Yes to Energy Saving Light

Nowadays, we tend to look for alternative ways to save energy and find some more scientific breakthroughs regarding energy efficiency. One of these is the use and type of lamps we use in household, workplace, or even in commercial areas.

A compact fluorescent lamp (CFL), also known as a compact fluorescent light or energy saving light (or less commonly as a compact fluorescent tube), is a type of fluorescent lamp. Many CFLs are designed to replace an incandescent lamp and can fit into most existing light fixtures formerly used for incandescent (source: Wikipedia).

Compared to general service incandescent lamps giving the same amount of visible light, CFLs use less power and have a longer rated life. CFLs radiate a different light spectrum from that of incandescent lamps. Improved phosphor formulations have improved the perceived colour of the light emitted by CFLs such that some sources rate the best "soft white" CFLs as subjectively similar in color to standard incandescent lamps.

The ballast permanently installed in the luminaire have non-integrated CFLs, and only the lamp bulb is usually changed at its end of life. Since the ballasts are placed in the light fixture they are larger and last longer compared to the integrated ones. Non-integrated CFL housings can be both more expensive and sophisticated. They have two types of tubes: a bi-pin tube designed for a conventional ballast, and a quad-pin tube designed for an electronic ballast or a conventional ballast with an external starter. A bi-pin tube contains an integrated starter which obviates the need for external heating pins but causes incompatibility with electronic ballasts (source: Wikipedia).

Due to the eye's sensitivity changes with the wavelength, the output of lamps is commonly measured in lumens - a measure of the power of light perceived by the human eye. The luminous efficacy of lamps refers to the number of lumens produced for each watt of electrical power used. A theoretically 100% efficient electric light source producing light only at the wavelength the human eye is most sensitive to would produce 680 lumens per watt.

The typical luminous efficacy of CFL lamps is 60 to 72 lumens per watt, and that of normal domestic incandescent lamps is 13 to 18 lm/W. Compared to the theoretical 100% efficient lamp, these figures are equivalent to lighting efficiency ranges of 9 to 11% for CFLs (60/680 and 72/680) and 1.9 to 2.6% for incandescents (13/680 and 18/680) – (source: Wikipedia).

While CFLs require more energy in manufacturing than incandescent lamps, this embodied energy is then offset by their longer life and lower energy use than equivalent incandescent lamps because CFL require more energy in manufacturing of incandescent lamps. This is in replacement of kerosene lamps which causes so many sickness particularly chronic ling disorders in household and even workplaces in the third world countries.

According to the European Commission Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) in 2008, the only property of compact fluorescent lamps that could pose an added health risk is the ultraviolet and blue light emitted by such devices. This radiation in return could impact worse and could aggravate symptoms in people who already suffer rare skin conditions that make them exceptionally sensitive to light. They also stated that more research is needed to establish whether compact fluorescent lamps constitute any higher risk than incandescent lamps.

If individuals are exposed to the light produced by some single-envelope compact fluorescent lamps for long periods of time at distances of less than 20 cm, it could lead to ultraviolet exposures approaching the current workplace limit set to protect workers from skin and retinal damage. Although CFLs, like all fluorescent lamps contain minimal amounts of mercury as vapor inside the glass tubing. Most CFLs contain 3–5 mg per bulb, with the eco-friendly bulbs containing as little as 1 mg. While mercury is being tagged as poisonous, even these small amounts are a concern for landfills and waste incinerators where the mercury from lamps may be released and contribute to air and water pollution.

In areas with coal-fired power stations, the use of CFLs saves on mercury emissions when compared to the use of incandescent bulbs. This is due to the reduced electrical power demand, reducing in turn the amount of mercury released by coal as it is burned (source: Wikipedia).

True enough, even the smallest thing such as bulb can give a deeper impact on energy efficiency and even contribute to our environment issues. And there will come a time that this will be focused on by the government and laws as this can give answer to our long quest in getting green and becoming energy efficient in our own way.