FTC’s label
"Shopping for lighting shouldn't be an overwhelming experience," says Sylvia Hart, shopping transformation program manager at GE Lighting. "The Lighting Facts label takes something consumers have been using for years, the nutrition label, and applies a similar concept to lighting. Consumers used to have to scan packages to find information about energy, lifespan or brightness. Now they can quickly identify those attributes using an apples-to-apples comparison chart that shows the same features in the same way on every bulb, no matter what the technology or the manufacturer."
DOE label
The DOE added these two new optional metrics to the label earlier this month. All metrics reported on the DOE Lighting Facts label are results of third party testing according to LM-79 guidelines from the IES and are verified by the DOE before the label can be used.
The DOE has stated that its label is not in conflict with the new FTC Lighting Facts label, and will still be used widely by lighting professionals, utilities and retail buyers.
Color-coded GE packaging
In a recent press release, GE Lighting stated that in addition to using the new FTC label on its retail lamp products, the company is color-coding products (Fig. 4) to indicate relative light output to consumers regardless of the lighting technology used.
The company is using yellow to indicate strong, vibrant light that is practical for home cooking, cleaning and grooming (2000 lm or more, similar to a 150W-equivalent incandescent bulb). Green represents fresh, energizing light good for focused tasks such as reading and studying (1050-1999 lm, 100W or 75W equivalent). Blue corresponds with comfortable light for entertaining (600-1,040 lm or 60W equivalent), orange corresponds with a relaxing light (400-599 lm, 40W-equivalent), and purple is geared toward night-time applications (<400 lm, 25W-equivalent).