulbs, and those under 40 watts or over 150, are still OK. But not the bulbs that are most common in everyday use.

At The Home Depot in Dorchester, tutorials in the bulb section teach shoppers that a 25-watt incandescent bulb equals a 5-watt compact fluorescent light, a 60-watt incandescent equals a 13-16 watt CFL, and so on.

Actually, don’t get too comfortable even thinking in watts.

Starting Jan. 1, the US Federal Trade Commission is requiring manufacturers of incandescent, compact fluorescent, and LED light bulbs to use new labeling on consumer packaging that - for the first time - will emphasize the bulb’s brightness as measured in lumens, rather than watts.

Lumens?

“Is it a measurement of light?’’ asked Bain, the artist, guessing correctly on the second try.

The Energy Independence and Security Act requires new bulbs to be about 25 percent more efficient than current bulbs. The act aims to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gases, and, according to a US Department of Energy estimate, it will save US consumers nearly $6 billion in 2015, the first full year after the standards go into effect.