Which Type of Light Bulbs Should I Buy?
With various bulb types in the lighting industry, it may be hectic to find your desire. However, if you follow the right qualify-and-disqualify criteria, you can easily find a bulb that meets your needs.
What are these criteria? From the criteria, which is the best type of bulbs you should invest in? The simple answer is, you should buy LED types of bulbs if your budget allows.
To understand why LED bulbs are the best light bulbs, you should find out the pros and cons of the 5 types of bulbs available in the market. The 5 types of light bulbs are incandescent, fluorescent, CFL, LED, and halogen bulbs.
Here are the features, benefits as well as drawbacks of the bulbs.
Incandescent Bulbs
Incandescent bulbs form the kernel of the traditional lighting system. You may want to buy them because of their affordability.
They give you options in terms of sizes. In terms of size, they come with types of GLS, globe as well as mushroom. Additionally, incandescent bulbs support power ranging from 40 and 150 watts.
They have 2 major drawbacks. First, they are prone to overheating. The ability to heat faster makes them not economical to own if you want to save energy.
Second, they have a short lifespan. Mostly, they are useless after 1 or 2 years of application.
Fluorescent Bulbs
They have a longer lifespan than incandescent bulbs. They produce less heat than incandescent ones. They emit a bluish light, sometimes with a little buzz.
On the disadvantages, they are difficult to dispose of. This is because their byproducts are dangerous to the environment. The mercury components in them can harm you or other living organisms when exposed anyhow in the environment.
CFLs
The weaknesses of fluorescent bulbs led to the introduction of compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) to save the environment. On average, they consume 75% less energy than incandescent bulbs.
They can last 7 to 9 years under regular usage. They give you brightness efficiency since some of them are dimmable.
On cons, they have little traces of mercury in their chemical composition. What does this imply? You need to handle them with care because the chemical components can hurt your life as well as those of other living things.
LEDs
Light Emitting Diode (LED) bulbs are the most used and preferred bulbs in the 21st century. They possess an ocean of benefits, that no one should do without.
Being the most improved among the 5 types of bulbs, they merge perfectly with a smart lighting system.
LEDs are the most energy-efficient bulbs. Apart from not overheating, they control the heating, cooling as well as the lighting of other devices in the IoT platform. To some extent, they save on energy because they have the lowest wattage composition.
With LEDs, you don’t have to worry about replacing light bulbs since they can last decades. Most importantly, you can apply them in a myriad of industries because they come in various color emissions.
Their unique health and business benefits make them good for vertical farming, hospitals, salons, and home lighting needs.
However, their weakness is that they produce directional light and, hence, sometimes not the best for ambient room lighting.
Halogen Bulbs
If you need pure white light (close to sunlight) you may go for halogen bulbs. Also, they last longer than most traditional bulbs. You can use them for 2 to 3 years and are fully dimmable.
Their major drawback is they release heat into the atmosphere.
Fast Forwards
Depending on your budget and the level of efficiency you seek, there are 5 types of bulbs to choose from. These are incandescent, fluorescent, CFLs, halogen bulbs, and LEDs.
Since LEDs give more security, efficiency, and save energy, they are the best types of bulbs in the market. Hence, you may give them a priority, whenever you go to buy light bulbs.
