About the Author: John Billington is the president and CEO of Five Rivers Inc., a leading online provider of home lighting, bathroom lighting and decor. For more information, please visit www.fiverivers.com.
The traditional incandescent light bulb is the most familiar and commonly used type of light bulb in the United States. Compared to other lighting options, incandescent bulbs are the least costly to purchase, but the most expensive in application due to high energy consumption and a relatively short useful life. A halogen lamp, also referred to as a halogen tungsten lamp, is a type of incandescent light bulb that is more energy efficient and offers an alternative to traditional incandescent light bulbs.
Incandescent lamps in general produce light by utilizing the energy from electricity to heat and excite a tungsten filament, releasing photons, which are the basic units that make up all forms of light. A filament is a thin wire inside a bulb that gives off light when heat is introduced. When an incandescent light is turned on, tungsten evaporates from the filament and becomes affixed to the inside surface of the bulb wall. When there is no longer enough tungsten in the filament to conduct electricity, the filament gradually becomes more delicate and breaks, which is indicated by the bulb burning out.
Unlike standard incandescent light bulbs, halogen lamps contain a halogen gas, often iodine, within them. The shells of the bulbs are most often composed of quartz or a heat resistant hard glass rather than thin glass because of a high heat requirement for use. The halogen gas serves to return evaporated tungsten to the filament, instead of allowing it to permanently deposit itself onto the inside wall of the bulb. Fewer deposits inside the bulb result in a cleaner wall for light to penetrate, thus improving the luminance. Additionally, the process which allows tungsten to return to the filament increases the time it takes for the filament to break down, thus giving halogen bulbs a longer life than standard incandescent light bulbs. Like standard bulbs, halogen bulbs do burn out, but provide a longer useful life due to the slower dissipation of tungsten.
Halogen lights are popular for use in homes as well as industrial applications such as stadiums and medical facilities. Dimming capabilities make halogen light bulbs an attractive and versatile option for homes, but high heat can pose a hazard in certain situations.
Just as halogen lighting evolved from standard incandescent light bulbs for extended life and reduced energy consumption, viable alternative lighting solutions continue to be developed for the lighting industry. Fluorescent lights, which provide long life and low energy consumption, are widely available but require a higher initial investment than incandescent bulbs. Researching the positive and negative aspects of different lighting options will enable you to make an informed and appropriate lighting choice for your application.
About the Author: John Billington is the president and CEO of Five Rivers Inc., a leading online provider of home lighting, bathroom lighting and decor. For more information, please visit www.fiverivers.com.
- Related Videos
- Related Articles
- Ask / Related Q&A
- LED Work Lamp: Shedding Light for Different Industrial Work
- Lamps and Lighting: From Necessity to Style, it Has Come a Long Way
- Halogen Light Bulbs - As Clear As Day
- Halogen Lighting Explained
- Exploring Halogen Light Bulbs
- What About All These Darn Light Bulbs?
- The Difference Between Desk And Table Lamps
- A Guide to Light Bulbs & Lamps - Choosing the Right Product
Outdoor kiosks – 5 issues to consider
By: Graham Gallagher | 27/11/2009When deploying outdoor digital signage kiosks, it is essential in the planning stage to consider all the issues that influence the deployment of a failed project.
How To Mod Wii Without Chip
By: Robbie Porter | 27/11/2009One of the common question im seeing lately is 'is it possible to mod wii without chip?'. This is a widely discussed subject and as such there is a lot of wrong information, so im going to tell you exactly what you need to know. The first generation of modchips were released to the market a few months after the Wii. The main problem I have with modchips is you need to pay someone to install them for you, which can get expensive. Over the last few months there have been signific...
Aiptek Pocket DV T9 10 Mega Pixel High Resolution Camera
By: Vinnit | 27/11/2009If you are a gadget freak and looking for an excellent digital camera, I can proudly say that, Aiptek Pocket DV T9 10 Mega Pixel High Resolution Camera would definitely meet your expectations. This camera is loaded with tons of latest features.
