By LUCY | 06 June 2020 | 1 Comments
Bulb Replacement Buying Guide - Will Your Bulb Fit?
Bulb Replacement Buying Guide - Will Your Bulb Fit?
Nowadays, light bulbs have different shapes, sizes, and styles, while their uses and applications also vary from type to type. So, with tons of bulbs replacement choices showing out here, understanding a few main technical aspects of your interior lighting is the key to navigate through the world of light bulbs.
If you've still had no idea about choosing the right bulb replacement, you need to narrow down your choice of size, type, and brightness to find your ideal light bulb from wide selection.
So, before your purchase, Keep Asking Yourselves:
What type of light bulbs you want - CFL, halogen, or LED?
What size light bulb do you need?
What extra function do you want your bulb have.
What type of light bulbs you want - CFL, halogen, or LED?
To these days, light bulbs come in three main types: CFLs, halogens, or LEDs. For each of these types, the bulb light is produced by a different process. Here is a simple summary of each type of bulb, including what are the different light bulbs and how do they work.
CFL (Compact Fluorescent Lamp)
Directly passing an electric current through a gaseous tube, CFLs are four times more efficient than incandescent bulbs and quickly pay for themselves in energy savings, but not everyone likes the light they emit. Some older CFLs were slow to brighten, but this has improved considerably in recent years. All in all, CFLs are cheap and widely available in a range of sizes and outputs.
HALOGEN
By the use of recycles halogen gas and tungsten within a quartz envelope, the light that a halogen bulb emits is similar to an incandescent in colour and quality, but is better than incandescent light at rendering short wavelength colours (i.e. violets and blues). However, as they emit a lot of heat while illumination, they are significantly more expensive to run than other energy savers.
LED (Light Emitting Diode)
LEDs, whilst initially more expensive to buy, can last up to 25 years. Why? They work via passing an electric current through a semi-conducting material, making them use almost 90% less energy than a traditional incandescent and become the most energy-efficient type of lighting by far. So, in the long term they are the cheapest option.
What size light bulb do you need?
It's disappointing to get home after buying a light bulb only to discover it's the wrong size. Nobody wants the hassle of going back to the shop and making a return. Therefore, you need to be sure that the new bulb you select is going to fit into your fixture.
Bulb Base
The cap or base of a light bulb joins the bulb to the lamp socket in order to provide an electrical connection. Your lamp or fixture's socket will dictate which cap or base a light bulb needs in order to fit, but there are a wide variety of caps and bases available like e26 bulb and e12 bulb, and it's not always easy to determine which type is right for your fixture.
The most common light bulb base types:
Standard bulbs-medium bulbs – a regular sized screw-in base, usually denoted with an e26 base
Candelabra bulbs – a smaller screw - in base, denoted most often with an candelabra base
Bi-pin – a pin - in base with two points of contact, often denoted by a g4 or gu24
GU10 – a twist and lock base
What's worse, different fixtures often feature different types of sockets and there may be several codes on a package, which add to the confusion of knowing which one is right for your fixture. So, to help you get started, you should know that the base codes follow a letter-number-letter format:
The first letter(s) indicate the type of base or cap, such as Bayonet or Edison.
The numbers indicate the diameter of the base or the distance between the pins in millimetres.
The last letter is optional. It indicates the number of pins or contacts the base has and can usually be found on architectural and striplights.
For instance, an e12 light bulb is candelabra bulbs with a base diameter of 12 millimeters while the e26 light bulb is 26 mm in diameter.
Bulb Shape
As what we mentioned above, we have show you the basics on light bulb bases. However, bulb shapes do matter – so be mindful before purchasing a new bulb. If you need more about light bulb shapes explained, keep reading.
The most common light bulb shapes:
Standard Household – denoted with an A
Candle – denoted with a C
Reflector – denoted with an R
Mini Reflector – denoted with MR
Parabolic Aluminized Reflector – denoted with PAR
Globe – denoted with G
Tubular – denoted with a T
As same as the base code, the light bulb shape code will be listed on the packaging, which consists of a letter that indicated the physical shape, followed by a number that indicates the size (measured in eighths of a diameter). For example, an "a19 bulb" means that that the bulb comes in a standard household shape and is 19/8 inches in size.
Currently, the a19 light bulbs with an e26 base and the candelabra bulbs with an e12 base are the most common and widely used in North America and Europe, so this is what you'll see the most. However, apart from these common bulb sizes, more and more different fixtures show on the market and they often feature different types of sockets like gu10 bulb, therefore; understanding what to look for with regards to terms and codes on bulb packaging can help save you time, effort, and even money in the long run.
What extra function do you want your bulb have.
As stated above, LED light bulbs efficiency is about ten times more effective that the efficiency of incandescent light bulbs, making them currently the power-saving design on the market and attract more people would like to upgrade with. Then, in order to help you get the bulb that totally meet your need, lighting manufactures not only make led bulb come in various types and sizes, but also have added different function to them. For dusk-to-dawn purposes, you must get a dusk to dawn light bulb to take not only your hand free but also mind off wondering whether you have turned the lights on or off daily. Or, if you want to certainly set the mood for whatever you're up to at home, whether it's fun, focus or relaxation, it must be your time to catch on to the LED color changing light bulb trend.
All in all, we hope this overview of how to identify a light bulb type, size, and function was helpful! We'll continue to add more detail to help you with all light bulb types over time.
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