Household transitions to energy efficient lighting

New energy efficient lighting technologies can significantly reduce household electricity consumption, but adoption has been slow. A unique dataset of German households is used in this paper to examine the factors associated with the replacement of old incandescent lamps (ILs) with new energy efficient compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and light emitting diodes (LEDs). The ‘rebound’ effect of increased lamp luminosity in the transition to energy efficient bulbs is analyzed jointly with the replacement decision to account for household self-selection in bulb-type choice. Results indicate that the EU ban on ILs accelerated the pace of transition to CFLs and LEDs, while storage of bulbs significantly dampened the speed of the transition. Higher lighting needs and bulb attributes like energy efficiency, environmental friendliness, and durability spur IL replacement with CFLs or LEDs. Electricity gains from new energy efficient lighting are mitigated by 23% and 47% increases in luminosity for CFL and LED replacements, respectively. Model results suggest that taking the replacement bulb from storage and higher levels of education dampen the magnitude of these luminosity rebounds in IL to CFL transitions.