Xmas incandescent mini lights (image: christmasstockimages.com)
SEOUL, July 17 (Korea Bizwire) – Starting January next year, the manufacture, importation, or sale of incandescent light bulbs for general lighting purposes will be banned. Since the first use of the incandescent light bulb at Royal Gyeongbok Palace in 1887, it has been 127 years until the official phase-out. The Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy said on July 16 that it would ban the use of incandescent light bulbs from January 1, 2014 as scheduled in December 2008.
Instead of the highly inefficient light bulb, the use of alternative lamps such as the compact fluorescent lamp, halogen lamp, and LED lamp will be encouraged. Already, the government has almost phased out incandescent light bulbs between 70 and 150 watts based on the regulation on minimum energy efficiency standards.
Once the incandescent light bulbs are completely phased out, as much as 1,800 gigawatts of electricity will be saved in a year, which is equivalent to the amount of electricity consumption for 500,000 to 600,000 households for a whole year. In the public sector including government agencies and state-run corporations, 99 percent of incandescent lamps have been replaced with energy-efficient lamps.
