Frequently Asked Questions

 

1.Why can’t you touch halogen bulbs?

Halogen lamps have a high burn temperature, and are normally produced using a rather thin glass bulb. This combination makes the bulb sensitive to any oils or residues that may be left by handling with bare skin

 

 

2.Are all incandescent light bulbs going to be banned?

 Eventually they will be prohibiting manufactures to produce some of the common incandescents.

 

3.Are compact fluorescents harmful to the environment due to their mercury content?

All fluorescents do contain mercury; however, your average compact fluorescent contains less mercury than your watch battery, and at the end of a lamps life there is very little mercury left to be released into the environment.

 

 

4. My electrician says I should use 130 volt bulbs because my bulbs keep burning out; why?

Using a 130 volt light bulb does double the hours of life when used on a 120 volt system, but it also means that you lose approximately 25% of the lumen output.

 

           Example: Hours of life using 120 volt bulb – 2,500

                           Hours of life using 130 volt bulb – 5,000

 

 

5.Why can’t I increase the wattage of my outdoor security/area lighting?

A large number of outdoor/ security lighting uses high intensity discharge lamps which require a ballast. That ballast is specifically designed to provide a certain amount of power, and therefore will not run a lamp with any other wattage specification.

 

 

6. Can I replace my 40 or 60 watt incandescent household bulbs with LED?

The LED market is booming right now, their application has expanded and there are many LED sources that can produce a lamp with the same light output as a 60watt incandescent.

 

 

7.Why can’t I use a compact fluorescent on a photo cell or      timer?

According to manufacturers the use of such controls actually decreases hours of life and voids any and all warranties.

 

 

8.What is average life?

Average Life is the rated average life that is obtained in closely controlled laboratory conditions of lamps at their design voltage. It is the life point where 50% of the test group are still functioning. Average Life is not the same as service life; shocks, vibration, voltage fluctuations, temperature and other environmental influences may result in a shorter service life.

 

 

 

9.What is a ballast?

A device required by electric-discharge light sources such as fluorescent or HID lamps to regulate voltage and current supplied to the lamp during start and throughout operation.

 

 

 

10.What does CRI stand for?

CRI is color rendering index, a measure of the degree of color shift that objects undergo when illuminated by the light source of comparable correlated color temperature. The maximum CRI is 100.

 

 

 

11.What does CFL stand for?

CFL is a compact fluorescent lamp, a family of single-ended fluorescent discharge light sources with small diameter tubes.

 

 

 

12.What is lamp life?

The number of hours at which half of a large group of lamps produces light.

 

 

13.What is a lumen?

A unit measurement of the rate at which a lamp produces light. A lamp’s lumen output expresses the total amount of light the lamp emits in all directions per unit time.

 

 

 

14.What is Energy Star?

Energy Star is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy helping us all save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and practices.

 

 

 

15.Do I have to recycle all of my light bulbs?

Only bulbs that contain mercury, such as; fluorescent, HID and LCD projection bulbs used in TV’s and LCD projectors need to be recycled.