Alternatives To Incandescent Bulbs
The light from an incandescent source is similar in character to that from a "black body" in the amount of energy radiated in the different color components of the light (the "spectral distribution"). Alternative light sources use phosphors or combinations of mono-chromatic LEDs (red, blue, green) to produce "white" light, giving significantly irregular spectral distributions which can result in color casts in photography and differences of color matching when compared to incandescent light or daylight.
Widely available replacements for traditional tungsten incandescent light bulbs are Halogen and compact fluorescent lamps. Light-emitting diode lamps are becoming more available at higher price points..
Halogen lamps are a type of incandescent lamp with improved efficiency over regular (rare earth gas-filled or partial vacuum) incandescent lamps. Though not as energy efficient as other alternatives, they are up to 40 percent more efficient than standard incandescent lamps designed for a 2000 hour life. Depending on size, voltage, and designed life, small low-voltage halogen lamps can have 70% higher efficacy than large line-voltage lamps. The high operating temperature of halogen bulbs may be a safety hazard in some applications.
A compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) uses a fluorescent lamp tube which is curved or folded to fit into the space of an incandescent bulb and contains a compact electronic ballast in the base of the lamp. Compared to general-service incandescent lamps giving the same amount of visible light, CFLs use one-fifth to one-third the electric power, and may last eight to fifteen times longer. Newer phosphor formulations have improved the perceived color with "soft white" CFLs judged subjectively similar to standard incandescent lamps.
Light Emitting Diode (LED) lamps are used for both general and special-purpose lighting. Compared to fluorescent bulbs, advantages are that they contain no mercury, they turn on instantly at any temperature, their extremely long lifetime is unaffected by cycling on and off, they have no glass to break, they don't emit UV rays that fade, they can emit unsaturated colored light without need of filters, and can shine uni-directionally without reflectors. Disadvantages include diminished color shades, supporting electronic circuitry failure and with traffic lights in snow prone areas they fail to melt the accumulated snow due to the low heat output.
Read more about this topic: Phase-out Of Incandescent Light Bulbs
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