Incandescent light bulbs are tough to find in stores

Homeowners looking for the traditional glow from incandescent light bulbs are having a tough time finding them on store shelves in New Brunswick.

Incandescent light bulbs were banned on Jan. 1. Now, stores and consumers are beginning to notice their disappearance.

Instead, compact fluorescent lights (CFL)and light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs are now front and centreon most store shelves.

"There's definitely less variety, we have some basic economy bulbs, then the speciality incandescent bulbs then it goes to CFL or LED," said Rich Couch a Moncton store employee.

While 40, 60, 75 and 100-watt standard incandescentlight bulbs are now being taken out of circulation. There are still some exceptions the federal government is making.

"Ceiling fan bulbs, appliance bulbs, things like that. Small wattage bulbs. a night light would be applicable," said Couch.

"There are various different types of bulbs outside of the standard incandescent bulb."

But the environmentally friendly bulbs come at a price. The cost of switching to CFLs or LEDs can be double or triple the cost.

There are still some incandescent bulbsleft, butit's turning into an Easter egg hunt for many.

"As long as it was manufactured prior to the cut-off date, they're able to be sold," he said.

"So in theory, the 75- to100-watt bulbs that were discontinued a year ago,you can still find them on the shelf if there are some left."