How Incandescent light bulb works

30 July 2015

Incandescent light bulb, the second most used lamp in the world, is considered to be great source of electric light. The incandescent lamps work on a simple principle; it uses heat to produce light. Invented by Thomas Edison incandescent lamps are considered as one of the greatest discoveries of all time. Let’s find out how incandescent lamps work

How does incandescent bulb work?

An incandescent bulb consists of a glass enclosure and filament made of Tungsten that has a high melting point. When current passes through the filament, it causes the wire to heat. When the tungsten reaches to a temperature of about 4500 Fahrenheit, it starts to glow and produces light. In order to protect the filament from evaporating and keeping it away from oxygen, the sealed glass enclosure of bulbs is filled with an inert gas like argon; the gas won’t let the filament burn away. The incandescent bulbs are available in wide range of wattages, voltage and sizes.

Advantage of Incandescent lamps:

The oldest and most common form of lighting, incandescent lamps have been around for nearly 200 years. Though there a few issues with incandescent lamps, it still has some benefits that make it an indispensible part of our daily life. The incandescent lamp is one of the most used lightening sources for both household and commercial purpose. When it comes to portable lighting such as flashlights, table lamps, car headlights etc the benefits of incandescent bulbs is worth mentioning.
 

• One of the best benefits of using incandescent lamps is that it is very common. In areas where modern types of lighting like CFL, LED is not available, you can find incandescent lamps easily.
• The incandescent lamps are popular, easy to find and easily replaceable.
• When turned on, Incandescent bulbs light up the area instantly.
• When it comes to lighting small area, it works great.
• Since incandescent lamps have a CRI of 100, it offers excellent color rendition. They produce warm and inviting light always.
• Available in various colours, the lightening of incandescent lamps can be easily dimmed.

The lamps don’t have toxic substance like mercury or semiconductors, making them safe to handle and easy to dispose.The cost of incandescent bulbs is lower than fluorescent lighting. Depending upon the wattage, the price of incandescent bulbs may differ.

Incandescent bulbs VS CFL

Though incandescent light bulb consumes more energy than CFLs, homeowners still prefer these lamps over CFL when it comes to lightening a small area instantly. While CFL takes few minutes to reach its full brightness and work efficiently, incandescent bulbs lights up the room as soon as you flip the switch. Modern CFL bulbs contain toxic mercury, which is very dangerous for environment and health. Due to this toxic substance, you can’t dispose CFLs it in your regular trash. Incandescent bulbs are fully safe for health and environment as it don’t contain any toxic chemicals.

Coming into existence in late eighteenth century, the incandescent bulbs have been still popular among home owners. They are cheap, easily available and not at all harmful for environment. The advent of modern florescent bulbs which use less energy can’t hinder the popularity of incandescent lamps.

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