Call to Action: Sign the Petition to Protect Healthy Light Bulbs

If we don't act now most healthy light bulbs will be banned in three years

Healthy light bulbs are about to become extinct. So now is the time to take action to “save the species,” both metaphorically and literally!

What happened to our light bulbs?

In a misguided attempt to save energy, the US Department of Energy (DOE) has progressively been ramping up the minimum Lumens per Watt requirements for light bulbs (referred to as General Service Lamps “GSLs”). First, they introduced a 45 lumens per watt minimum in 2023 which effectively banned all incandescent and halogen light bulbs. Then, in 2024, the DOE increased the minimum to 125 Lumens per Watt. This rule which goes into effect in June 2028 will effectively ban all healthy light bulbs.

If we don’t correct this travesty we will all be forced to live day and night under the harmful rays of blue-rich narrow spectrum LED light bulbs.

Why Lumens per Watt is a False Measure of Energy Efficiency

The new US DOE energy efficiency rules for light bulbs are based on “Lumens per Watt” — an archaic 100 year old measure of energy efficiency that only asssesses the brightness of a light and not how healthy it is.

Natural daylight contains a broad range of visible color wavelengths which are essential for health plus ultraviolet and infrared invisible light which also convey important health benefits. Different types of healthy light bulbs provide components of this healthy light spectrum suited to either day or nighttime use.

However, the Lumens output of a light bulb is determined largely by the green and yellow wavelengths which are responsible for perceived visual brightness. Any watts of electrical energy used to produce healthy light using other visible colors or infrared light are treated as wasted watts, and therefore lower the Lumens per Watt rating of the light bulb.

How can we protect healthy light bulbs?

President Trump has issued an Executive Order giving consumers freedom to choose the light bulbs they want. But that doesn’t solve the problem. It can be instantly reversed by the next US President in January 2029. Manufacturers will not risk making new light bulbs with such uncertainty.

What is needed, instead, is a new law or new regulation to protect healthy light bulbs from the draconian 125 lumens per watt rule.

We are advised that the best way forward is to request that DOE create a new product class for healthy light bulbs that has its own set of rules that make sense, and protect innovative new solutions for healthy lighting.

Petition to protect healthy light bulbs

We have prepared a petition for rulemaking to the DOE to protect healthy light bulbs from the 125 lumens per watt rule by creating a new Product Class (“General Wellness Light Bulbs”) that will not be subject to the 125 lumens per watt rule. These healthy light bulbs would still be subject to the 45 lumens per watt energy efficiency rule in effect today. I urge you to support it by clicking the button below and filling out the contact form on our Campaign Website (https://circadianlight.org/campaign/).

Further Resources

For more remarkable insights into what we have done to ourselves by moving indoors and switching on narrow spectrum blue-rich LED lights, see my book THE LIGHT DOCTOR.