The main downside with traditional light bulbs is that they use only 10 percent of their energy to produce light, burning off the rest as heat. They've wasted 90 percent of the electricity people have been feeding them for the past 130 years — electricity that was mainly generated from coal and other fossil fuels. Congress put its foot down with the 2007 energy bill, introducing tougher efficiency rules that are expected to crush the market for incandescent bulbs beginning in 2012. Within a few years, the ever-cheaper CFL may dominate the Lighting market.
 
But don't count out Thomas Edison's original bright idea just yet. Despite the U.S. Department of Energy and EPA pushing CFLs, many people are still turned off by the light they emit, which is slightly bluer and more flickery than incandescents' warm, steady glow. To meet this lingering demand as well as the upcoming federal efficiency standards, several companies are scrambling to roll out a wave of next-generation incandescents. These bulbs keep their familiar shine and radiate less heat by reflecting some of the filament's light back inward. They're still more expensive than CFLs, but the price of such technology usually drops if it's successful.