Lighting equipment - lamps and light bulbs. What types of lighting lamps are there: an overview of the variety of types How to light living rooms

In 2009, the Government of the Russian Federation banned the sale of incandescent lamps with a power of more than 100 W in the country, setting a course for increasing the turnover of energy-efficient light sources. From the fragments of copies broken in disputes about the advantages and disadvantages of LED and incandescent lamps, it is possible to restore the Great Wall of China (which, by the way, will delay the flow of unreliable lighting devices). The end consumer is not too interested in the difference between an LED and a light bulb - it is more important for him to compare cost and durability, leading to a reasonable price/quality ratio. Let's see what to focus on when choosing.

Definition

So, under the shades and lampshades of our chandeliers and floor lamps, three types of lamps have taken root: incandescent, fluorescent and LED.

These are the so-called general purpose lamps. Special involves the use of the same technologies in various types of devices for indicating or creating a light beam. The principle of operation remains unchanged, but the technical characteristics vary widely.

This is, for example, an LED that is installed in ordinary household appliances to indicate processes:

LED indicator

And this is an incandescent lamp used in the side lights of cars:

Incandescent lamp for side lights

Let's look at how such familiar and simple lighting works.

Comparison

An ordinary incandescent light bulb, the widespread distribution of which was introduced by Vladimir Ilyich by decrees, generally consists of a glass bulb, a filament body (mainly made of tungsten) and current leads with a fuse. When the electrical circuit is closed (turned on), current passes through the filament, heating it to a certain temperature, and it begins to emit broad-spectrum visible light. To avoid oxidation of the metal, the flask is filled with an inert gas or a vacuum is created in it.

The operation of an LED is based on the properties of the semiconductor material from which it is made. By passing an electric current through a crystal, we obtain optical radiation of a narrow spectrum - visible light of a certain color. To produce a white LED, three crystals are used, producing red, blue and green light, in one housing.

The most significant difference between an LED and an incandescent light bulb for a consumer is that it will always be more energy efficient, regardless of its purpose and area of ​​application. When switching to energy-efficient lighting devices, the indicators were measured more than once, the results were published, and now it is known:

As you can see, the energy savings are significant, and this is the most important advantage of the LED.

In addition, LED diodes emit little heat: their efficiency is close to 90%, and they convert almost all the received energy into luminous flux. An incandescent lamp on average has an efficiency of about 4%, and the rest goes into heating the surface. LED lamps are fireproof - the temperature of their bulbs does not rise above 50 ℃. The alternative is 4 times hotter.

Due to their design, LEDs are quite durable, so shock or impact does not affect their operation. The filament in conventional light bulbs breaks with little impact. The service life in favorable conditions is determined at 1000 hours, and we all remember the reserves in the back of the closet. LED lamps are theoretically capable of working for 50,000 hours, but manufacturers, of course, do not provide guarantees for such a period. The crystal cannot burn out, but often degrades over time, causing the brightness to decrease.

A consumer who has figured out the difference between an LED and a light bulb should have no doubt about his choice. However, lighting fixtures with more than a century of history still occupy a large part of store windows. In the eyes of many they have one advantage, but the decisive one is the price. A standard light bulb with an E27 base costs about 20 rubles, while an LED light bulb with the same luminous flux costs from 130. In addition, cheap models from nameless manufacturers are often defective, and their technical characteristics are inaccurate: instead of the stated 700 Lm, you can quite get 500 Lm.

There is one more point: the color of the light flux from an incandescent lamp is always close to natural sunlight, while that of LED varies quite widely - from warm to dead white. In fixtures that use multiple LEDs, achieving the desired lighting shade can be challenging.

Table

Light-emitting diode	Bulb
The luminous flux is emitted by a semiconductor crystal when an electric current passes through it	The luminous flux is emitted by an incandescent body when heated by current to certain temperatures
Low power consumption	High power consumption (on average ten times higher than LED)
Efficiency about 90%	Efficiency about 4%
The surface temperature of the flask is heated to 50℃	The surface temperature of the flask can reach 200℃ (fire hazardous)
Long lifespan (theoretically up to 50,000 hours), but crystal may degrade over time	Short service life (up to 1000 hours)
Shock and shock resistant	Fragility
Relatively high cost	Low price
Warm and cold shades of light output	Warm color

Modern lighting technologies have significantly expanded, but at the same time complicated the choice of light bulbs for home use. If earlier in 90% of apartments there was little besides ordinary incandescent light bulbs from 40 to 100 W, today there are a great variety of varieties and types of lighting lamps.

