Incandescent Lightbulbs vs Fluorescent Lightbulbs

Traditional incandescent lightbulbs use only 10 percent of the energy they consume to actually illuminate. The entire remaining 90 percent merely generates heat. Fluorescent lighting is far more efficient. The bulbs last much longer and consume very little energy to yield the same amount of light.

The Working of Incandescent Lightbulbs

Incandescent lightbulbs are made of glass and hold a thin tungsten filament inside. You can often find them in several popular sizes: 25-watt, 60-watt, 75-watt and 100-watt. But you may also find up to 1000-watt bulbs.

This is how incandescent lightbulbs work. Current passes through the tungsten filament, and the filament, because of its thinness, resists the current and turns the electrical energy into heat. The heat, though negligible, is adequate to make the filament white-hot. The white part is the source of light.

The Working of Fluorescent Lightbulbs

The methodology of a fluorescent bulb to produce light is entirely different. Electrodes at the ends of a fluorescent tube are filled with argon gas and mercury vapor. A series of electrons passes through the argon gas from one electrode to the next. These electrons trigger and agitate the mercury atoms.

As the mercury atoms lapse from an agitated state to the original stupor state, they emit ultraviolet photons. In turn these photons kick the phospor coating within the fluorescent tube and create the light.

Study in Comparison

Remember, incandescent lightbulbs use 10 percent energy to produce light and waste the remaining 90 percent on heat. Fluorescent bulbs, on the other hand, produce very little heat and consume the energy only to illumine.

Reports have claimed that fluorescent bulbs are nearly six times more efficient than the standard incandescent lightbulbs. As a matter of fact, you can confidently purchase a 15-watt fluorescent bulb in place of of a 60-watt incandescent bulb to obtain the same amount of light.

Certainly fluorescent bulbs require not more than 25 percent of the energy an incandescent lightbulb would. As the fluorescent lightbulbs do not generate the heat of incandescents, they are considered more environment-friendly.

Compact Fluorescent Light

The latest in the fluorescent technology is the introduction of compact fluorescent light (CFL). Unlike the earlier fluorescent tube, you can screw a CFL directly into fixtures in the wall or ceilings. Compact fluorescents are costlier than the incandescent lights, but the lifespan of CFLs is about 10 times the life of incandescents, and they consume 75 percent less energy.

Conclusion

The U.S. Department of Energy has stated that if every American home replaced just one lightbulb with a CFL, those homes would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year. This says it all to justify the transition from incandescent lightbulbs to fluorescent lighting.