Lighting Facts Label

When shopping for light bulbs, you'll notice a new label

The Lighting Facts Label, which resembles a hybrid of the Nutrition Facts and Energy Guide labels, will make it easier for you to compare and buy the most energy-efficient bulb to meet your needs.

Instead of buying light bulbs based on the energy they use (watts), you’ll now be able to shop for bulbs by the amount of light they produce (lumens). A bulb with more lumens produces bright light. Less lumens means dimmer light. Lumens make it easier for you to buy the amount of light you need. The label, which will begin appearing on all packaging for commonly used light bulbs in 2011, will also include the bulbs energy cost, life, light appearance and wattage.

ENERGY STAR qualified lighting is available in a wide variety of shades of white light, "warm" light comparable to the yellowish light of incandescent bulbs, "cool white" light or bluer "daylight" light. Light color is measured on a temperature scale referred to as Kelvin (K). Lower Kelvin numbers mean the light appears yellow; higher Kelvin numbers mean the light is whiter or bluer. Color for ENERGY STAR qualified lighting for indoor residential use is restricted to 3500K or less to provide only warm white light, with the exception of portable desk lamps that can be as high as 5000K where the light just starts to appear more blue.