Buying the right type of lamp for a lamp in a store is not such an easy task.
What do you want from quality lighting first of all:

• comfort for the eyes

• energy savings

• harmless use

Type of base

Before purchasing a light bulb, it is first important to determine the required type of base. Most household lighting fixtures use two types of threaded base:

They differ accordingly in diameter. The numbers in the designation indicate its size in millimeters. That is, E-14=14mm, E-27=27mm. There are also adapters for lamps from one lamp to another.

If the lampshades of the chandelier are small, or the lamp has some specific features, then a pin base is used.

It is designated by the letter G and a number that indicates the distance in millimeters between the pins.
The most common are:

• G5.3 - which are simply inserted into the luminaire connector
• GU10 - first inserted and then turned a quarter turn

The spotlights use the R7S base. It can be used for both halogen and LED lamps.

The lamp power is selected based on the limitations of the lighting fixture in which it will be installed. Information about the type of base and the power limitation of the lamp used can be seen:

• on the box of the purchased lamp
• on the lampshade already installed
• or on the light bulb itself

Flask shape

The next thing you need to pay attention to is the shape and size of the flask.

A flask with a threaded base can have:

Pear-shaped ones are designated by the nomenclature - A55, A60; ball ones - with the letter G. The numbers correspond to the diameter.
Candles are marked with the Latin letter - C.

A bulb with a pin base has the shape:

• small capsule
• or flat reflector

Lighting standards

Lighting brightness is an individual concept. However, it is generally accepted that for every 10 m2 with a ceiling height of 2.7 m, a minimum illumination equivalent of 100 W is required.

Illumination is measured in lux. What is this unit? In simple words, when 1 lumen illuminates 1 m2 of room area, then this is 1 lux.

The standards differ for different rooms.

Illumination depends on many parameters:

• from distance to light source
• colors of surrounding walls
• reflection of light flux from foreign objects

Illumination can be measured very easily using standard smartphones. All you need to do is download and install a special program. For example – Luxmeter (link)

True, such programs and phone cameras usually lie compared to professional light meters. But for household needs, this is more than enough.

Incandescent and halogen bulbs

The classic and most inexpensive solution for lighting an apartment is the familiar incandescent lamp, or its halogen version. Depending on the type of base, this is the most affordable purchase. Incandescent and halogen bulbs provide comfortable, warm light without flickering and do not emit any harmful substances.

However, it is not recommended to touch the bulb with your hands for halogen lamps. Therefore, they must come packaged in a separate bag.

When a halogen light is lit, it gets very hot. And if you touch its bulb with greasy hands, residual stress will form on it. As a result of this, the spiral in it will burn out much faster, thereby reducing its service life.

In addition, they are very sensitive to power surges and often burn out because of this. Therefore, they are installed together with soft start devices or connected via dimmers.

Halogen lamps are mostly manufactured to operate from a single-phase network with a voltage of 220-230 Volts. But there are also low-voltage 12-volt ones that require connection via a transformer for the appropriate type of lamp.

A halogen lamp shines brighter than a regular one, by about 30%, but consumes the same power. This is achieved due to the fact that it contains a mixture of inert gases inside.

In addition, during operation, particles of tungsten elements are returned back to the filament. In a conventional lamp, gradual evaporation occurs over time and these particles settle on the bulb. The light bulb dims and works half as hard as a halogen light bulb.

Color rendering and luminous flux

The advantage of conventional incandescent lamps is a good color rendering index. What it is?
Roughly speaking, this is an indicator of how much light close to solar light is contained in the scattered flux.

For example, when sodium and mercury lamps illuminate the streets at night, it is not entirely clear what color people’s cars and clothes are. Since these sources have a poor color rendering index - around 30 or 40%. If we take an incandescent lamp, then the index is already more than 90%.

Currently, the sale and production of incandescent lamps with a power exceeding 100W is not permitted in retail stores. This is done for reasons of preserving natural resources and saving energy.

Some people still mistakenly choose lamps based on the power labels on the packaging. Remember that this number does not indicate how bright it shines, but only how much electricity it consumes from the network.

The main indicator here is luminous flux, which is measured in lumens. This is what you need to pay attention to when choosing.

Since many of us previously focused on the popular power of 40-60-100W, manufacturers for modern energy-saving lamps always indicate on the packaging or in catalogs that their power corresponds to the power of a simple incandescent light bulb. This is done solely for the convenience of your choice.

