One of the greatest inventions that we use everyday in our lives, and cannot imagine life without it is the light bulb. Thomas Alva Edison invented the light bulb in the year 1879. With the advancement in technology, today we have different types of light bulbs such as Incandescent, Halogen, Fluorescent, Compact Fluorescent Lamps, High-Intensity Discharge Lamps, Low-Pressure Sodium Lamps, LED (Light Emitting Diodes). The most common light bulbs that are generally used for household purposes are compact fluorescent and incandescent light bulbs. Incandescent lighting is very well studied since it has an extensive history.
There is no question as to its reliability, as its existence has spanned nearly two decades. Humphry Davy is credited with inventing the first electric light, which ran off an electric battery. Early incandescent bulbs focused on finding a material for the filament that burned long enough, while providing efficient lighting as well. Thomas Edison eventually invented a light that could last for 1,500 hours, which was continually improved throughout the 20th century. Incandescent lighting is the most common form of lighting. It is also the oldest type of lighting, having maintained its popularity for nearly two centuries.
Although there are numerous issues with incandescent lighting, such as giving close to 95 percent of its energy to the production of heat rather than lighting. It still has many advantages that can be useful for people. Incandescent lightings are extremely common. The bulbs are readily available and easily replaceable in most areas that might not even use more modern types of lighting. Some incandescent lights last up to 4,000 hours and are used both indoors and outdoors. Unlike some other light bulbs, Incandescent bulbs light up instantly when turned on and work very efficiently.
Incandescent light bulbs provide a warm, inviting light by offering an excellent color rendition. This type of lighting can easily be dimmed to the level of you choice, which is a feature that many homeowners use to add elegance to their rooms. They are also available in the majority of colors in the visible spectrum. Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) are a more efficient alternative to traditional incandescent light bulbs. They use gases, such as mercury, to send electricity and produce light instead of the filaments used in incandescent bulbs.
Compact fluorescent light bulbs use up to 80 percent less energy and can last up to 10 times longer; the electronic ballasts have a longer life than any filament available in an incandescent light bulb. CFLs can produce the same amount of light with one fifth of the wattage used by incandescent bulbs. Your electricity bill will be comparatively less, since CFLs use less energy. Each compact fluorescent bulb that replaces an incandescent bulb can save $30 to $45 over its lifetime, which more than pays for the up-front costs of CFLs. Newer CFLs produce a more natural lighting than older CFLs and incandescent bulbs.
Full-spectrum compact fluorescent bulbs produce light that is similar to that of natural sunlight. Incandescent bulbs are inefficient; up to 95 percent of the energy used produces heat, not light. CFLs produce little to no heat, making them not only more efficient, but also safer to handle. Normally people prefer to have bright lighting, with less light bulkiness of extra light bulbs in their houses, so they choose to use compact fluorescent light bulbs. When choosing what kind of light bubs to use for your house, it is very important that we consider the pros and cons of compact florescent and incandescent light bulbs.
It will be wise to use incandescent light bulbs if you’re going to be away from your house for a while, since there will be less use of light, why pay more for CFLs. Although the operating cost of incandescent bulbs has been shown to be more expensive over a long period of time compared to compact fluorescent light bulbs, incandescent light bulbs have a much cheaper initial cost. These bulbs are readily available with different wattages and can be purchased for very low prices. Whereas compact fluorescent light bulbs use up to 80 percent less energy and can last up to 10 times longer.
