{"id":690953,"date":"2023-05-24T15:31:45","date_gmt":"2023-05-24T13:31:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=690953"},"modified":"2023-05-24T15:37:59","modified_gmt":"2023-05-24T13:37:59","slug":"big-changes-for-lightbulbs-in-south-africa-what-you-should-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/690953\/big-changes-for-lightbulbs-in-south-africa-what-you-should-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Big changes for lightbulbs in South Africa – what you should know"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Department of Trade and Industry and Competition (DTIC) has gazetted new compulsory standards for standard lighting in South Africa, which will effectively ban all lightbulbs except for energy-efficient LEDs.<\/p>\n

The proposed specifications were first published for public comment in March 2021<\/a><\/strong>, and were initially expected to be gazetted in September 2022.<\/p>\n

Through the new gazette, DTIC minister Ebrahim Patel has withdrawn the old compulsory specification for single-capped fluorescent lamps (VC 9091) and incandescent lamps (VC 8043) and replaced them with the new compulsory specification for energy efficiency and functional performance requirements of general services lamps.<\/p>\n

The specifications aim to improve the safety, performance and energy efficiency of lightbulbs approved for use in South Africa by phasing out inefficient and environmentally harmful lighting products<\/p>\n

The compulsory specification covers the energy efficiency and functional performance for general lighting directional and non-directional lamps of all shapes and finishes; using incandescent, halogen, fluorescent, light emitting diode (LED), and other light source technologies (not including high-intensity discharge lamps).<\/p>\n

All bulbs that are capable of operating on a voltage up to 300V of either direct current or alternating current with a frequency of 50Hz that emit light with a total luminous flux of 60 to 3300 lumens are included in the standards.<\/p>\n

However, when factoring all the exclusions – including bulbs used in image capture and signalling, among many others – the regulations only relate to standard bulbs used for lighting purposes, referred to as general service lamps (GSL).<\/p>\n

Among the various technical aspects of the regulations, the main change is that all GSLs in the country will have to have a minimum luminous efficiency rate of 90 lumens per watt (lm\/W)<\/strong> in the first phase of the regulations. This then becomes a minimum of 105 lm\/W in the second phase<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Lumens per watt (lm\/W) refers to the energy efficiency of lighting, i.e. how much visible light you get for a given amount of electricity.<\/p>\n

This poses a significant problem for most lightbulbs in the country, which cannot meet these targets.<\/p>\n

According to testing done by MyBroadband<\/a><\/strong>, on average, a typical incandescent bulb in South Africa produces around 12 lumens per watt, compared to 55 lumens for energy-saving compact fluorescents (CFL) and 80 for LED bulbs.<\/p>\n

With the advent of LED technology in lighting, LEDs are currently the only bulb types that have any hope of reaching the 90lm\/W target – incandescents and CFLs don’t come close.<\/p>\n

However, even LEDs are still generally lagging on the future target of 105 lm\/W, with only a three-year gap available for this to be reached.<\/p>\n

The first phase for the new regulations to be implemented is set for 12 months after the final notice is published<\/strong>, lasting a period of two years. The second phase kicks in 36 months after the final notice is published.<\/p>\n

What this means for consumers is that, 12 months from now, bulbs that do not meet the new specification of 90lm\/W should not be available in South Africa<\/strong>. This will last for two years, after which the even stricter specification of 105lm\/W will apply.<\/p>\n

The regulations include some “correction factors”, which give leeway (expressed as a percentage) for different functionalities – however, these cannot exceed 25% of the minimum target.<\/p>\n

The DTIC said that for purposes of the specification, a new standard will become effective 12 months from the date of publication as a South African National Standard.<\/p>\n

New products, or those resubmitted for approval because of a change in design or materials, will, in all cases, be evaluated against the requirements of the latest edition of the standard.<\/p>\n

The full regulations can be viewed below:<\/p>\n