Luminescent - energy saving

Fluorescent lamps have a good level of energy savings. Inside them there is a tube from which the flask is made, coated with phosphor powder. This provides a glow 5 times brighter than incandescent lamps at the same power.

Luminescent ones are not very environmentally friendly due to the coating of mercury and phosphor inside. Therefore, they require careful disposal through certain organizations and containers for receiving used light bulbs and batteries.

They are also subject to flicker. This is easy to check; just look at their glow on the display through your smartphone’s camera. It is for this reason that it is not advisable to place such light bulbs in residential areas where you are constantly present.

LED

LED lamps and lamps of various shapes and designs are widely used in various spheres of life.

Their advantages:

• resistance to temperature overloads
• negligible effect on voltage drops
• ease of assembly and use
• high reliability under mechanical loads. There is minimal risk that it will break if dropped.

LED lamps heat up very little during operation and therefore have a lightweight plastic body. Thanks to this, they can be used where others cannot be installed. For example, in suspended ceilings.

Energy savings from LEDs are greater than from fluorescent and energy-saving ones. They consume approximately 8-10 times less than incandescent lamps.

If we roughly take the average parameters for power and luminous flux, we can obtain the following data:

These results are approximate and in reality will always differ, since much directly depends on the voltage level, manufacturer brand and many other parameters.

For example, in the USA, in one fire station, an ordinary incandescent light bulb, which is already more than 100 years old, is still burning. There was even a special website created where you can watch her online through a web camera.

Everyone is waiting for it to burn down in order to record this historical moment. You can take a look.

Light flow

This is precisely its feature and advantage, which is widely used in open lamps.

For example, if we are talking about crystal chandeliers, then when using an ordinary LED lamp in it, due to its matte surface, the crystal will not “play” and shimmer. It shines and reflects light only when the beam is directed.

In this case, the chandelier does not look very rich. The use of filament in them reveals all the advantages and beauty of such a lamp.

These are all the main types of lighting lamps widely used in apartments and residential buildings. Choose the option you need according to the above characteristics and recommendations, and arrange your home correctly and comfortably.

Every modern house is equipped with lamps. Despite this, only a few understand them.

Knowledge of lighting devices helps to select, install and operate them correctly, therefore it is important to know more about lighting and understand how lighting lamps differ.

Main characteristics

To move on to considering individual types of lamps, you need to get acquainted with their characteristics. The characteristics are looked at when planning lighting in a room. It depends on them whether it will be fully illuminated, what color temperature the light will have, and the like.

Light output and color rendering index

Light output will determine how many lumens a 1-watt light source produces. For example, an incandescent lamp with a light output of 10 lm/W at a power of 10 W will shine 10 times worse than a halogen lamp with 100 lm/W.

Lamps with a high value of this coefficient emit light that is more natural than those with a low value. Therefore, the light from the first lamps will look brighter and clearer, like from the sun.

Colorful temperature

It affects what shade the objects on which the light falls will have. It is measured in degrees Kelvin. Scales often used range from 1800 to 6600. The higher the value, the colder the object appears. For example, a white object when illuminated by a cold light source will appear bluish, and when illuminated by a “warm” light source it will appear yellowish.

There is no optimal light temperature. Each temperature is suitable for a specific case:

Types of lighting lamps

Before purchasing a lamp, you need to pay attention not only to its characteristics, but also to the type to which it belongs. This determines whether the light source will make noise, emit harmful substances, its service life and similar important features.

This type of light source was the very first to be invented. The essence of its work is to glow a tungsten filament. This type of lamp can be used in stationary and portable devices. Lighting devices of this type are divided into three groups depending on the composition of the gas: vacuum, halogen and tungsten.

Vacuum bulbs

The principle of operation is that a tungsten filament placed in a vacuum flask is heated using electricity. The heated filament glows well and spreads light. In stationary devices it operates from a voltage of 220 V, and in portable devices - from 12, 24, 36 V.

Incandescent lamps differ in base size depending on their use:

• for flashlights - 10 mm;
• for medium-sized flashlights - 14 mm;
• standard - refers to types of light bulbs for the home, 27 mm;
• for outdoor lighting - 40 mm.

You can find the diameter of the lamp in the marking after the letter “E”.

Pros:

1. Wide range of applications.
2. Availability.
3. Easy to use.
4. Price.

Minuses:

1. Low efficiency.
2. Short service life (up to 1 thousand hours).
3. Heat generation (plastic and wooden structures may ignite).

When choosing such a lamp, remember that the higher the power, the shorter the light source will last. Therefore, if you need to illuminate a large surface or need a bright light source, then this option is suitable, but will not last long.

