In the months and years ahead, people who buy LED lamps will begin to notice the lack of an Energy Star logo on the box. After seeing the Energy Star logo on boxes for decades, it will be a noticeable change! Billions of dollars of Energy Star certified lights have been sold. But as of December 31st, 2024, Energy Star lights are no more.
With LED’s dominating the market and setting the standard for energy efficiency, there really weren’t many new LED lamps that weren’t Energy Star. If anything it was older GEN lamps getting phased out of the Energy Star qualifications for not meeting updated efficacy standards.
The efficacy of LED’s has never been better, and consequently Energy Star began to lose a little bit of value to the consumer. But now it is incumbent on the user to understand a little bit about lighting terminology to ensure the lamps they are getting meet their needs. More and more customers are familiar with modern lighting terminology like CRI and Lumens Per Watt, so there is hope!
How about the DLC? They are still putting their stamp on LED fixtures, tubes and retrofits, and don’t expect that to stop anytime soon. DLC-related rebates are too ingrained in the market to go away easily on top of these light sources being a bit more complicated and having different DLC levels (DLC Standard, DLC Premium, etc) to distinguish efficacy levels.
With Energy Star gone and DLC seemingly being on everything, how do you know what lights to buy? Let a long-time commercial lighting distributor like Premier Lighting advise you. We have been providing commercial lighting solutions since the early 1990’s and only deal with reputable manufacturers that focus on innovation, efficacy and service. So contact us today about any lighting needs or questions you may have.