Urging consumers to warm up to energy efficient light

Charlie Jerabek

If Charlie Jerabek had his way, this column might be called "On the Warm Seat" -- as in a perfectly comfortable, but energy-efficient seat. Jerabek is chief executive of Osram Sylvania, a Danvers unit of German industrial conglomerate Siemens AG that's a leading maker of energy-efficient lighting. He spoke with Globe reporter Peter J. Howe.

Q. Is it fair to say your industry is still struggling to market the idea of energy efficiency and persuade people it doesn't mean settling for mediocre-performing lights and appliances?

A. Well, let's just say, in the past it's been poorly done. The consumer just hasn't bought in. Ten years ago, some people may have tried energy-efficient bulbs, and maybe they didn't come on very quickly or they hummed or they flickered. That, in my mind, has delayed the acceptance of it somewhat. In the last year or two, though, it's changed.

Q. Enough that Wal-Mart is vowing it will sell 100 million compact fluorescent bulbs annually starting next year. Why the shift?

A. Partly because of global warming. Partly because of the higher cost of electricity. You've now got celebrities touting the cause: Al Gore, Brad Pitt, Oprah. People respond to that. Also, we're getting better at the product.

We've been spending our money in the area of research for development for decades, and it's really nice to see that it's coming in to focus. We get a lot of government awards. It's a very welcome step forward to see that recognition in the form of a product going out the door.

Q. But some environmentalists are still leery of the bulbs, even with the incredible energy-consumption gains. Why?

A. The tradeoff is we have to put trace -- trace -- amounts of mercury in them, so we really encourage people to be environmentally conscious and recycle them, not send them to landfills. We have a partnership with a recycling company, and we sell shipping buckets with a prepaid label on them. You fill it up with 15 bulbs and send it back. You're doing your part for the environment, twice.

Q. How much more could government be doing to promote energy-efficient lighting?

A. We really don't have any truly successful incentives that are coming from the government. The 2005 Energy Policy Act has helped the US convert a lot of office and manufacturing buildings to more efficient lighting. The reason for that is a tax credit that the building owner gets.

But if somebody's renting a building, or leasing a building long-term, they don't get the tax credit. It goes to the landlord. And since the landlord isn't paying the electric bill, there's less of an incentive to make the change. In my mind, the legislation would give the credit to the entity that's paying the electric bill.

Q. How about for consumers?

A. There should be some kind of legislation which would encourage consumers to make the change. Now, residential electric use is not as big as commercial and industrial, and not as easy to work on as some other things like street lighting. But residential's still a huge amount of power. We're talking about $37 billion across the country. There are some huge opportunities.

Q. How optimistic are you about ultraefficient light-emitting diodes, which we're increasingly seeing in commercial applications and traffic signals, becoming a real alternative to light bulbs in people's houses?

A. The consumer doesn't have as many choices today, but they will in five or 10 years. Just wait. In our industry we have a rule that is kind of like Moore's Law with microprocessors. The light output of an LED, with the research and development that is going on, doubles every two years, and the price comes down 10 percent. You will see it replacing standard lighting in more and more consumer products.

Q. Some environmentalists think New England could offset every watt of increased electric demand in coming years with better efficiency and even actually reduce demand. Is that realistic?

A. I have do doubt that through the proper construction techniques in lighting, we could probably, net, reduce the load there. The thing with a compact fluorescent bulb is that they're 75 percent more efficient than conventional incandescent lighting.

Not every socket is going to be a good candidate for replacing a bulb. But if just half are, well, you've just reduced your electric demand by 37.5 percent.