Krypton

These lamps differ in that the inert gas krypton is added to the capsule. They serve twice as long, but cost four times more. They have a more compact size. Other characteristics are almost the same as vacuum ones.

Halogen

These lamps contain halogen vapors in the bulbs. The use of this gas allows you to increase the operating time to 2000−4000 hours. It is important to note that they have higher light output. Given this and their small size, the lamps can be used in plasterboard structures (for example, in suspended ceilings).

When installing, you need to remember that the light lamp is sensitive to contamination, for example, grease. Therefore, it should not be allowed to come into contact with the surface of the lighting fixture. Because of this, you should wear gloves when installing it.

If the choice fell on halogen light sources, then try to find a new type with infrared coating. It transmits visible light and reflects thermal radiation. Such lighting devices consume less electricity and have an increased service life.

Gas discharge

The principle of operation is that an electrical discharge passes through a gas filling the tube. The cavity of the tube is hermetically sealed, and it may contain various substances that determine the type of lamps:

1. Mercury (mercury).
2. Neon (neon), xenon (xenon), argon (argon) and so on.
3. Sodium (sodium).

When choosing this type of lighting fixture, pay attention to the presence of a ballast that starts the glow process. The point is that it is not always built-in and sometimes you have to buy it separately.

Mercury

Such lamps are toxic and after the end of their service life must be disposed of at special collection points. From 2020, the production, export and import of certain types of mercury-containing products will be prohibited.

This suggests that mercury lighting should be used with caution. Thus, a mercury arc fluorescent lamp should not be used in poorly ventilated areas where people work or stay for a long time. They are used in industrial areas with production automation and in street lighting.

In addition, mercury lamps take a long time to turn on. In extreme cold conditions, the start time can be up to 15 minutes. If there is a short-term power outage, you will have to wait this time again.

Luminescent

If you don't know what long lamps are called, this is them. They are also called fluorescent lamps. The characteristics are indicated in the labeling. The letters indicate the shade of light:

• LB - white;
• LD - daytime;
• LE - natural;
• LHB - cool white;
• LTB - warm white.

The number following the letters indicates the degree of color rendering from 6 to 9. This number will determine how natural the objects on which the light falls look. Next come two numbers showing the color temperature of the lighting elements. You need to add two zeros to this number to get the temperature in Kelvin.

Installation is carried out using a G-base. It resembles a socket into which two cylinder pins are inserted. It’s easy to make a mistake when selecting the right lamp for the base, so check the type of mount before purchasing.

The positive qualities of such lamps include a long service life and natural light similar to sunlight. The disadvantages are that fluorescent lighting fixtures make a lot of noise during operation. Such devices are less toxic than mercury devices, but they still need to be disposed of at special collection points. The service life depends on the number of turns on, so it’s better to do without light once again than to wait for a long time to turn on.

Sodium

As the name suggests, their work is based on the use of sodium vapor. This causes the light from such light sources to appear yellowish. For this reason, they are used in places where good color rendering is not necessary. The color rendering of such lamps varies from 39 to 59.

They can be found in street lighting, when illuminating bridges, various buildings, and so on. A non-obvious use for such lamps is to illuminate plants in winter. This is possible thanks to power from 50 to 100 W.

Such lamps cost from 200 rubles and will last about 30 thousand hours. It is for this reason that they are used for street lighting, despite their low light transmission.

Xenon

Unlike the previous version, they have high color rendering. In addition, it is possible to flexibly adjust the brightness. This makes them indispensable light sources in projectors, flashlights, car headlights and similar lighting devices.

Xenon lamps are manufactured for a specific purpose. Depending on this, the cost can be several hundred or several thousand rubles. The price depends on the light temperature, which varies from 3,000 to 12,000 K, and the service life, which can reach 3 thousand hours.

Light Emitting Diodes (LED)

Expensive lamps that fully justify their cost. They require little power and last between 30,000 and 50,000 hours. It is optimal to use for lighting streets and in rooms where people often visit, for example, in entrances with motion sensors.

They do not emit harmful substances, have small dimensions, hardly heat up and are resistant to mechanical stress. This makes them the optimal choice for any occasion.

In addition to the cost, the disadvantages include the fact that the light that comes from them is narrowly focused, and after a significant service life, the LEDs burn out, which leads to a significant decrease in brightness.

If you choose a lighting source without familiarizing yourself with their characteristics, you can spend a large amount and not get the desired result. And if you take your choice seriously, you can not only save money, but also fully satisfy your needs.

