Energy Saving Lamps: Satisfactory Light With Reduced Usage Of Electricity

Nations and governments have come to understand that energy conservation must become a way of life on the planet. New policies and regulations improve the efficient use of available resources. You may not think that a single conservation activity, such as the use of energy saving lamps will be of much help, but if fifty million people save the same little bit of resource usage, it will have a significant impact on the global resources. Lower energy usage on your electric lamps will give you lower utility bills, as well.

Incandescent Lamp

A standard light bulb emits both heat and light, and that is where the excess energy is consumed and wasted. An incandescent bulb gets its heat from the blowing metal filament inside a clear or frosted light globe. The temperatures of white hot metal (the filament) can reach as high as 4500 degrees F. A standard electric lamp transforms only ten percent of the used energy into light. The other ninety percent is transformed into heat.

Low Energy Fluorescent Lamps

A fluorescent bulb saves energy because is constructed in an entirely different way than an incandescent lamp. No heat is produced and wasted with a fluorescent bulb. The energy -saving fluorescent lamp has three main parts: the base that attaches the power supply, the electronic circuit that includes a small transformer, and the glass bulb containing a small amount of mercury.

The power supply from the base causes the electrodes to send a moving stream of electrons into the mercury of the tubes. The excited atoms of mercury emit ultraviolet light that in turn excites the atoms of the phosphor. They give off protons which are in the visible range and are seen as white light.

Fluorescent lights last about ten times as long as an incandescent light and use only about twenty percent of the energy, since it is not released as heat. That's a real impact on a pocketbook. Savings from the use of a single fluorescent lamp can be as much as a ton of carbon dioxide over the lifetime of the lamp. That is a real action item to reduce global warming.

Other Energy-Conscious Bulbs

Another developing technology is the production of light-emitting diodes (LED) as a source of light. LED's are similar to standard incandescent lamps, except they use the electrical current directly instead of through a filament. LED's are more expensive to produce, but last much longer than standard bulbs. Lifetime hours have been estimated as high as 100,000 hours of use. With no loss of energy due to heat, the lights are inexpensive to operate.

Utilization of Electric Lamps

Electric lights are used for decoration, as in Christmas lights. They are used to advertise products and businesses on storefronts and billboard signs. They are used to make homes bright and attractive. With lower energy consumption, homeowners and businesses can maintain the existing uses while at the same time reducing their operating costs through more efficient bulbs.

Even if you don't subscribe to the whole concept of global warming, it just makes good sense to purchase and use energy saving lamps to light your home. You won't need to replace bulbs as often and the cost to operate the lights will show you savings on your energy bill.

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