Types Of Lamps: From The First Bulb To Modern Diodes

Posted on June 30, 2009
Filed Under Illuminating Experiences, Lighting Tips, Wall Lamps

Just like a diamond needs a decent setting, so does your home need a well-organized lighting. The first rule of the lighting design says that there should be two types of lighting: the main and the accentuating. Main lighting is created by powerful lamps that give us a diffused light. Accentuating lighting is made with a variety of lamps that help to create a certain design and emphasizes the special appeal of each room.

Nowadays we use three types of lamps: electric incandescent lamps, or bulbs, halogen lamps and fluorescent lamps.

Bulbs were the first electric lamps that still serve our needs. Their light is considered to be optimal for our eyes, but they have one huge disadvantage: only 5% of the energy is used on producing light, the other 95 % are turned into heat.

Types Of Lamps: From The First Bulb To Modern Diodes

Later halogen lamps appeared that turn almost the whole energy into light. Moreover they are good at saving energy: an 11 Watt halogen lamp provides the same lighting a 50-60 Watt bulb does. But they have their drawbacks, too: they flicker, buzz and wear out our eyes and mind quickly. Though today engineers have managed to remove these drawbacks, and you can find a great variety of lights with halogen lamps – like halogen bath wall lamps by Illuminating Experiences.

Fluorescent lamps are also popular because the beam of light can be directed on certain working places. Their merit is that they possess great capacity but use the minimum of electricity. But fluorescent lamps need a transformer, which makes the price for such lighting quite high. On the other hand – a fluorescent lamp serve twice longer than a halogen lamp, which makes the price quite reasonable.

The market is being conquered by lamps with diodes recently. They don’t heat up, and require a low voltage. They can work without pauses during 90 000 hours, which allows to embed them in walls or use them for the outdoor lighting. In the picture you can see Floor diode lamps at the Arab World Institute in Paris.They are also very solid and can’t be broken even if you step on them. But their function is decorative only because of the comparatively small capacity.