Sadly, the answer isn’t as simple as you thought. Whether you are a hardcore LED fan, a diehard fluorescent lover, or an old fashioned incandescent connoisseur, one must admit that every form of lightbulb has its upsides and its downsides.
Light is something that we modern day humans take for granted. Something so simple, yet so necessary to human living. The invention of cheap modern lighting has changed the way humans live their lives for the rest of time.
I mean, think about it! Back in “ye old days”, people could not afford to light their houses all the time. Candles or oil were expensive! And you would have to use a lot of it each year in order to light lanterns or candles every night.
So, people would live their lives by the sun. When dawn broke, people would be up at first light to milk the cows, feed the chickens, and then take the ol’ sheep herd out to go graze in the pastures around the farm.
And so it would go all day, working as the sun rose, and into the evening. Finally, as the sun sets, people would head back into their homes and start getting ready for bed. The night would fall, and people would simply go to sleep.
Unless there was a bright moon out, it would be too dark to really do anything. Even more so if you are inside. And so, life was governed by the rising and setting of the sun. There was simply no other choice unless you were very wealthy.
And then, the industrial revolution comes around and kicks the world and its progress into overdrive. Oil and gas become cheaper, and people start being able to live life by their own terms, not confined by some of the limits of nature.
And then, one day, something amazing happens. The electric lightbulb is invented. It wasn’t very bright and took electricity which was a luxury, but it was the start of something beautiful. One day, there would be cheap and easy lighting for all.
Fast forward and the fluorescent lightbulb is invented. A light that heats gas in a tube to cause a coating on the inside of the tube to emit light, or fluoresce. And, jump ahead some more and we have the LED or Light Emitting Diode.
The LED was another huge step forward for lighting technology. It was cheap, bright, and could even be miniaturized into the screens of electronic devices. Perhaps the device you are reading this on right now!
And so, mankind begins to light up the world. People can start waking up later and going to bed later. We have the wonderful luxury to get a nice 8 hours of sleep and wake up on a lazy Sunday and have some fun on Fair Go casino online login.
Life is good. But it begs the question, when you look up at your lamp bleary eyed, what kind of lightbulbs are best? Are LEDs really the future, or perhaps were we too quick to jump away from fluorescent and incandescent?
Incandescent
There are many people who prefer incandescent lightbulbs over other forms of lighting. This is for a few reasons, which are benefits but do have to be compared to the many disadvantages that come with incandescent lightbulbs.
First of all, incandescent lights are more aesthetically pleasing to people. Many people enjoy the more soft, warm, and possibly natural look of a glowing incandescent bulb to the harsher whites of fluorescent and incandescent bulbs.
Some people just simply find it to feel more homey. The harsh white light can tend to remind people of department stores, offices, or hospitals. All three of which are not exactly the most cozy of places to be in. Especially if the department store is having a sale…
Another benefit of incandescent is that they are easy to dim. Because it is just the filament in the bulb heating up, if you just run less power to them, they will put out less light because the filament will be less hot and therefore glow less.
This means for things like fairy lights, incandescent bulbs are unparalleled in their beauty. The way the little bulbs are so soft and can wink in and out gently rather than abruptly. It is just one example of a case where incandescents can be superior.
But, incandescents do have some major drawbacks. For one, they don’t last very long (relatively). Because you are heating a physical filament, there is a lot of stresses put on the bulb. So, they tend to burn out much quicker than other kinds of bulbs (perhaps literally!).
Incandescent bulbs are also more expensive to run. They require more power as you are literally using electrical resistance to heat a wire to glow and produce light. Not to mention they are also just simply becoming increasingly harder to find, and probably, therefore, more expensive.
Fluorescent
What can I say about fluorescent? In modern times, they are simply the worst kind of lightbulb. They take all of the disadvantages of every kind of lightbulb and put them together in one little package.
To start, they tend to give off harsh white light which, as I mentioned, can bother people. Although, they do make warmer colored lights now which can solve this one issue.
Another problem is the housing on the lightbulb tends to get very hot and burn out. This decreases the lifespan of the lightbulbs significantly and you may notice your fluorescent bulbs even begin to yellow or brown from the heat.
Finally, they are undimmable. This is simply how a fluorescent bulb works. Because of the physics of it, you cannot make a fluorescent bulb that is dimmable, and so if you want dimmable lights you are going to have to choose a different option.
Another thing to note is that they need to be made a loop shape. As in, you will notice fluorescent bulbs are just tubes made into a lightbulb shape. This further limits the bulbs’ usefulness for specific circumstances such as fairy lights which are very small.
It’s not impossible to make fluorescent fairy lights, and they are being made. However, it is just most likely not what you are going to find in the store, and there is a reason for this.
LED
Finally, we have LED lightbulbs. LED bulbs are the so called new kid on the block. They are the most modern technology, and therefore have a lot of things going for them. There is a reason why LED lightbulbs have filled up the market.
First of all, LEDs produce a lot of light, yet are the most energy efficient form of lighting. And not by a small margin. LEDs use about 75 – 90% less power than incandescent bulbs, and still, a whopping 30 – 40% less than fluorescent light bulbs!
They can also last 25 times longer than incandescent bulbs, and about 5 – 10 times longer than fluorescent bulbs.
Not to mention that LEDs, unlike fluorescent bulbs are dimmable! Now, dimmable LEDs do have some nuance to them that makes it a bit more complicated and expensive, but the option works great, and looks great too!
LEDs are also scalable. You can make LEDs that are powerful enough to light up streets, or gentle enough to light a refrigerator. This makes them very versatile for whatever needs you might have.
Not to mention that they can be made into a variety of colors very cheaply nowadays. So, if you want rainbow fairy lights all over your house then you can go nuts with it. Heck, you could make every room in your house lit with a different color if you want!
However, and this is an important thing to note, LEDs do have some drawbacks. Specifically when it comes to aesthetics.
LEDs are a very strong, pure, and some would say harsh form of lighting. Especially blue LEDs. You may have noticed blue LEDs and signs look blurry. This is because of how blue the blue light is.
So, some people might not like this sharpness, and that is why incandescent is still preferred by some people even over the warmer colored LED bulbs.
