Halogen light era comes to end in Britain

BRITAIN will end sales of halogen light bulbs from this September as a part of the UK’s efforts to tackle climate change.

Fluorescent lights will also be removed from the shelves from September 2023.

Although the UK began phasing out the sale of higher-energy halogen light bulbs in 2018, the new legislation will mean that retailers will no longer be able to sell the majority of halogen bulbs for general household use in the UK from September this year.

To help people make the switch, ministers are also announcing that all light bulbs will start to feature new energy efficiency advice via ‘rescaled’ energy labels on their boxes. The move implies that LED light bulbs will account for 85 per cent of all bulbs sold by 2030.

Currently, around two-thirds of bulbs sold in the country are LED lights. They are said to last five times longer than traditional halogen light bulbs and produce the same amount of light using up to 80 per cent less power.

Energy minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan said, “We’re phasing out old inefficient halogen bulbs for good, so we can move more quickly to longer-lasting LED bulbs, meaning less waste and a brighter and cleaner future for the UK.”

Minister for climate change, Lord Martin Callanan, said phasing out halogen bulbs in favour of LED alternatives that last longer, are just as bright and cheaper to run, “is another way that we are helping tackle climate change”.

Taken together, the new rules are expected to mark a significant shift to LEDs that will stop 1.26 million tonnes of carbon that is emitted every year, which is said to be equivalent to removing over half a million cars from the UK’s roads.