Understanding Energy Saving Bulb

By: Ryan Narendra

Light is a hallmark of civilization. Whether produced by a sputtering candle or a spotlight before a crowd, we rarely find ourselves apart from it. As our means of generating light has become something we strive to conserve, light use is something about which we've become more conscious. While strategies such as turning off unused lights are good habits to adopt, much electricity can be saved by using energy saving bulb.

Traditional light bulbs generate light by sending current through wires in a gas-filled glass container. As these electrons travel, they gain energy by interacting with the gas and other electrons. When the gained energy is lost, it radiates light.

While this design is simple, and revolutionized the world upon its invention, it leaves much room for improvement. Only 10% of the energy produced by traditional light bulbs is in the form of visible light, and much of the rest is heat. Not only does this waste vast amounts of energy that aren't being used for their intended purposes, but the generated heat results in higher air conditioning costs in situations where heat isn't desired. Various technological developments address these concerns.

The most common energy saving bulb is fluorescent or LED lights. Fluorescent bulbs generate light via complex reactions that excite gas molecules and release light. The resulting light is four to six times more efficient than is typical from standard bulbs. Fluorescent bulbs also last as much as ten times longer than do their more traditional counterparts, and are becoming less expensive with each passing year.

LED lights use a somewhat different mechanism. Rather than sending electrons through filaments or delicate tubes, which break or burn out, light is generated by sending electrons through a semiconductor. The resulting bulb not only lasts much longer than longer-lasting fluorescent tubes, but generates substantially less heat and more useful visible light. While LED lights are still rather expensive, their prices are falling rapidly as well, and they may soon even edge out fluorescents as the best energy-saving option.

Using either of these technologies can drastically reduce electrical costs and generated heat. An even better option, however, is to minimize your need for artificial lighting. Opening blinds, installing skylights and appropriate placement of windows are all great ways to eliminate your need for bulbs completely, energy saving or otherwise. It is also possible to pipe sunlight via fibre optics, thus gaining the advantages of natural light in situations where it might have otherwise been impossible to have.

The ubiquitous nature of artificial light makes it one of the best places to begin optimizing our use of electricity. While the basic light bulb has been a simple and functional technology, its inefficiencies combined with its prevalence are placing an increasingly heavy burden on our power grid. By selecting better bulbs, we can each do our part to lessen this weight. Furthermore, by optimizing our available natural light, we can lessen our dependence on natural light even more.

I suggest you check out my other guide on solar energy facts and home energy conservation

Energy Saving Bulb

energy saving light bulb

Understanding Energy Saving Bulb

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