Choose the Right Lighting For Your Home and Business
In recent years we have been encouraged by government and environmental agencies to save energy, for example by changing the light bulbs in our homes and offices.
Most people do not understand the difference between various types of lighting or the financial effect it has on them.
Basically, lighting can be classified into three categories: Incandescent lamps, discharge lamps and light-emitting diodes.
Incandescent lamps have glowing filaments and are widely known as the old standard light bulbs used in homes and offices.
Discharge lamps work on the basis of glowing gas.
This includes fluorescent lamps and high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps.
Light-emitting diodes are not often used in homes.
The basic rule thus is that incandescent lamps use a glowing filament and discharge lamps use glowing gas.
In order to understand the practical difference between these two types of lighting and what it means to us as consumers, we need to understand a little bit about the efficiency of each type.
Luminous flux is the quantity of light emitted by a lamp and is measured in lumens (lm).
A typical 60W incandescent lamp used in the home emits about 700lm and a 58W tubular fluorescent lamp (discharge lamp) emits about 5000lm.
This example clearly shows that incandescent lamps are less energy efficient than discharge lamps.
The term used to describe lamp efficiency is efficacy.
Lamp efficacy is the ratio between the lamp's output and the power it uses in order to work.
The higher the efficacy, the greater the energy efficiency of the lamp.
A typical 60W incandescent lamp has a low efficacy of about 12lm/W, while a 58W tubular fluorescent lamp has a much higher efficacy of 60-100lm/W.
In other words, an incandescent lamp uses more power to supply a certain amount of light than a discharge lamp uses to supply the same amount of light.
We can thus keep our electricity bills lower, by using more efficient lighting in our homes and businesses.
This not only saves us money, but also saves energy which will leave less of an impact on the limited global energy resources.
Most people do not understand the difference between various types of lighting or the financial effect it has on them.
Basically, lighting can be classified into three categories: Incandescent lamps, discharge lamps and light-emitting diodes.
Incandescent lamps have glowing filaments and are widely known as the old standard light bulbs used in homes and offices.
Discharge lamps work on the basis of glowing gas.
This includes fluorescent lamps and high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps.
Light-emitting diodes are not often used in homes.
The basic rule thus is that incandescent lamps use a glowing filament and discharge lamps use glowing gas.
In order to understand the practical difference between these two types of lighting and what it means to us as consumers, we need to understand a little bit about the efficiency of each type.
Luminous flux is the quantity of light emitted by a lamp and is measured in lumens (lm).
A typical 60W incandescent lamp used in the home emits about 700lm and a 58W tubular fluorescent lamp (discharge lamp) emits about 5000lm.
This example clearly shows that incandescent lamps are less energy efficient than discharge lamps.
The term used to describe lamp efficiency is efficacy.
Lamp efficacy is the ratio between the lamp's output and the power it uses in order to work.
The higher the efficacy, the greater the energy efficiency of the lamp.
A typical 60W incandescent lamp has a low efficacy of about 12lm/W, while a 58W tubular fluorescent lamp has a much higher efficacy of 60-100lm/W.
In other words, an incandescent lamp uses more power to supply a certain amount of light than a discharge lamp uses to supply the same amount of light.
We can thus keep our electricity bills lower, by using more efficient lighting in our homes and businesses.
This not only saves us money, but also saves energy which will leave less of an impact on the limited global energy resources.