That lamp you’ve been eyeing at IKEA is getting a bit of a makeover; or at least the light bulb is. The company is moving forward with plans to only sell LED bulbs starting this fall.
The Swedish furniture retailer announced today that starting on Sept. 1 it will only sell light fixtures equipped with LED bulbs as part of its effort to encourage sustainability both in its stores and in consumers’ homes.
The world’s largest home furnishing retailer, who stopped selling incandescent bulbs in 2011, first revealed its plan to shift to an LED-only product lineup back in 2012. Since then, the company claims to have saved U.S. customers around $3 billion in energy costs from the 7.6 million LED bulbs sold.
LED lighting sources are estimated to use about 85% less energy that traditional incandescent bulbs and can last up to 20 years.
“Changing a light bulb may seem like a small action but many small actions can lead to a big change,” Lars Petersson, IKEA U.S. President, said in statement. “Note that if one million people changed one bulb each into an LED this would be equivalent to taking 6,700 cars off the road or planting 17 million trees per year. That’s significant.”
A study conducted by the retailer in 2012 and again in 2015 found that consumers are coming around to the idea of purchasing the often more expensive lighting source.
In 2015, nearly 64% of Americans say they’ve purchased at least one of the more sustainable bulbs for their homes, up from the 49% who had made such a purchase in 2012.
“With household electricity bills continuing to rise rapidly and global energy consumption increasing, the LED lighting will have a big impact,” Steve Howard, Chief Sustainability Officer for IKEA, said in a statement. “Building on our belief that everyone should be able to afford to live more sustainably at home, we will make sure our LED prices are affordable for the many.”
In fact, IKEA says its been able to work with manufacturers to bring the cost of its LED bulbs down. A two-pack of 40-watt replacement LED bulbs now costs about $4.5, while the 60-watt dimmable version sells for $4.50 each.
The switch to LED lighting is part of IKEA’s larger renewable energy push. The company has set a goal to produce as much renewable energy as the total energy IKEA consumes globally by 2020.
The company estimates that by the end of this year its renewable energy investments in the U.S. will produce four times more energy than IKEA uses in its operations in the country.
by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist
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