Most of the remaining incandescent light bulbs still being made will be discontinued in 2014.

The U.S. Department of Energy's energy efficiency standards will cause production of typical 40 and 60 watt bulbs to cease.

The DOE already has caused the phase out of 75 and 100 watt incandescent bulbs over the past three years.

Once a standard in American homes, incandescent bulbs are being replaced with more energy efficient fluorescent and LED bulbs, which typically use 9 to 26 watts.

The change will have an affect on residents who favor the old style of lighting in their homes, but it won't be much of a factor for many institutions or municipalities since most of those already switched several years ago to more cost-effective lightning options.

Mike Broniszewski, the owner of the True Value Hardware store in Sarver, said he doesn't think the change will have much of an affect on hardware stores.

“There will be a minimal impact,” he said. “There are still lots of options to choose from.”

Those lighting options include LED, florescent, and halogen light bulbs, each offering different advantages, all offering longer life spans and better efficiency than incandescents.

Broniszewski said customers have transitioned well to the new bulbs.

“Most people prefer to buy the new, efficient bulbs,” he said. “They last longer and use less energy.”

While fluorescent bulbs are becoming the most popular choice for consumers, incandescents do remain a popular choice.

Dave Woods, a co-owner of the Home Improvement Center in Butler, said a major draw to incandescents is that they are noticeably cheaper to buy than the alternatives.

The lighting of the incandescents also are preferred by many people as compared to fluorescent bulbs.

“Some people think the lighting is too harsh,” Woods said of the fluorescents. “It's a bright white and they're use to the warmer tones of incandescents.”

Broniszewski said the biggest learning curve for customers was having to buy fluorescent bulbs produced five years ago.

“Back then they weren't great,” he said, explaining those bulbs took too long to heat up and were inconsistent in how long they lasted. “But now the quality is much better and there are so many options.”

While fluorescent bulbs are still the most popular bulbs, Broniszewski said LED bulbs are perhaps the fastest growing market.

“Those can last for 20 years,” he said. “If you have a light bulb that's high up or hard to replace, a LED would make perfect sense.”

Halogen bulbs also are a popular choice for those who prefer the appearance of incandescent bulbs.

“They look exactly the same as incandescents but are more energy efficient,” Broniszewski said.

For those insistent on still buying incandescents, that is an option too because the law does not ban all incandescent bulbs, Broniszewski said.

The production of specialty incandescent bulbs, such as party bulbs and shatter-resistant bulbs, are still permitted.

“You can still get a 100 watt incandescent if you want,” Broniszewski said. “There are ways around it.”

He said his store no longer has 100 watt incandescents, but still has 40, 60 and 75 watt bulbs.

Woods said his store still has the 100 watt bulbs and will carry incandescents as long as possible.

“We'll keep them on the shelf as long as we can get our hands on them,” he said.

Woods added he was a little surprised to learn 40 watt bulbs were being discontinued.

“I didn't think they'd go that far down on the scale,” he said.

The new regulations governing light bulbs won't affect the Seneca Valley School District much, according to Bob Cook, the buildings and grounds director.

That is because Seneca's schools almost exclusively use fluorescent tube lights, not incandescent bulbs because incandescent bulbs “do not provide adequate light for classrooms.”

Cook said incandescent bulbs are used largely because they're smaller, and they're not practical in larger operations.

That's not to say there aren't any incandescent bulbs used in the district. Seneca Valley uses those bulbs primarily in freezers because the fluorescent lamps won't start under cold conditions.

“We purchase them as needed, but when it comes right down to it, (the new rules) will not have any effect on what we do,” Cook said.

Cranberry Township is well ahead of the phase-out of the incandescent bulbs.

According to Jason Daily, township director of public works, all of the traffic signal bulbs have been upgraded to LED over the past 10 years.

“Energy cost savings is about 60 percent of what was spent 10 years ago. Currently, we have more than doubled the intersection count, and still are budgeting the same amount of energy dollars spent 10 years ago.

He added the “township spends almost no labor dollars changing light bulbs in the signals, something that took 30 percent of our time 10 years ago.”

As for the township's facilities, Dailey said the council chambers' lighting was all changed to 30 LED from incandescent spotlights and the gymnasium lighting was changed out from 250 watt metal halides to fluorescents.

All canned lights in all meeting rooms at the municipal building were changed to LED.

Dailey added the public works lunchroom incandescent lights were all changed to LED and all the metal halides in the Cranberry Public Library were changed to fluorescents.

“In general, 95 percent of incandescents were changed out at the municipal center over the past few years,” Dailey said.

Ken Bush, director of planned operations at Butler Memorial Hospital, said the hospital has been planning the lighting transition for five years. As sections of the hospital are renovated, fluorescent tubes have been replaced with low wattage lighting.

Crews have rewired the hospital section by section, and added electrical ballasts, which controls the amount of current going into the lights. Bush estimates the lights on campus number in the tens of thousands.

Frank Randza, director of maintenance at the Mars School District, said the light bulb change has had no effect on the district,

Randza said since he was hired in 1988, fluorescent tubes have provided indoor lighting in every classroom, gymnasium, cafeteria, office and hallway in the district.

“We have never used incandescent,” Randza said. “There are no bulbs in the district. They're all tubes.”

He said the district in the 1990s changed over from the traditional fluorescent tubes to a tube known in the industry as “T-8.”

The T-8 tubes are just as long-lasting as the old tubes, have safer ballasts, and are more energy efficient.

“We've been on top of this one,” Randza said.

He said renovations, additions and new construction over the past several years also have affected the district's lighting plan because of state requirements regarding school lighting.

“That dictates what you can put in the building,” Randza said.

He said the average tube lasts four years, unless it is one that remains lit day and night.

Randza said there are more than 10,000 T-8 fluorescent tubes lighting Mars' six buildings. He changes out multiple tubes per year.

“That's a lot of lighting,” he said.

Eagle staff writers Paula Grubbs, Jared Stonesifer, Bob Schultz, and Kate Malongowski contributed to this report.