You can say one thing for new lighting efficiency standards: They have been great for sales of incandescent bulbs.
That was one conclusion heard from the electrical manufacturer's group NEMA as it released its figures for the sales index of traditional A-line incandescent lamps. (The A line is the ubiquitous bulb-shaped package for ordinary light bulbs.) The index rose 20.2% during Q3 2012 rebounding from a slide of 18.2% in the quarter before.
Meanwhile, the compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) index registered a drop of 3.3% compared to the previous quarter. NEMA says halogen A-line lamp shipments also gained momentum, rising by 83.3% on a quarterly basis.
The index for halogen A-line lamps has risen in seven out of the last eight quarters. NEMA also remarked that halogen A-line lamps boosted their share by 1.5% to 4% of the combined market. CFLs posted a share of 20.6%, a decline of 4.1 points q/q. The share of incandescent lamps rose during the quarter to 75.4%.
NEMA figures that sales continued to grow in Q4 of last year as consumers stock their pantries ahead of the January 1, 2013 implementation of the next phase of EISA 2007 efficiency standards.
New housing sales are also rising somewhat, which would also boost lighting sales, but there is no speculation from NEMA on how this is affecting incandescent or CFL sales.
NEMA: www.nema.org
