IKEA says it wants to be the first U.S. home furnishing retailer to sell only LED bulbs and lamps. So it aims to do that by 2016.
The retailer also says it will be selling LED bulbs at the lowest price on the market. Additionally, IKEA will be changing more than one million light sources inside its stores to LED and other more efficient lighting types.
IKEA says it is making this move because "everyone should be able to afford to live more sustainably at home. We will make sure our LED prices are the lowest on the market,” explains IKEA Group Chief Sustainability Officer Steve Howard.
And if you like LEDs, it pays to be an IKEA employee. "We are committed to enabling our coworkers and customers to live a more sustainable life at home. IKEA supports this to such a degree that we recently gave LED lights to every one of the 130,000 IKEA coworkers across the globe,” comments Mike Ward, IKEA U.S. President.
The retailer says it recently commissioned a survey showing that Americans are starting to take steps to keep their homes more sustainable by using LED bulbs, but are still learning about their benefits. The survey further found that slightly less than one-half of Americans (43%) have at least one LED bulb in their house and only one-third (34%) of Americans say LED lights provide similar lighting quality to incandescent bulbs. Nearly half of Americans (44%) feel they would save up to 30% on their electric bill by using LED bulbs.
The survey also found that more than one-fifth of Americans (22%) are currently using between 11 and 20 incandescent bulbs in their homes, nearly 30% are only using between 1 and 5 incandescent bulbs. And 28% of Americans between 18 and 29 are not sure of the cost of LED bulbs.
More info: www.IKEA-usa.com
