A Guide to Light Bulbs & Lamps - Choosing the Right Product

Changing light bulbs or lamps is a common enough job, but there are surprisingly many different bulb solutions to suit or enhance your energy-efficiency, or the look and feel of your interiors. Below is a general guide to Lamps & Bulbs for both domestic and commercial applications.

LOW VOLTAGE HALOGEN LAMPS: Low voltage halogen lamps provide crisp white light, accurate beam control and high light output and are widely used commercially for display lighting and highlighting features. With the additional benefits of long life and energy efficiency, low voltage halogen also provides an excellent alternative to incandescent for accent lighting in residential applications.

MAINS VOLTAGE HALOGEN LAMPS: Mains voltage halogen lamps offer the crisp white light and accurate beam control of their low voltage equivalents but without the need for a transformer, ideal for domestic and residential applications.

FLUORESCENT BULBS: The use of fluorescent lamps in commercial and domestic applications offer significant energy savings over traditional incandescent lamps with the additional benefit of higher light output, superior light quality and longer life.

MERCURY (MBF) LAMPS: Mercury lamps provide a pleasant white light with relatively good color rendering, similar to that of a halophosphate white fluorescent tube. Their long life, low cost and reliability make them a popular choice for industrial interior lighting and lower wattage floodlights.

LOW PRESSURE SODIUM (SOX): Low pressure sodium lamps, more commonly known as SOX lamps, have the highest efficiency of all discharge lamps. Light provided is monochromatic orange/yellow, meaning they have poor color rendering and most objects appear as various shades of grey. The primary use for SOX lamps is in street lighting.

GLS LAMPS: GLS lamps are widely recognized as the market leader in quality, specification and choice. The range contains a choice of extended life, standard life and colored lamps in 3 formats to suit a variety of internal and external applications.

COMPACT FLUORESCENT LAMPS: Compact fluorescent lamps offer the energy savings of linear fluorescent lamps in shapes and sizes similar to standard incandescents, all combined with the additional benefits of high output, high efficiency, and excellent color rendering. The products in this section are subject to WEEE regulations.

COLORED BULBS: Colored lamps have a heat resistant coating applied internally ensuring color durability, unlike many externally coated lamps currently available. They provide strong bright colors and value for money for applications such as decorative garlands, Christmas trees and other festive applications.

DISCHARGE BULBS: Discharge lamps suit today's most typical requirements such as retail, industry and floodlighting. Discharge lamps offer various levels of efficiency and color rendition, so care must be taken when selecting the lamp to ensure the application requirements are met. The products in this section are subject to WEEE regulations.

DISPLAY LAMPS: Reflector lamps are clear market leaders, due to the quality, range and specification they provide, catering for applications such as disco or display lighting through to heating in commercial and industrial applications using Infra-red reflector lamps.

POSH LAMPS & BULBS: Luxury lamps are suitable for a wide range of decorative applications, many with double life operation and internal fusing as standard. Posh lamps include: Candle lamps are available in a wide range of shapes and sizes - a luxury product for an every-day solution. Torch or Lantern Flame lamps are distinctive and fun. Candlestick lamps are great for period interiors.

SPECIALIST LAMPS/BULBS: Specialist bulbs or lamps are purposely designed and manufactured for specific tasks, from tough lamps for rough service use, through to Infra Red lamps for heating applications. Specialist lamps can include:

• ROUGH SERVICE - Rough Service lamps are vacuum lamps constructed with long filaments and multiple supports enabling them to resist shock or vibration. Typical applications are factories, workshops, inspection lamps and locations subject to heavy vibration.
• NIGHTLIGHT - Nightlight lamps provide a subdued glow ideal for bedrooms, nurseries and hospitals with the added benefit of only 10w power consumption.
• MUSHROOM - An interesting and attractive shaped lamp enhanced with an opaque coating, which gives a pure white appearance, ideal for use where the lamp is visible or forms part of the luminaire design.
• FIREGLOW - Fire lamps are widely used in decorative feature fires. They are sprayed with a red fade resistant lacquer to maintain its decorative effect. For particularly hot conditions, colourglazed lamps are recommended.
• INFRA RED EXTENDED LIFE - Infra Red lamps harnesses the large amounts of energy radiated by incandescent reflector lamps to provide an extremely useful lamp for heating in commercial or industrial applications.