Aiptek DVT 285 5 MP Super Camcorder
By: Vinnit | 27/11/2009A camera is a device that captures your precious moments in the form of still photographs and camcorders shoot moving pictures and make a video of the memories. Are you looking for single device, which can work as both, camera and camcorder? Exactly, I am talking about a two-in-one gadget, which does the job of a camera and a camcorder as well.
HDMI Digital Media Player ( TorrentTvdevice )
By: laura maya | 27/11/2009It’s Function and How it works Due to the easy availability of Torrents and digital Media file over the internet , it has set off a trend , where The Torrent TV device is very much sought after by savvy internet user whom use torrent to download media file .Downloading of torrents become so common thats soon ,conten such as article, ebooks,music, movies are easily downloadbale thru torrents also
Compare Blackberry Bold 9700 sim free prices
By: Allen Beard | 26/11/2009The latest Blackberry to hit the market is the new and improved bold, the Blackberry Bold 9700 sim free. The specification and design have had a complete overhaul to create some drastic changes. With a better camera, the latest Blackberry operating system and the exciting new optical trackpad, the Blackberry Bold 9700 sim free has had some major work. This has all been squeezed into a much neather and smaller handset. The Blackberry Bold 9700 has a wide range of connectivity options...
HP Pavilion dv4-2045dx Review
By: anilrgowda | 26/11/2009The HP Pavilion laptop has an AMD Dual core processor, hard drive of capacity 7,200rpm and a memory of 4GB. It has great looks and has many ports. But, the battery life of the laptop is less. The laptop has the typical HP finish, ‘Moonlight Imprint’ and the body is a plastic one. The laptop has a snowy white color with a neat pattern of gray curved lines. Though its glittery, fingerprints are not seen easily. At the lid’s left corner, a strange, backlit logo of HP, appearing like a tiny LCD
Review on HP Pavilion dv4-2045dx
By: anilrgowda | 26/11/2009HP has exposed its new laptop Pavilion dv4-2045dx which is a multitasking package when compared to the other laptops which are in market at present. This laptop is tagged with a price of $579.99 and a good looking one having ample chances for expansion and also includes many ports. Now let’s quickly look into the specs of this laptop: 2.2 GHz AMD Turion II Dual Core M500 processor, 320GB -7200rpm hard drive, 4GB memory 800MHz DDR2, an AMD 785G chipset, Windows Vista OS (Premium), integrated ATI
Indoor Portrait Lighting Basics
By: John Billington | 11/06/2007 | PhotographyTechniques for setting up a basic portrait home lighting scheme.
Choosing the Right Light Bulbs
By: John Billington | 07/06/2007 | Home & FamilyExplains common home lighting terminology and offers advice on choosing the appropriate type of light bulbs for your home.
Smart Lighting Tips to Save Money
By: John Billington | 04/06/2007 | Home & FamilyTips anyone can apply to reduce their monthly electricity costs from home lighting.
Lighting as an Element of Landscaping
By: John Billington | 01/06/2007 | Home SecurityExplains some modern landscaping techniques incorporating outdoor lighting as a design element.
Recessed Lighting Applications
By: John Billington | 01/06/2007 | AccessoriesCovers modern design uses for recessed light fixtures for business and home lighting.
What the Future Holds for Incandescent Light Bulbs
By: John Billington | 22/05/2007 | EnvironmentExamines the design drawbacks of incandescent light bulbs for home lighting and what will come of them in the future.
Energy Efficient Home Lighting
By: John Billington | 16/05/2007 | EnvironmentExplores means of reducing energy consumption by instituting energy efficient solutions in home lighting.
Picking Out a Chandelier?
By: John Billington | 16/05/2007 | AccessoriesThough deciding on a chandelier for your home is largely dependent on your aesthetic taste, the proper chandelier sizes are fairly universal...