How Long Will Your Mercury/Metal Halide Bulb Stock Last?
Estimate your supply risk and understand how exposed your facility may be to future bulb shortages.
As the 2027 mercury phase-out approaches, many labs and facilities are asking a simple but important question: how long will our current supply of mercury or metal halide bulbs actually last? This calculator provides a quick, practical estimate based on your existing stock and typical usage. It helps you understand whether you have time to plan calmly, whether you should start preparing now, or whether your operation may already be exposed to supply disruption.
The results are not about legality or compliance, but about continuity, reliability, and future-proofing your illumination systems in a world where replacement mercury bulbs will become increasingly difficult and expensive to source.
How long will your current mercury bulb stock last?
A simple estimate to understand your supply risk based on your current usage.
This doesn’t change the maths — it helps frame the result.
Estimated remaining stock
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Disclaimer: This is a simple estimate based on the numbers you enter. It does not account for
unexpected failures, changes in usage, or supply-chain variability.
How this calculator works
This calculator does not estimate the technical lifetime of a mercury or metal halide bulb, and it does not use manufacturer “rated lifespan” data. In real laboratory and industrial environments, bulb life varies widely depending on usage patterns, switching frequency, power supply condition, and operating environment, so any generic lifespan figure would be unreliable.
Instead, this tool measures stock depletion. It uses only the information you provide:
How many bulbs you currently have
How many bulbs you typically use in a year
Any additional bulbs already on order
From this, it estimates how long your existing supply may last if your usage continues at the same rate. The result reflects supply risk, not bulb performance.
Think of it as a planning tool rather than a technical specification. It helps you understand how exposed your facility may be to future availability and cost changes, based on your own historical consumption, rather than on theoretical bulb lifetimes.
