When it comes to purchasing lightbulbs, it’s all about the money, according to new surveys from sustainability management company Ecova. Price and longevity are consumers’ main considerations. In addition, annual energy savings is becoming increasingly important, ranking third for most applications.

After financial considerations, the top drivers for consumers’ purchasing decisions are: the color of the light given off by the bulb and the type of lightbulb, whether incandescent, CFL, LED, etc.

Ecova’s findings derive from a study of more than two thousand customers across three utilities that identified consumer preferences when purchasing lightbulbs for residential use. The buying landscape is changing, however, as new federal lighting standards come into effect. The new standards, which phase in from 2012-2014, require that bulbs use about 25 percent less energy. General purpose CFLs will still provide significant savings opportunities for a large portion of household lighting applications, and CFLs will continue to dominate the market in the near-term. Consumers may be lured by high efficiency LED and 2X halogen lightbulbs, which are hitting the market. However, consumers still want characteristics of incandescent lightbulbs, such as being compatible with dimmers and motion detectors.