Efforts to improve efficiency
Due to the measures noted above, there have been recent efforts to improve the efficiency of incandescents. For example the consumer lighting division of General Electric announced that they are working on a “high efficiency incandescent” (HEI) lamp, which they claim could ultimately be as much as four times more efficient than current incandescents, although their initial production goal is to be approximately two times more efficient.
U.S. Department of Energy research at Sandia National Laboratories initially indicated the potential for dramatically improved efficiency from a photonic lattice filament. However, later work indicated that initially promising results were in error.
Prompted by U.S. legislation mandating increased bulb efficiency by 2012, new “hybrid” incandescent bulbs have been introduced by Philips. The “Halogena Energy Saver” incandescent is 30 percent more efficient than traditional designs, using a special chamber to reflect formerly-wasted heat back to the filament to provide additional lighting power.