Introduction
So, what is ENERGY STAR certified?
In a nutshell:
- It is a government-backed scheme.
- Providing certification of energy efficiency.
- The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) oversees the scheme.
Who does the testing?
Over twenty independent certification bodies and more than 500 labs. All checking out the products. making sure they meet the strict standards for energy efficiency.
If they do, then they certify them. Thereupon the product can display the ENERGY STAR logo.
Around 70,000 products have been Energy Star Certified to date.
What do they need to pass?
In general the ENERGY STAR scheme sets energy efficiency levels for products.
In the case of light bulbs they must:
- Use less than 10% of the standard incandescent bulb. And producing the same amount of light
- Have a lifetime 15 times longer than the equivalent incandescent bulb
- Produce only 10-30% of the heat than a standard incandescent
In Summary
300 million ENERGY STAR certified light bulbs were sold in 2019. With a market value of over $100 billion.
That’s a lot of light bulbs. And a lot of energy saving.
You can find more about the scheme here on their home page. Or on the EPA website here
If you are interested in finding out the best light bulbs to buy. Including many that comply with the Energy Star requirements. Then check out our best of articles here.