On January 1, 2025, when the California Assembly Bill 2208 went into effect, the Golden State joined Colorado, Hawaii, Minnesota, Oregon, and Rhode Island with bans on the sale of fluorescent bulbs timed with the start of the new year. In total, 16 U.S. states now have banned the sale of fluorescent bulbs, and many other states have plans in place for bans to take effect as well.
The impetus for the ban was largely driven by the risks associated with the potential hazards of a broken fluorescent bulb and was designed to reduce the risk of mercury exposure, lower utility costs, and increase energy efficiencies. While the benefits are clear, a transition to LED across facilities requires a significant amount of thoughtful planning to be successful. No one knows this better than a facility manager responsible for lighting large and diverse properties—from parking lots to warehouses, conference rooms to plant floors. The upgrade process is daunting.
Not only are facility professionals tasked with identifying the right products for their property, from LED tubes (like the T8 bulb, the most popular in the industrial commercial sector) to retrofits and LED kits, but they must also navigate rebates, design considerations, controls, warranties, and more to ensure energy efficiency and maximize cost savings. And while some organizations may have stockpiled products to buy some time, the future is LED, and it won’t be long before fluorescent bulbs and lamps are extinct.
Given the massive scope of upgrades required for compliance, there is a steep learning curve to navigating this evolution efficiently and helping reduce toxic mercury pollution globally. Let’s walk through what you can do to comply with new industry regulations or get ahead of it before your state initiates the ban.
The Good, Better, Best Approach
We encourage customers to start simple, with the good, better, best approach.
In this case, the “good,” or basic step is to buy a light and plug and play. This is essentially just a simple replacement of bulbs that can’t be purchased anymore within the existing system. The approach is a good baseline but will come with some higher upfront costs to purchase the same quantity of LED lights. Additionally, there are potential drawbacks with this approach as it can lead to compatibility issues with dimmers, directional light emission which may not suit all fixtures, and the potential for blue light emission (which contributes to light pollution and eye strain).
The “better” approach takes a broader look at lighting beyond the bulbs themselves to identify what other changes you might want to make while you are already replacing the bulbs. Are you putting the light on a ballast that’s not designed? Do you want a more aesthetically pleasing lighting system or one with features like dimming, task tuning, or color changes? Are you looking for more cost savings or efficiency gains? This approach goes beyond a band-aid fix and not only ensures compliance but delivers indirect wins as well. For example, maybe the new fixture doesn’t create glare and improves workplace conditions as a result, or maybe the janitor can rely on lighting controls when everyone goes home for the day to avoid wasted electricity. This thoughtful approach takes it one step further and can help improve employee productivity, contribute to a healthy workplace environment, as well as boost the bottom line.
The “best” option is the most strategic in the long run and will reap benefits far beyond bulb upgrades. By planning first and designing a complete lighting upgrade that includes best-in-class LED fixtures, future savings can be controlled. With most LED fixtures now coming with control options built in that savings will just add up. Taking the time to review the utility rebates your facility is entitled to, investigating better warranty options, and the like, will yield significant cost savings and greater efficiency gains.
Of course, none of this is possible without funding and in the case of a large building like a school, this upgrade could be a $10 million investment. This is a significant hurdle to overcome, never mind continued disruptions to the supply chain, a skilled labor shortage, and new sustainability requirements. Having an industry partner that keenly understands the product landscape, supplier ecosystem, warranty options, and specific installation requirements, can help you increase energy efficiency, reduce operating costs, and drive bottom line savings.
This bill not only lays the groundwork for long term energy efficiencies and safety gains across facilities but sets a new standard for manufacturers and others to follow. For those in the 40 states that still allow fluorescent lighting, it is only a matter of time until that changes, so hold off on stocking up on any lighting materials and ponder whether the good, better, or best approach may guide your efforts when your time does come.
