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Incandescent Light Bulbs To Be Phased Out Starting Jan. 1

(CBS) -- There's change in the air when it comes to how you light your home. A 5-year old law bans production of old-fashioned energy-wasting light bulbs starting in the New Year. But we found most people are still in the dark about the new law.

Come January, light as we know it will begin to change.

That's when we'll begin a long goodbye to 40 and 60 watt incandescent light bulbs. So we thought we'd shed some light on your alternatives.

You've probably noticed a whole lot more options at the store. While there are still a few 100 watt incandescent on the shelf-- those bulbs went out of production two years ago.

"People were hoarding them in the beginning. We're seeing less of that now," said Mike Slomski of Stauber Hardware.

Customers complained about the cold blue light compact fluorescents - or CFLS' gave off.

"They have a bunch of different types of light spectrums and color temperatures for CFL now that they didn't have back then. But also, they are less expensive. The newer bulbs are more expensive to purchase, but they last longer," said Slomski. "The LEDs bulbs are the most energy efficient. You have a 60 watt bulb equivalent. You're only using 9.8 watts.

"They're more expensive, but they save you money in the long run, so that's nice," said customer John Brown.

One four pack of incandescent goes for $2.99, the halogen version, $8.99, but the halogen could last years. One landlord says for him the savings will definitely add up.

"I'm happy with the progress. I think it'll be good in the long run," said Gary McCoy.

Slomski says he expects customers to adjust just fine, the same way they did more than 100 years ago when Stauber's first started selling light bulbs.

Old dimmers may work, but you're not going to get the full range of light and you will make your bulbs burn out quicker.

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