Ikea plans to sell only LED-based energy-saving lighting by 2016. The switch away from incandescent bulbs and halogen lights to LED lighting will make it the first US home furnishing retailer to do so, and will start the move to the greener light sources by replacing over a million in-store lights with the LED bulbs.
LED bulbs have already been supplied to all 130,000 Ikea staff around the world, and the company hopes that by selling the LED bulbs at the lowest price on the market, it will encourage US customers to adopt the new lights and save energy. The initiative follows previous environmental campaigns by Ikea US such as phasing out plastic bags in 2007 and incandescent bulbs in 2010.
It is claimed that LED bulbs can last up to 20 years, 10 times that of a halogen and 20 times that of a typical incandescent bulb, and can also save between 50 and 90 percent of lighting energy costs. Currently, 43 percent if Americans have at least one LED bulb in the house, compared to 80 percent in China and 61 percent in Sweden.
