Introduction to Light Bulbs

Light bulbs are everywhere we turn in America. Glance around and see how many light bulbs are in the room where you sit and read this article. Chances are there is a table lamp nearby and perhaps an overhead light. Outside your house or building, there are probably outdoor lights over the front door and/or parking spaces. The car you will use later today has light bulbs in the interior lights and in the head and tail lights. Your refrigerator has a light bulb in it as does your closet, basement, and attic. Even one-bedroom apartments regularly have ten to twenty light bulbs. Americans do not stop doing things at night, so in a way, every city in America becomes a “City of Lights.”

 

There are thousands of different types of light bulbs. The three primary categories of light bulbs are incandescent, florescent, and halogen, but within these categories are bulbs of many different shapes and purposes. Light bulbs even produce different colors of light; soft white and clear bulbs are the most popular, but black lights have a fun, glowing effect, yellow lights do not attract bugs, and amber, blue, and other colors allow you to indulge any color preference.

 

From a purchasing standpoint, however, the important distinctions among light bulbs are the bulbs’ energy usage, power, and lifespan. The wattage of a light bulb represents the amount of energy it uses; a single watt is 1/746 horsepower. Lumens, on the other hand, represent the amount of light produced by the bulb. A one hundred watt light bulb, for example, produces approximately sixteen hundred lumens. Finally, the life of a light bulb is measured in the number of hours it will provide light.

 

At stores such as Wal-Mart, Lowe’s, and Home Depot, different brands and types of light bulbs fill up entire aisles, but you can also find light bulbs at hardware stores, auto part stores, and elsewhere. Basic incandescent bulbs sell in packs of two, four, or more, and should cost under five dollars, but larger and more specialized florescent and halogen bulbs can be significantly more expensive.