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Energy-saving lamps are now in trend and this is not without reason. With ever-increasing electricity prices, many people want to reduce electricity consumption in order to reduce costs.
And one of the ways to save money is to use energy-saving appliances in the house.
And most often, savings begin with lighting fixtures. After all, it is easier and cheaper to change light bulbs in the house than, for example, a refrigerator.
At the same time, the use of energy-saving lamps in terms of energy consumption can significantly reduce the cost of electricity in the house.
So we will try to figure out what energy-saving lamps are, and whether they can really save us electricity.
General advantages and disadvantages of “housekeepers”
Let’s start with the very concept – an energy-saving lamp. To determine if a lighting device is economical, it is compared with a conventional incandescent lamp. And any lamp that consumes less electricity than the “Ilyich bulb” is already considered energy-saving.
But there are few types of such lighting devices, and in domestic conditions three types of lamps are used at all:
- halogen;
- luminescent (gas-discharge);
- LED (conventional and filament lamps).
The advantages of these lighting fixtures compared to an incandescent lamp are really many:
The first and most important of them is a significantly lower power consumption with the same light output, due to a higher efficiency. An incandescent lamp has a very low efficiency – about 18%, that is, out of every 100 watts of energy consumed, such a lamp converts only 18 watts into light radiation, the rest of the energy is spent on heating the spiral. For energy-saving lamps, the efficiency can reach 80%, but this depends on the design features of each device. Below we will take a closer look at the efficiency of all types of lamps;
Increased service life, which also affects financial costs, but here again, much depends on the design of the lamp and operating conditions;
Safety of use (does not apply to halogen lamps). The absence of a direct connection of contacts (in an incandescent lamp they are connected by a spiral) eliminates the occurrence of a short circuit.
Reducing the load on the network, which also increases security.
And these are just the main advantages inherent in all energy-saving lamps.
The main common disadvantage for economical elements is their cost.
There are a number of advantages and disadvantages that each type of “housekeeper” lamp has.
Basic parameters of lighting elements
In order to further understand the operating parameters of the above types of lamps, we will consider each of them using the example of a conventional incandescent lamp, since in all calculations they are repelled from it.
The main parameters for any lamp is its luminous efficiency, it is also efficiency, and light temperature – the intensity of light emission. This can also include a resource.
The efficiency of a lamp is the luminous flux (measured in Lumens) that it emits when it consumes a certain amount of energy (measured in Watts).
With the help of special devices, the level of illumination of the premises is measured.
In simple terms, this parameter means how much light the lamp will emit, having spent 1 watt of electricity.
So, a 75-watt incandescent lamp provides a luminous flux equal to 935 lm and has a luminous efficacy of 12 lm / W.
Light temperature is the intensity of the radiation of a light source, taken as a wavelength in the optical range (measured in Kelvin).
To make it clearer, this parameter indicates what brightness and color tone the emitted light will have.
A 100-watt incandescent lamp has a light temperature of 2800 K, which in the optical range corresponds to warm white light with an orange tint. This is the temperature of sunlight during sunrise and sunset.
The average life of an incandescent lamp is 2000 hours. From these parameters in the future we will build on. The life of the lamps can be extended by dimmers, special devices that not only regulate the degree of illumination of the premises, but also save electricity.
Halogen devices
Now for the energy-saving lamps themselves and let’s start with halogen. In fact, this is the same incandescent lamp, but with some modifications. In her flask, the place of vacuum is a buffer gas (vapours of bromine, iodine).
The use of these vapors made it possible to increase the light temperature to 3000 K, and the lamp efficiency is 15-17 lm / W to provide the same 900 lm of luminous flux.
Due to its better light output, the halogen element is able to provide the same amount of light as a 75-watt conventional incandescent lamp, but for this it needs only 55 watts of energy, that is, there is already a saving in electricity.
In addition, the use of a buffer gas increased the lamp life up to 4000 hours of operation.
The advantages of halogen elements, in addition to efficiency and increased resource, also include their availability, since they cost not much more than conventional lamps.
They are available with E14 and E27 bases.
At the same time, they often have smaller overall dimensions than incandescent lamps, which allows them to be used even in miniature lamps.
The disadvantages of halogen elements are the same as for conventional incandescent lamps.
See also:
Luminescent
A fluorescent lamp works on a different principle – there is a sealed bulb in which two electrodes are placed, and it itself is filled with an inert gas mixed with mercury vapor.
When a voltage is applied between the electrodes in a gas environment, an electric arc occurs, emitting light in the ultraviolet range.
To make this light receptive to the human eye, a phosphor is applied to the inner surface of the bulb.
To kindle such a lamp, an electronic unit is provided, which is part of the design of the element. It is often the weak link of the device, because there is nothing to burn out in the flask.
Now for the operating parameters. The gas-discharge element, having a luminous efficiency of 50-57 lm / W, is able to provide a luminous flux of 900 lm, spending only 15 W of energy for this.
