Traditional Light Bulbs vs. Energy Efficient Light Bulbs

Traditional and Energy-Efficient Light Bulbs:

Traditional light bulbs and energy-efficient light bulbs are the subjects of analogy and contrast. The issue has been selected because most households use 5 percent of their energy expenditure for lighting and it is possible to reduce costs by using the most powerful light bulb. The paper focuses on illustrating the idea of electrical lighting, light bulbs, and parallels and disparities between conventional and energy-efficient light bulbs. Both traditional and energy-efficient bulbs are light bulbs that use the basic electric principles to produce light.

Components of a Light Bulb:

A light bulb refers to an electric device that produces light. It is made up of a filament contained in a rounded glass container. The filament gives out the light when the terminal end of the bulb is connected to a source of electric current. The production of light occurs when an electric current passes through the filament.

Types of Light Bulbs:

The two main types of light bulbs include the traditional light bulb and the energy-efficient light bulb (American Lighting Association, 2015). The best way of cutting energy bills is by using energy-efficient lighting. The quality of light produced by a bulb is determined by the wattage, lumens, efficacy, and foot candles. Energy-efficient bulbs are ideal for lighting unlike the traditional bulb since they register better wattage, lumens, efficacy, and footcandles as compared to the old bulbs. Wattage is the quantity of electricity consumed by a source of light. Efficacy refers to power per watt. Footcandles are the amount of light that reaches a subject. Lumen is the amount of light produced by a source of light (Palmer & Walls, 2015).

Technologies Behind Energy-Efficient Bulbs:

Energy-efficient bulbs are developed based on the following three main technologies: light-emitting diode (LED), Halogen, and energy-saving (CFL). Energy-efficient bulbs have a better lifespan and energy-saving abilities as compared to the traditional incandescent bulbs. Incandescent bulbs are considered to be inefficient since they convert less than 5% of energy to light. Most of the energy is converted to heat. The bulbs have a low luminous efficacy of 16 lumens per watt. LED bulbs are the most effective energy-efficient bulbs due to the following desirable characteristics: bright light, a lifespan of 25 years, and 90% energy-saving ability (Held, 2016). Unlike traditional bulbs that produce more heat and less light, LED bulbs produce more light and less heat.

References

American Lighting Association. (2015). Types of light sources and light bulbs. Retrieved from https://www.americanlightingassoc.com/Lighting-Fundamentals/Light-Sources-Light-Bulbs.aspx

Held, G. (2016). Introduction to light emitting diode technology and applications. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

Palmer, K., & Walls, M. (2015). Limited attention and the residential energy efficiency gap. The American Economic Review, 105(5), 192-195.