Lighting
Lighting Types
Filament
Filament Lamps make up most of Britain's domestic lighting.
- GLS lamps (general lighting service) radiate light in all directions
- Reflector lamps roughly double the light intensity in one direction
- PAR lamps produce a narrower beam than R types, and can triple light output in one direction.
- Tubular filament lamps (221mm & 284mm) are especially inefficient, and designed to lower safety standards
Halogen
Halogen lamps are a type of filament lamp offering a compact light source, slightly better efficiency and better light temperature. Some halogens have safety issues, and most halogen lighting installations are very low energy inefficiency.
See Halogen Lighting
CFL
CFL lamps reduce energy use and total lighting cost, and most have very long lives. Light quality varies from one brand to another, and the quality of light is not to everyone's taste.
See CFL Lamps
Linear Fluorescent
(& circline)
Fluorescent lighting is highly efficient, and tube life excellent. The large sizes of linear tubes are often an issue in domestic situations. Tube light quality varies from excellent to atrocious, and poor quality bare bulb fittings that flicker and flash are common, despite the existence of vastly better types.
Most circline fittings date from the 1960s, and many are of poor quality.
Mercury
Mercury discharge lamps produce an ice cold white light, and were widely used as street lighting in the 1980s.
Metal Halide
Sodium, High Pressure
High pressure sodium lighting is popular as outdoor in towns today. It gives an orange/pink/golden light.
Sodium, Low Pressure
Low pressure sodium lighting is popular as road lighting. It gives a pure yellow monochrome light, and has exceptional energy efficiency.
LEDs
See LED Lighting
Light Pipes
Light pipes carry skylight from above the roof down to an interior light, providing lighting for rooms with no windows. They are expensive to fit, but cost nothing to run.
In higher tech systems, usually in large buildings, light pipes are combined with fluorescent lights in the same enclosures. The electric light is used at night, and in the day the power is continually adjusted as needed to give the required light output. This means the electric lighting is off most of the day, but will gradually come on as daylight fades and on dark dull days. In a tower block the resultant power savings can be substantial.
Gas light
Very rarely used for home lighting, but still used & manufactured, gas lights are a good option for emergency lights that are not connected to the mains. Gas lighting has much better long term reliability than battery based electric lighting, low setup cost and minimal maintenance cost.
Link here to the story of the walled up gaslight
Candles
The use of candles in a power cut is a known fire risk. A small sconce mounted to a plastered wall almost eliminates the risk.
Candles are the least energy efficient of all common lighting sources.
Solar Mirrors
Outdoor mirrors can be used to reflect skylight and often sunlight into a room to lighten the room and reduce electric lighting use. They also harvest a small amount of heat in winter.
See Solar Mirrors
Heliostats
A heliostat is a reflective dish that moves, directing light to a fixed position. A tracking heliostat can be used to provide sunlight during the day, and either moonlight or streetlight at night.
When used for lighting, the heliostat should be shaped to avoid concentrating light to a point to remove any fire risk. Some difference between horizontal and vertical geometry can give a line instead of a point at the focus. When satellite dishes are reused for this, they can be bent slightly to spread the point of focus.
Heliostats can also be made from flat sheet material fitted with lots of small angled reflectors. See: Solar furnace
More Topics
The lighting category lists the main lighting topics covered on this wiki:
Many more topics are covered within articles with other names, including:
Bad Ideas - Lighting
- 500w Halogen Lights
- Bare Fluorescent Lights with random tube
- Lights high up out of reach over stairs
- Plaster half-bowl uplighters
Fluorescent Lighting
- Can I re-use my scanner/monitor CCFL?
- Plant Lighting
Halogen Lighting
- Energy Efficiency
- MCB tripping
Rewiring Tips
- Uplighters
- Kitchen worktop lighting
- Filament Strip Lights
- Kitchen worktop lighting
- Stair Lighting
- Emergency lighting
- MCB Type
- Light Switch Controls Plugged in Lamps
- Cutting costs
- Futureproof Fitting Choices
- Bulb Bases, BC ES & Miniatures
- Bulb selection
- Relamping Access
- Outdoor Security Lighting
- Tree & Shrub Lighting
- CFLs outdoors
- Making Outdoor Lighting Look Good
- Outdooor Light Fitting Corrosion
- Night Lighting
Lamp Life
- Facilities lamps
- The 900,000 hour light bulb
- Boosting light output
- Dimming
- Rough Service Lamps
- Photographic bulbs
Uplighters
- Half moon plaster uplighters
- R80 Spotlight Fittings
- PAR38 spotlight fittings
- Trough Fluorescent Lighting
- Shelf Fluorescent Lighting
There are also many lighting relevant topics in Category:Electrical