Light is the basis of life. Because thanks to it, photosynthesis exists - the basic process of the appearance of organic matter. Light is also very important in people's lives. But day gives way to night. And to effectively overcome this pattern, the electric lamp was invented. Over time, various types of electric lamps have become firmly established in our lives.

The first light bulbs

The first lighting lamps appeared at the end of the nineteenth century. Metal resistance was used to produce light. These incandescent lamps, the name of which is related to the operating principle, function as follows.

In them, an electric current heats the metal to a high temperature. As the temperature increases, the metal first acquires a dark red color, but as it continues to increase, it turns yellow and then white. At the same time, there is more and more visible light. To obtain the highest possible temperature and the greatest amount of light, incandescent lamps are equipped with a bulb from which air has been evacuated.

For light bulb applications, the most efficient form of metal conductor is the spiral. It allows you to reduce the space occupied by the conductor. But to achieve the highest temperature, special properties of the metal are required. It should be as refractory as possible. For this reason, incandescent lamp filaments are made of tungsten.

Despite the fact that more than a hundred years have passed since the advent of the first electric light bulb and new types of lamps have appeared, the principle of producing light by simply heating a tungsten filament is still in demand.

Modern lamps operating on the incandescent spiral principle are very diverse in size and power. Their main advantage is the minimum cost based on a simple device. When these bulbs are turned on, maximum illumination of the space is immediately achieved. They can operate over a wide temperature range. For these reasons, incandescent light bulbs are the main lighting fixtures in emergency lighting systems. Despite the various shapes and sizes, they are all designed the same.

The principle of light emission from a hot tungsten filament has been improved, embodied in halogen light bulbs. While a conventional light bulb has a limited lifespan due to tungsten evaporation, halogen light bulbs eliminate this disadvantage by using halogen reducing compounds. They made it possible to increase the temperature of the coil and, accordingly, the brightness of the light bulb. At the same time, its resource has also increased.

But the heating and associated heat, emitted in large quantities by the red-hot coil, also increased. To get a greater luminous flux from a light bulb at a lower temperature and electrical energy consumption, it is necessary to change the principle of creating light.

Fluorescent lamps

Light in the form of luminescence was discovered at the end of the nineteenth century. Then they discovered that a weak electric current in a rarefied gas with a pressure of less than 100 Pa causes it to glow. This phenomenon was called a glow discharge.

Moreover, the composition of light for each gas is different. A very slight glow was observed in mercury vapor. This effect occurs because the radiation is most powerful in the ultraviolet spectrum. Its energy is great and has a noticeable effect on various substances. Some of them emit visible light when exposed to ultraviolet radiation. These substances are called phosphors.

It became possible to create new types of lighting lamps - fluorescent light bulbs. Their production began in 1938 and continues to this day. Conventional fluorescent lamps look like long white glass tubes. They have become part of the ceiling design of many offices and industrial premises.

The inside of the tubular flask is coated with white phosphor powder. In order for a fluorescent light bulb to function properly, it is necessary to limit the current through it. For this purpose, the so-called ballast in the form of a choke or inverter is used.

Modern types of lamps are often equipped with inverter ballasts. They significantly improve the basic characteristics of lamps. Along with powerful high-voltage transistors, new types of lighting lamps appeared - energy-saving light bulbs. In them, the tubular flask is curved into a compact design, reducing the maximum dimensions to a minimum. To see what energy-saving light bulbs are on the market, see the image below.

Gas discharge lamps

Brightness and power consumption are two of the most important characteristics of lighting lamps. They determine the search for technical solutions to create new types of lighting lamps with better parameters. The principle of creating light in a fluorescent lamp requires a large phosphor surface to increase the luminous flux. It is sufficient for use in domestic and office premises. But it is not suitable as a powerful compact light source. For this reason, the high pressure discharge lamp was invented.

In it, a glow discharge occurs only immediately after switching on. Then the pressure inside the bulb increases simultaneously with the increase in current in the lamp. The arc arising in the gas is a source of powerful radiation. This radiation is used differently depending on the composition of the gas. A discharge in mercury vapor at a high pressure of about 100 kPa produces a lot of both visible light and ultraviolet radiation.

But visible light has a blue tint. People and objects look unpleasant in such lighting. To correct color rendering, the light source - a quartz glass burner - is surrounded by a bulb coated with a phosphor. The result is a lamp called DRL - mercury arc fluorescent. These lamps were widely used for street lighting.

