Using the introduction of LEED certification and also the general trend towards green technology and home efficiency, lighting technologies have become an increasingly critical element of “going green”. While these make nice catch phrases, we hope to dive deeper into the subject and offer a solid knowledge base for anyone seeking an improved comprehension of energy efficiency mainly because it is applicable to lighting technology.
incandescent lightIncandescent: This bulb consists of a glass bulb enclosure containing a wire filament. Electric current passes from the filament, which then gets hot and radiates the electricity as visible light. Incandescent is the most typical type of bulb for more than 100 years and it has long held the standard for color rendering and consumers’ expectations of methods LED Lamps should operate, but is slowly being eliminated by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 for its inefficiency. Most incandescent bulbs will probably be from production at the end of 2015. Incandescent lamps also emit an important part of their energy as ultraviolet and infrared radiation, that happen to be invisible to the eye but potentially damaging to precious or light-sensitive objects. Find out more about replacing your incandescent lights and our Warm Glow Dimming products.
halogen lightHalogen: A more advanced method of incandescent, the halogen bulb uses halogen gas plus a tungsten filament to increase light output and efficiency in the incandescent light bulb. They can be known for slightly higher efficiency than typical incandescents, and a brighter, whiter light than is supplied by the original incandescent bulb. Halogen lamps are generally the initial choice for homeowners, because they are better suited for directional aiming of fixtures and supply more focused beam patterns when used in reflector-lamp formats. Halogen lamps are frequently applied to movie sets and also in auto headlights, and they are typically located in spotlights and floodlights. General Electric was the first to patent and then sell this bulb in 1959. The greatest drawback? The exceptionally short lamp life, similar to those of incandescent lamps, makes these costly to maintain, specifically in high or hard-to-reach locations. Discover more about replacing halogen lighting and our Mini Warm Glow Dimming products.
Compact fluorescent: CFLs don’t use a filament to create light; instead they utilize a glass tube coated with phosphors that contains a small amount of argon and mercury vapor and electrodes at one end. When electricity is used, the electrodes generate an invisible ultraviolet light that then excites the fluorescent coating within the tube to produce visible light. Initially the bulb needs a little longer to change on, but once on they prefer about 70% less energy than the LED Candle Lights. The colour quality of compact fluorescent lamps is generally subpar compared with halogen and incandescent, along with the dimming performance is not really as smooth either, rarely getting to the minimum light levels that incandescent and halogen can. However, the lamp life is significantly longer – lasting as much as 10,000 hourrs and more. Read more about replacing compact fluorescent lighting and our Color Curve Dimming products.
Metal halide: Intense discharge technology is definitely an arc lamp technology which was developed in the 1960’s. Inside a glass envelope loaded with argon gas is surely an arc tube made from either quartz or ceramic and features mercury and metal halide salts. The mixture of gas, mercury and halide salts inside the tube generates a powerful bright white light once heated with the electric arc contained inside. Metal halide lamps are extremely efficient, have excellent lamp life (some over 20,000 hours), and are capable of putting out a significant volume of light, so they’re typically used for high ceiling applications where plenty of light is needed, stadium lights, roadway lighting, and parking area and also other exterior lighting applications. The primary drawback of metal halide lamps is related to switching and dimming. Most metal halide lamps cannot switch on while “hot”, which implies in case the power quickly scans the blogosphere, a restrike time period of 15 to twenty or so minutes is necessary to ensure that the lamps to cool off enough to change back on again. Additionally, these are nearly impossible to dim. So although they are fantastic at putting out a lot of light, hopefully that’s what you want – since there is only one setting, and that’s at 100%. Learn more about replacing metal halide lighting and our Max Output 5. products.
annual energy savings of upgrading to Leds graphLED: LEDs, or light-emitting diodes, are a solid state technology who have no filament, glass envelope, gas, or mercury. LEDs produce light through the movement of electrons that is a result of applying a power voltage difference across a semiconductor material. Each semiconductor material produces light of your specific wavelength range, so alone, LEDs are certainly not capable of producing white light. Much like other technologies, white light might be generated having a phosphor coating, as the excitation energy is normally provided by a blue light LED. While they don’t get hot within the traditional sense, LEDs do generate heat, it’s not inside the light path: it comes down out the opposite end, and proper dissipation of the heat through careful thermal management is critical in determining the lifespan of the light source. A hot LED will fail, but a well-designed LED light source may be rated for any 50,000 hr life and longer (in lab conditions some LEDs have already been believed to last over 100,000 hrs). This surpasses the 48dexkpky of the incandescent bulb by hundreds and hundreds of hours. While LED home lighting is still not the most frequent method of residential lighting, LED T5 Tubes are already found in things for many years like cell phones, Christmas lights, traffic lights and televisions. LED home lighting is also popular because LEDs use 90% less power than incandescent lights, are ecologically friendly, have zero UV emissions or mercury, and they are very durable.