Allstate Electric works with all types of lighting in Bentonville, AR. Although it’s famous as the birthplace of Walmart, this city has plenty more to love in terms of culture, cuisine, and history. We’re here to help you choose the best lighting so that you can see it all clearly.
We’ve heard a lot of customers ask about which bulbs are the most efficient. Generally, you’ll find a few types available when you’re shopping for new ones. Each type has its own benefits and drawbacks. So, it’s important to learn about them before making any decisions.
Incandescent Bulbs
Incandescent bulbs have been around longer than most types of electric lighting. They’ve always had an issue when it comes to efficiency, though.
These work by running a current through a metal filament, heating it up. The filament begins glowing once it’s reached a certain temperature.
Getting it hot enough to make it glow uses a ton of energy, unfortunately. That’s why they use so much more of it than other bulbs. Only 5% of all the energy they’ve used is converted into light.
Halogen Bulbs
Halogen bulbs are another type of incandescent technology. They’ve been designed to use tungsten filaments surrounded by halogen gas.
Combining halogen gas and tungsten prolongs the bulb’s lifespan. That’s because evaporated tungsten deposits back onto its filament when it’s on.
You can also use halogen bulbs at higher temps than typical incandescents. So, they can produce more light without using as much electricity.
Compact Flourescents
Compact fluorescents don’t use the same tech as incandescent bulbs. They’re designed to excite mercury gas that’s trapped inside a bulb. Exciting the gas causes it to emit UV rays, stimulating the bulb’s phosphorous coat.
The phosphorous coat begins to glow once it’s stimulated by the UV rays. This is how the bulbs actually produce useable light. They’re much more efficient than a regular incandescent bulb, too.
An incandescent bulb only produces around 16 lumens per watt. You can use a CFL to produce up to 100 lumens using the same amount. That’s nearly eight times more efficient than what you’d see using an incandescent bulb.
Light Emitting Diodes
Nothing beats the efficiency of an LED lightbulb. These use light-emitting diodes to produce all their light. Some of them can produce up to 200 lumens per watt. That’s almost twice as efficient as the best fluorescent bulbs.
Another benefit of LEDs is how quickly they light up. Other bulbs take a few seconds before they’re able to produce light at full brightness. It takes less than a second for an LED to do the same.
Plus, you won’t need to buy any replacements after you’ve upgraded everything to LEDs. They’ve got much longer lifespans than other types of bulbs. So, you can expect them to last for several years if you get them brand-new.
Your Bentonville Lighting Team
Allstate Electric is your Bentonville electric specialist. We’ve helped a ton of homeowners upgrade their home’s indoor lighting. Give us a call if you’d like to ask us how we can help you. We’ll even give you a free quote by the time you’re done on the phone. You can rely on us to help, from Centerton to Little Flock.