But a bulb with phosphor increases the cost of the light source. Conversion of ultraviolet to visible light using a phosphor tends to deteriorate over time. The crumbling phosphor causes quartz glass to become cloudy. Color rendering even with phosphor leaves much to be desired. Due to the above reasons, DRLs have been replaced in street lighting by sodium lamps. They are designed functionally exactly the same. But instead of mercury vapor, sodium vapor is used.

The flask is transparent, and the burner is made of special materials that are more refractory than quartz glass. Light covers the yellow colors of the spectrum, which are best perceived by human vision. Therefore, sodium lamps look brighter than DRL lamps of the same power.

They are widely used as the most modern and durable light sources not only for street lighting, but also in agriculture for greenhouses and premises of poultry and livestock complexes. But the main limitation of the use of sodium lamps is their incorrect color rendering due to the narrow radiation spectrum.

Among gas-discharge lamps, the most correct color rendering is found in ultra-high-pressure mercury lamps and xenon lamps. The DRSh lamp - mercury arc ball - is a specially shaped burner made of quartz glass. The ball shape gives the flask the greatest strength. This is necessary due to the pressure inside the flask, which can be more than 1 MPa. Due to the high pressure and temperature, mercury vapor emits a wider spectrum. But at the same time, the lamp is explosive, and its spectrum contains a lot of ultraviolet radiation.

A significant disadvantage of DRL, DRSh and high-pressure sodium lamps is the use of metal to produce vapor. For this reason, the lamps take a long time to start, and after extinguishing they cannot light up immediately due to the high pressure in the bulb. To light a lamp, a specially designed ballast is required.

Of the gas-discharge lamps that have become widespread in connection with the development of semiconductor devices, xenon lamps stand out as sources that are closest to natural light. They are used in photo flashes, car headlights, movie theater projectors and high-power lighting. Among them there are also high and ultra-high pressure models. These are the most powerful modern sources of high-quality light.

A real revolution in the lighting market occurred after the advent of blue and ultraviolet LEDs. It has become possible to use LED lighting and produce light bulbs for these purposes. Today they are the most efficient light sources for household lamps. Their design is based on the use of individual luminous crystals. Moreover, the crystal itself emits a blue spectrum, including ultraviolet. And visible white light with one shade or another is created by a phosphor. Exactly the same as in a fluorescent lamp.

LED light bulbs

The LED always emits light in one direction. This feature is determined by its location on the substrate. The direction of light in LED bulbs depends on the geometry of the light emitters. Taking this into account, you need to choose a light bulb for a lamp or chandelier. Newer design variations are filament light bulbs. They imitate incandescent light bulbs and create light that is directed most evenly in all directions.

They use microcircuits in the form of threads. The thread is actually a narrow sapphire ribbon backing. Crystals and resistors are formed on it by analogy with an LED strip. These bulbs are ideal for a variety of fixtures with a design adapted to incandescent bulbs. The LED light bulb is powered by an electronic ballast, similar to that used in an energy-saving light bulb.

To compare different types of light bulbs according to their main characteristics, below is a table and illustration. They clearly show the advantages of LED lamps. Despite the higher price, these light sources pay for themselves in full.

Table of main characteristics of various types of lamps

Faktrum publishes an article that discusses in detail all the most important issues related to LED lamps.

Photo source: Geektimes.ru

1. Why buy LED lamps?

Conventional light bulbs provide excellent light, but are very energy inefficient - 95% of their energy is converted into heat. Fun fact: after the ban on the sale of light bulbs more powerful than 100 W, manufacturers, as if nothing had happened, continue to produce them, but they call them not light bulbs, but “heat emitters” and in essence they are right.

Modern LED lamps consume 8–10 times less energy than incandescent lamps with the same luminous flux, which means that when lighting with LED lamps, you can pay 8–10 times less for lighting.

I calculated the cost of lighting a two-room apartment with conventional and LED lamps.

Of course, the calculation is very approximate. Nevertheless, 3–5 thousand rubles per year is a very real saving for an average apartment. Pay attention to the burning time of the lamps. Manufacturers promise 1000 hours of incandescent lamp operation (in reality, light bulbs often burn out much earlier), but even if the lamps work their 1000 hours, they will have to be changed in the hallway and room twice a year, and in the kitchen and bedroom once. With an average cost of a lamp of 30 rubles, this will cost another 690 rubles.

LED lamps do not have to be changed every six months. Manufacturers promise 25–50 thousand hours of operation. This is more than 11–22 years with daily use of 6 hours.

A set of LED lamps for this average apartment will cost 4,380 rubles (7 E27 6W lamps for 280 rubles, 11 4W candles for 220 rubles) and they will pay for themselves in less than a year.

