Here was a campaign a few years ago to go a lower wattage bulb to save energy. Then the campaign was to turn off the lights (duh) to save energy. Now the idea is to replace all of your incandescent bulbs with longer burning, more efficient bulbs to save money and the world. Here is a guide to help you understand what you are replacing, what with and why.
Incandescent bulbs were the standard and what everyone was thinking about when you said light bulb 20 years ago. These aren’t Satan, but they aren’t all that great either. The power they consume is mostly wasted as they are not very energy efficient. In fact they are horribly inefficient.
Fluorescent bulbs aren’t bulbs at all, but rather long tubes. Besides fighting against the dark Jedi, these things are used to light industrial and commercial buildings. They are marginally more efficient than incandescent bulbs by today’s standards and do require quite a bit of upkeep.
Halogen bulbs are some of the most expensive bulbs per capita as far as “conventional lighting” goes. They do burn very hot though and are often used to keep things warm when needed. They burn a lot of energy as well. In other words, these are an electrical “hog.”
Low pressure sodium lamps are a great alternative to fluorescent lighting for a couple of different reasons. The yellow light doesn’t make one look like they have never seen the sun, they are energy efficient and long lasting. It’s the last two reasons as to why you are seeing them replace the older industrial style lights.
LED lights (light emitting diode) are another common replacement for incandescent bulbs. These are very high efficiency and will save you no end of money as a result. These lights are so low energy/ high efficiency that there are many hand cranked units available for camping and the like. When you consider that while stopping what you are doing and cranking a handle every so often can be a little bit of a hassle, it’s better than paying for (or dumping) hundreds of thousands, no MILLIONS, of batteries a year.
Compact fluorescent lamps are the swirly twirly lights we are seeing pop up (and on) all the time. These are more or less smaller versions of the old school fluorescent bulbs with a couple of notable differences. The first difference is the size of them and the second is that ballasts are not needed. They simply just screw right into the socket. How convenient is that?
Replacing you bulbs with newer, more efficient bulbs is a smart move because it will save you money and help out with your bill and at the end of it all is much better for the environment. Soon you will not have the choice as incandescent bulbs’ days are numbered and the larger fluorescent bulbs are all but disappearing as well. Eventually though we will all be using bulbs that cost a bit more right off the bat, but save us much more in the end.
Zeeman Haus enjoys writing articles online on a variety of subjects. You can check out his latest website on Full Spectrum Floor Lamp which provides Full Spectrum Floor Lamp Reviews on Grandrich, Verilux, Ace Trading, BlueMax and More.