The savings here are significant. As for the light temperature, due to the use of different compositions of the phosphor, this parameter for luminescent elements is very extensive and varies from 2700 K (the color of an incandescent lamp) to 6500 K (cold white light with a blue tint).
Due to this, gas-discharge lighting devices can be used quite widely.
Also, fluorescent lamps have a very good resource, depending on the operating conditions, they are able to work from 6 to 12 thousand hours.
Available with a variety of types of socles, including the most common – E14 and E27.
The advantages of household discharge lamps also include a low heating temperature (does not exceed 65 ℃), which eliminates the occurrence of a fire, they are quite compact, do not explode when turned on.
But she also has a lot of shortcomings.
Firstly, they are much more expensive, about 15 times, compared to incandescent lamps.
Secondly, they contain mercury vapor, which are poisonous.
Thirdly, over time, they fade from natural aging, and frequent switching on and off significantly reduces their resource.
Fourthly, they are very susceptible to voltage drops.
Despite the shortcomings, fluorescent lamps are currently the highest priority for use.
LED Light
And the last type of energy-saving elements is LED. Such a lamp is a set of LEDs combined into one circuit.
But LEDs operate from a constant voltage network, so a converting transformer is included in the design of the lamp, which is also a driver.
There are a lot of types of such lamps, and they differ mainly in the location of the LEDs.
This type of lighting fixtures has the best performance parameters.
Such a lamp has a luminous efficiency of 86-95 lm / W, therefore, to provide a luminous flux of 900 lm, it will consume only 7-10 watts. At the same time, its resource can reach 50 – 100 thousand hours of work.
Like fluorescent elements, LED lamps have a wide light temperature range, which makes it very easy to maintain the correct lighting standards in rooms.
These lighting devices are very reliable, safe, immune to voltage drops.
Produced with the most common types of plinths. There are elements in the design of which batteries are additionally included, which allows the lamp to be used from a conventional network or from a battery in case of power outages.
There are also devices with a remote control.
The only drawback of such lighting devices is a very high price, about two times higher than the cost of luminescent analogues.
See also:
Options to choose from
Now about what parameters you need to consider when choosing an energy-saving light bulb. First of all, you need to decide on the type. At the same time, you should immediately pay attention to the cost and resource.
Power.
The first criterion for selection is the power of the lamps. In this case, it is necessary to take into account the correspondence of the selected elements to those already used at home.
For example, 100-watt incandescent lamps are used everywhere in housing, while the light from them is quite enough.
Based on the luminous efficiency, it can be determined that the same amount of light can be provided by a 70-watt halogen, a 20-watt fluorescent lamp, and a 12-watt LED lamp.
If there is not enough light, then you can pick up a more powerful energy-saving element.
At the same time, you don’t even need to carry out any calculations, comparative tables are usually printed on the packages of these lamps, which allows you to quickly and easily select a light bulb with the required power parameter.
Plinth type.
The second thing you need to pay attention to is the type of base. For conventional cartridges, a lamp base with the designation E27 is suitable.
In lamps and sconces, a cartridge for the E14 base is often used.
Before going to the store, you should definitely ask what types of plinth are needed. But you can make it easier – unscrew and take a light bulb with you, which will change and compare the bases.
Dimensions, shape.
The third selection criterion is the shape and size. If there is a lot of space for installation, then you can buy almost any lighting element in shape. In limited installation spaces, you will have to select lamps according to size.
The only thing you need to pay attention to the LED lamp – they can provide both diffused lighting and directional.
Elements with diffused lighting can be used almost everywhere, but with directional lighting they are better suited for installation in fixtures.
Colorful temperature.
And the last parameter, and not least, is the color temperature. Here the selection is made according to the place of use.
So, in bedrooms and living rooms, the warm white color of different shades is considered the most optimal. Therefore, in such rooms it is better to use lighting elements with a temperature of 2700-4200 K.
For kitchens, bathrooms, garages, the best color is cold white, which is provided by light bulbs with a temperature of 5000-6500 K.
For offices, daylight is more suitable, the light temperature of which is 4000-5000 K. Also, such lamps can be used in bathrooms and kitchens.
See below for other selection criteria for energy-saving lamps.
See also:
Сonclusion
Note that the savings from the use of “housekeepers” will not be immediate, because the lighting element must first pay off at the expense of the saved funds, and this may take quite a long time, and this also depends on the intensity of use. And it doesn’t matter in a private house you use such lighting fixtures or in an apartment.
The halogen lamp pays off the fastest, but in the end, the savings from it will be negligible.
A luminescent element can pay for itself after a year of use, and in the future it will already begin to save money. As for LED light bulbs, they have the longest payback period, about three years.
In general, only those lighting elements that have a significant resource and can work without problems for more than two years can bring really tangible savings.
Finally, we say that it is not necessary to immediately replace all the lighting elements in the house with energy-saving ones, because this can result in substantial costs.
If they are changed gradually, then the expenses will not be so noticeable, and in the end it will be possible to completely switch to energy-saving lamps.