Prospects Dim for Hot, Costly Halogens

By Evan Ramstad

Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal, March 10, 1997

Halogen floor lamps, already under attack for their role in dozens of residential fires, may be facing an even greater threat from the energy police.

Concerned about climbing electric bills, universities and even some businesses have begun to ban the lamps or look for less power-hungry alternatives.

Stanford University recently said it will buy 500 low-energy alternative lamps for students to test beginning in April. The university hopes to offer the new lamps -- either for free or at a discount -- to all 6,000 students in September, when it plans to prohibit halogen floor lamps, also known as torchieres, in residence halls.

"Our goal is not to take anything away from students. It's to give them something better," says David Frost, energy manager for the university's student housing. The new lamps, from Emess Lighting, a U.S. unit of London-based Emess PLC, will cost $70 each, a sum the school estimates it will recover through lower energy bills in about 15 months.

Halogen lamps have become hugely popular because they're inexpensive -- often as little as $15 each -- and produce very bright light. Alternatives expected out soon will use much less power and generate less heat, but are likely to cost four to five times more, putting off many consumers, especially young ones. Still, lamp sellers say improved safety and lower total cost over time may ultimately persuade more people to switch to other lamps.

"We're already redesigning some incandescent models" to meet renewed demand for the nonhalogen lamps, says Dennis Swanson, chief executive officer of Lamps Plus, a 38-store specialty lighting chain based in Los Angeles.

The halogen lights began to gain popularity in the early 1990s, spurred by inexpensive imports from China. While bright, they also give off tremendous heat. A 300-watt bulb very quickly exceeds 900 degrees Fahrenheit, capable of frying an egg in three minutes. In contrast, 150-watt incandescent bulbs reach about 350 degrees while fluorescent bulbs typically heat up to less than 100 degrees.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission attributes more than 100 fires and 10 fire-related deaths to halogen lamps since 1992. In recent weeks, the lamps were responsible for the blaze at the New York apartment of jazz star Lionel Hampton and an apartment fire in suburban Seattle that injured two. To cut the danger, lamps made after Feb. 6, 1997, must pass a stricter test to meet safety certification by Underwriters Laboratories. Manufacturers have responded by adding emergency cutoff switches and metal grates to the tops of the lamps to meet the tougher standard.

The lamps' thirst for power is a more difficult problem. Frederick Abernathy, a Harvard University engineering professor, saw electric consumption rise at residence halls a few years ago, despite previous energy-saving efforts. Through tests at home, he ruled out toasters, hair dryers, stereos and computers as the source of the rising bills. Then, walking through campus one evening, he noticed the glow on the ceilings in dozens of rooms.

"Students leave halogen lamps on all the time, 300 watts running for hours and hours," Dr. Abernathy said. Harvard still permits the lamps, but is waiting to evaluate low-energy prototypes from Energy Federation Inc., a Natick, Mass., manufacturer that is one of at least three companies trying to build alternatives.

EFI's low-energy lamp is based on a design by Linsey Marr, whose senior engineering project at Harvard last year confirmed Dr. Abernathy's suspicions about halogen lamps in residence halls. She found nearly one halogen torchiere lamp per student among Harvard's second-, third- and fourth-year students. Average use was 39 hours per week. In many rooms, it consumed more electricity than the refrigerators.

"Students tend not to realize the energy the lamps use because they don't pay the electricity bill," says Ms. Marr, now in graduate studies at the University of California.

At Colby College in Maine, a physics class survey conducted in January found halogen lamps in 81% of its dorm rooms. With an average daily use of 7.2 hours, students calculated the school is paying $40,000 per year to run the lights. The college's safety committee this spring will consider whether to prohibit the lights.

Energy conservationists estimate the power consumed by the 40 million halogen floor lamps in U.S. households now exceeds the savings that heavily promoted compact fluorescent bulbs have achieved this decade as a substitute for incandescent bulbs.v But there's some dispute over that: Robert Hersh, chief executive officer of Catalina Lighting Inc., a Miami-based firm that is one of the nation's largest halogen lamp makers, says halogen lamps save energy because they are used in place of two or three incandescent lamps. Others say people are more likely to place the halogen lamp in one corner of a room while table lamps are used elsewhere. "It's not like a central ceiling fixture," said Brad Steele, EFI's president.

Using advances in the electronic controls of fluorescent bulbs, the halogen lamp alternatives under development consume just 60 to 70 watts of power, yet are as bright and warm in color as halogen bulbs. Improved microchip-driven ballasts also eliminate flicker and hum and permit some adjustment of the light level. A full range of dimming is possible but more costly, according to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, in Berkeley, Calif., where many lighting innovations are tested.

With such alternatives costing about $60 to $70 each, energy experts fear the buyers will ignore the new lamps, even though manufacturers say they will pay for themselves in short order. In addition to using less power, fluorescent-based bulbs last longer, 10,000 to 12,000 hours, or about eight years at four hours a day, compared with 2,000 hours for halogen bulbs.

To encourage their use, the U.S. Department of Energy will soon extend to lighting fixtures its Energy Star marketing program, in which appliances that meet conservation guidelines carry a special logo. The low-energy alternatives may be among the first to qualify, a spokeswoman said.

Even so, some proponents worry consumers won't see the advantage. "It seems to be part of the American psyche to measure product benefits only in positive returns," said Chris Calwell, an energy consultant based in Durango, Colo. "It's harder for people to understand the absence of a negative, like charges not being on an energy bill."

--- Corrections & Amplifications
THE GOVERNMENT'S Energy Star marketing program, in which appliances that meet conservation guidelines carry a special logo, is run by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy. An article yesterday on halogen lamps omitted the EPA's role.

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