Changes in the light bulb aisle

Government mandates will raise prices on light bulbs in the near term, but “they should be going down as production increases,” said Houston Bowlin, House-Hasson product manager for lighting.

“We’re heading into an era of compact fluorescent lights (CFL); halogen, and light emitting diode (LED) lighting,” Bowlin said. “They’re supposed to be long lasting but they haven’t yet been around as long as they’re supposed to last, so time will reveal the accuracy of those estimates.

“On the plus side, the newer bulbs are brighter, the light’s clearer, the output is better, and there’s no heat. But anything you break is going to be expensive to replace.”

The standard 40-watt incandescent bulb will continue to be produced, as well as several other types of bulbs, but if sales of those bulbs increase dramatically the law allows for those exemptions to be withdrawn and production made to cease, Bowlin said.

“With the banned incandescent bulbs there is no ‘cannot sell after’ date, so stores can put them on the shelves until they’re gone,” he said. 

Don Hasson said that end users with questions have a great resource in the hardware store and lumberyard dealers. 

“They’re professionals,” he said, “and we know how hard they’re working, and how hard we’re working with them, to try to make sure their customers have the information they need.”

House-Hasson Hardware is a privately owned hardware distributor headquartered in Knoxville, Tenn., with about $200 million in annual sales.