Fluorescent Lamp Saves Power
In view of high electricity and energy charges light equipment are being fitted with a fluorescent lamps and they are gaining more popularity, as they help in saving a lot of energy bills. The uniqueness of fluorescent lighting fixtures is they consume less power and can have longer life than the traditional bulbs.
While the phrase fluorescent lamp may not be the appropriate term technically, it is called so because of the fluorescent coating inside the bulb that converts the ultraviolet light created by the bulb into a visible light that is visible to that naked eye. Now depending on the composition of the fluorescent coating, the bulb may emit various colors that can be used for many purposes.
The bulb is generally filled up with gases like the argon or neon, and usually uses the mercury vapor which gets excited by electrons to produce the ultraviolet light and in turn this light which is not visible to the eye then falls on the phosphorous coating to turn into a visible light. The fluorescent lamp was first made commercially available in the 1920’s, the fluorescent lamp is now being used extensively in all the fields of energy applications.
It has been noted that residential use of the fluorescent lamp fixtures remains limited, the commercial use continues to enjoy significant energy savings because of the savings that have accrued to them dues large scale of used of the lighting by the industries due to their use and why not? they are able to achieve almost the same level of lighting than the incandescent lighting and are able to achieve a whopping 20 to 30% savings in their energy consumptions. Recently the schools and other commercial organizations have started using the fluorescent lamps because of their longer life. Indirectly, their longer life reduces the frequency of changing bulbs, which in turn contributes to at 20-30% savings in the energy costs.
Fluorescent lamps are good for human health, but in some case these have been found to pose a serious health hazards in women who are pregnant, children, and infants. There are many regulations on these lamps that require special disposal methods for fluorescent lamps and a lot of precaution is taken even while disposing off a broken bulb, as the white powder used as the fluorescence usually contains traces of the poisonous substance like mercury. These bulbs do require very careful cleaning so that the mercury does not leak from the bulbs as well as from mercury which is settled into the powder.