Good LED lamps provide the same comfortable light as incandescent lamps and you will not be able to distinguish their light from that of incandescent lamps.

A 60-watt incandescent lamp, when the network voltage drops to 207 V, begins to shine like a 40-watt lamp, and if the voltage drops to 180 volts (which often happens in rural areas), the 60-watt lamp “turns” into a 25-watt lamp. The LED lamp shines at any voltage with the same brightness and is not afraid of jumps.

Unlike incandescent lamps, LED lamps generate little heat. Lamps do not warm the room when it is already hot. The child will not get burned on the light bulb in the table lamp.

LED bulbs also give you freedom and comfort. No more worrying about saving electricity: when a light bulb consumes 6 W instead of 60, it can be just don't turn it off. I used to always turn off the light in the hallway, now it's always on when I'm at home. It's more convenient.

And one last argument in favor of buying LED lamps. Don't treat them like consumables. You buy them for a long time. Treat them the same way you treat the chandelier or lamp you install them in, because most likely someday you will replace them together, because LED lamps will never burn out.

2. Are LED and energy-saving lamps the same thing? And if not, which ones are better?

LED bulbs much better than CFL for several reasons:

• the LED lamp does not contain hazardous substances, and the bulb of any CFL contains mercury;
• LED lamp consumes less energy with the same luminous flux;
• the LED lamp instantly lights up to full brightness, and the CFL smoothly increases brightness from 20% to 100% in a minute at room temperature and much more slowly at low temperatures;
• CFLs have a poor spectrum consisting of peaks of several colors. The spectrum of an LED lamp is much closer to natural light and incandescent light.

3. What's glowing there?

In 1923, Soviet physicist Oleg Losev discovered electroluminescence of a semiconductor junction. The first LEDs using this principle were called “Losev Light”. The red LED was the first to appear, followed by yellow and green LEDs in the early 70s. The blue LED was created in 1971 by Yakov Panchechnikov, but it was extremely expensive. In 1990, Japanese Suji Nakamura created a cheap and bright blue LED.

Even 20 years ago it was believed that it was impossible to create a white LED, however, after the advent of the blue LED, it became possible to make white light sources with three crystals (RGB).

In 1996, the first white phosphor LEDs appeared. In them, ultraviolet or blue LED light is converted to white using a phosphor.

By 2005, the luminous efficiency of such LEDs reached 100 lm/W or more. This made it possible to start using phosphor LEDs for lighting, because the LED is one of the most economical light sources.

4. What types of LED lamps are there?

LED lamps are available in various housings with different types of bases. These are ordinary “pears”, “candles” and “balls” with E27 and E14 sockets, and “mirror” lamps R39, R50, R63 and spotlights with GU10 and GU5.3 sockets, capsule lamps with G4 and G9 sockets, lamps for ceilings with GX53 plinth.

LED lamps use different types of LEDs. The first LED lamps used conventional LEDs in a plastic housing.

Currently, high-power LEDs in housings are used only in some lamps.

Most modern lamps use bulk LEDs and LED assemblies.

Recently, COB (chip on board) LED emitters have been increasingly used. In them, many LEDs are coated with a single phosphor.

A type of COB is LED filament. In them, many LEDs are placed on a glass strip coated with phosphor.

In the latest generation of Crystal Ceramic MCOB lamps, the emitters are located on round plates made of transparent ceramic.

LED lamps are produced with different color temperatures of light: 2700K - yellow light, like incandescent lamps, 3000K - slightly whiter comfortable light, 4000K - white light, 6500K - cool white light. In my opinion, lamps with a color temperature of 2700-3000K are more suitable for the home.

5. Is it always possible to simply screw in an LED lamp instead of a regular one?

No not always. There are two problems you may encounter:

• Working with a switch with an indicator. A large number of LED lamps cannot work with switches that have an indicator. They flash or glow dimly when the switch is turned off. This is due to the fact that a weak current constantly flows through the lamp. There are two ways out of this situation: either use lamps that work correctly with such switches or turn off the indicator inside the switch.
• Dimming. Most LED lamps cannot work with dimmers, but there are special dimmable LED lamps (usually much more expensive than regular ones). Unlike incandescent lamps, when the brightness decreases, the LED lamp does not change the color of the illumination (it turns yellow in a conventional lamp). Many dimmable LED bulbs do not dim to zero, but only to 15-20% of full brightness.

