You may have seen in the news recently that there are only a couple more weeks before standard 60-watt light bulbs are pulled out of production, and will no longer be on sale to the public from electrical wholesalers. The reason behind this is the European Union’s initiative to reduce our carbon footprint, as they want to push homeowners towards using energy saving light bulbs to help us reduce our electricity bills and therefore the amount of carbon emissions emitted.
As a result of this, demand for energy saving light bulbs is surging now after the 1st September (when 60-watt light bulbs cease production) as electrical consumers look to the best or cheapest alternative. However this cheap alternative just got a bit more expensive and we wanted to uncover the reasons behind this price increase.
In a recent Daily Mail news article, Sparks Direct were on hand to show how the price charged by one of our suppliers for an 11-watt CFL had risen from £1.39 in June to £1.67 today, an increase of 20 per cent. So what are the reasons behind such a sharp increase in a short amount of time?
Manufacturers making the most of high demand – It would seem that the impending high demand for these energy saving alternatives has given suppliers the authority to increase their price and exploit a market opportunity as they look to make as big a profit as possible.
Increase in the price of raw materials – Suppliers have stated that the reason behind this increase is the fact that the cost of raw materials is increasing and therefore they have had to follow suit in order to remain competitive. It has been claimed that demand for substances contained in energy saving light bulbs have increased, which has forced prices to increase. On top of that, the Chinese government has raised prices of phosphorus to protect its domestic supply. China is the one of the biggest suppliers of raw materials for light bulbs, and as a result they have also predicted that further increases in price are to follow in the coming months.
Marketed as the equivalent of traditional 60-watt light bulbs – This appears to be more of a marketing ploy, but many wholesalers are claiming 11-watt CFL bulbs produce the same illumination as a standard 60-watt light bulb, yet they carry all the energy saving incentives. Independent research has suggested that this is not the case and that they produce less than 60 per cent of the illumination produced by standard 60-watt light bulbs.
Green Incentives – There are so many green incentives that come with energy efficient light bulbs that suppliers can use this as a way of justifying any price increase. As previously mentioned, these include cutting carbon emissions which ministers claim will save 5m tons of carbon a year when the change comes in to force. On top of that it can greatly reduce electricity bills.
What are your thoughts on this news and will this price increase affect you or your business in any way? We would love to hear from you.