The CFL: Coming Soon to a Light Socket Near You In a nation with 4 billion light
ID: 329478 • Letter: T
Question
The CFL: Coming Soon to a Light Socket Near You
In a nation with 4 billion light sockets, one light bulb per household can make a real difference. If every U.S. household
replaced one ordinary incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent lamp (CFL), the energy saved would be enough
to light 3 million homes. This single change would be the environmental equivalent of taking 800,000 cars off the road
and preventing 450 pounds of greenhouse gases from reaching the atmosphere. Change a light bulb, help the planet, slash
energy costs
—sounds like a win
-win situation.
Yet since the CFL’s invention more than 30 years ago, it has been slow to catch on. Meanwhile, the incandescent light
bulb, which was commercialized more than a century ago, still accounts for more than 90 percent of all light bulbs sold in
the U.S. Why have CFLs not been more popular?
•
Higher price.
One big reason that CFLs have not been big sellers is because each costs five to seven times more than
an incandescent light bulb does. A
CFL can last up to twelve times as long as an incandescent bulb does, and
installing even a few will make a noticeable difference in a household’s monthly electric bill. However, the initial
outlay has discouraged many people from making the switch.
•
Not t
he same old light bulb.
A second reason is that CFLs do not work as well as incandescent bulbs do in certain
circumstances, such as in fixtures outfitted with dimmers or in spotlights. Because the two types of bulbs are not
completely interchangeable, cons
umers have to do at least a little research and possibly some experimentation to
determine when they can and cannot install a CFL in place of an incandescent bulb. Instead, most consumers stay
with what they know and keep buying the same type of bulbs they
have always used.
•
Still too new.
Until very recently, few CFLs could be found on store shelves; those that were available had to compete
with rows and rows of incandescent light bulbs. And CFLs were rarely featured in advertising. Despite some
publicity, not everyone was getting the message about the CFL’s energy efficiency and the long
-term cost benefits of
switching from incandescents.
•
Disposal concerns.
Because CFLs contain a minute amount of mercury, they must be handled like hazardous waste
instead of
being thrown away like ordinary light bulbs. Sylvania provides customers with special packaging to return
burnt
-out CFLs for recycling by dropping them off at FedEx Kinko’s or at local post offices. However, even when
consumers know about the benefits of CFLs, they may not know how to dispose of them safely.
Now the CFL is coming into its own amid a growing chorus of campaigns by retailers, manufacturers, utilities, and
government agencies. Wal
-Mart is putting a major marketing push behind CFLs, featuring them in ads and on the Web to
encourage its 100 million customers to buy at least one new bulb. The retailer has even added CFLs to its back-
to-school
shopping list for eco-
friendly products that it has posted on Facebook to reach “green teens.” Utilities such as Pacific Gas
& Electric in California have given away free CFLs or have offered CFLs at reduced prices to encourage customers to at
least try the bulbs.
Major bulb manufacturers like General Electric, Philips, and Sylvania are helping to educate con
sumers about CFLs
through on-
package information and in marketing communications such as ads and media interviews. With new
government standards calling for the phase
-out of regular incandescent light bulbs over the next 10 years, manufacturers
are also testing energy
-efficient lighting alternatives such as low
-heat incandescent bulbs, new halogen bulbs, and light
-
emitting diode (LED) bulbs. Soon light sockets all over America will be lit with CFLs and other new bulbs.
i
Case Questions
1. Would you characterize the CFL as discontinuous, dynamically continuous, or continuous? How does this level of innovation help to explain why CFLs have diffused relatively slowly through the market?
Explanation / Answer
CFL is a discontinous innovation as it is an entirely new product that can be replaced with the old ordinary light bulb. This is an innovation that needs drastic change in customers habbits by replacing a product they were easy in using from ages to a product thatis more expensive but environment friendly. This is a product that was new to the customers and had to be used by them in their daily household and not as a choice. It has a price far more than the ordinary bulbs, the fixtures required for using them are different than the ones installed in homes for the tradinal bulbs, they are not so commonly available everywhere in the market, disposing them isn't a normal procedure as they contain small amount of mercury. Though they are an innovation that can bring big environmental changes that are beneficial for the atmosphere andf the people but due to the factors mentioned above accepting the use of them in the market has been relatively slow.