6. Are all LED lamps good and if not, how do good ones differ from bad ones?

In ordinary incandescent lamps everything is simple: a bulb and a tungsten filament. An LED lamp is much more complex and its quality depends on the quality of the LEDs, phosphor and electronics.

There are three important parameters that affect the quality of light a lamp produces:

• Pulsation of light. Many low-quality lamps have a high level of light pulsation (flickering). Such light is visually uncomfortable and a person quickly gets tired of it. When you move your gaze from one object to another, a stroboscopic effect is visible (as if several objects are visible instead of one). The human eye perceives pulsation of more than 40%. There are two ways check for light pulsation- pencil test (we take an ordinary long pencil by the tip and begin to quickly and quickly move it in a semicircle back and forth. If individual contours of the pencil are not visible, there is no flickering, but if “several pencils” are visible, the light flickers) and checking with a camera smartphone (if you look at the light through the smartphone’s camera, as a rule, when the light flickers, stripes will appear across the screen, and the brighter they are, the stronger the flickering). Lamps with visible pulsation should not be used in residential areas.
• Color rendering index (CRI). The light spectrum of an LED lamp is different from that of sunlight and the light of a conventional incandescent lamp. Although the light appears white, it contains more of some color components and less of some. CRI measures how uniform the levels of different color components are in light. With a low CRI of light, shades are less visible. Such light is visually unpleasant, and it is very difficult to understand what is wrong with it. For incandescent and solar lamps CRI=100, for ordinary LED lamps it is more than 80, for very good ones it is more than 90. Lamps with CRI below 80 It is better not to use in residential premises.
• Lighting angle. LED pear lamps come in two types. For the former, the protective cap has the shape of a hemisphere, having the same diameter as the body. Such lamps do not shine back at all, and if they shine downward in a chandelier, the ceiling will remain dark, which can be visually unsightly. In the second type of lamp, the transparent cap has a diameter larger than the body and the lamp shines slightly backwards. Lamps using LED filaments or transparent disks have the same wide illumination angle as conventional incandescent lamps. Halogen spotlights produce a narrow beam of light with an illumination angle of about 30 degrees, and most LED spotlights produce diffused light with an angle of about 100 degrees. Such light bulbs in a suspended ceiling “blind” due to the angle being too wide. Only some LED spotlights have lenses and the same narrow lighting angle as halogen lamps.

And three more problems that can often be encountered with LED lamps:

• Inconsistency of luminous flux and equivalent with the declared values. Unfortunately, overestimated values ​​of luminous flux and equivalent are often written on the packaging of LED lamps. You can find lamps that indicate a luminous flux of 600 lm and that the lamp replaces a 60-watt incandescent lamp, but in fact it only shines like a 40-watt lamp.
• The color temperature does not match the stated one. Very often there are lamps whose light color temperature differs from what the manufacturer promises. Instead of 2700K you can find 3100K, and instead of 6000K even 7200K.
• Premature lamp failure. Manufacturers indicate the service life of LED lamps from 15,000 to 50,000 hours, but in fact the lamps sometimes break after several months of operation.

7. How to choose high-quality LED lamps?

The Russian market offers lamps from several dozen brands. Most of them are Russian brands that manufacture lamps to order in China. Many people think that since the lamps are Chinese, it is better and cheaper to buy them in Chinese online stores, but this is a big mistake. Unfortunately, the vast majority of lamps from Chinese stores are of very poor quality. Their power and luminous flux are much lower than promised, the color rendering index (CRI) is low, many lamps have pulsation, sometimes reaching 100%, color temperature is not standardized (the Chinese often write “warm white light 2700-3500K” and what will happen in fact no one knows), there is no guarantee for such lamps and if they fail, they cannot be replaced. I tested several dozen lamps from Chinese online stores and there was only one good one among them, and it was more expensive than similar lamps in Russia.

I know of only four brands that do not overstate the lumen output and equivalent on the packaging. These are Ikea, Osram, Philips and Diall, therefore, when buying lamps from all other brands, it is better to take lamps with a reserve. If you need to replace a 40-watt light bulb, it's best to get one that says "60-watt incandescent equivalent."

If it is possible to turn on the lamp upon purchase, make sure it doesn't flicker using a pencil test or a smartphone. Lamps with unacceptable pulsation can be found even from brands such as Osram.

If flickering is already detected at home, feel free to return the lamp- according to Russian laws, LED lamps can be returned to the store within 14 days from the date of purchase.

Pay attention to the warranty periods (the warranty for lamps ranges from one to five years) and keep your receipts. Lamps must be exchanged at the places where they were purchased.