First U.S. Retailer to Phase Out the Bulb Starting August 1st, 2010, IKEA will start phasing out incandescent bulbs (which are a lot more effective at producing heat than light) from its U.S. stores, with the goal of having completely eliminated the bulb by January 1st, 2011. But IKEA isn't only doing this out of concern for the environment: "The IKEA phase out will come in advance of the federal legislation that will begin to phase out incandescent light bulbs in 2012."