The Next Great Light Bulb

As of Jan. 1 of this year, the 60-watt incandescent light bulb—that classic of the genre; the Edisonian ideal; the signifier that illuminates in your mind’s eye when you’re asked to picture “a light bulb”—was banned forever. Perhaps you prepped by hoarding a box of bulbs in the back of your closet. Or perhaps this news took you by surprise. New bulb technologies are waaaay more efficient. Like 80 percent more. That’s a big difference. Given that (according to lighting industry experts I spoke to) there are something like 4 billion screw-in light sockets in this country—the bulk of which remain occupied by leftover incandescent bulbs—the energy savings from a nationwide switch will add up.