Which lamps are better - LED or fluorescent. All the advantages of a compact fluorescent lamp

A compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) falls under the definition of energy saving. All light sources that consume at least 10% less electricity than incandescent lamps can be classified as energy efficient. After all, it is known that analogues with an incandescent filament are characterized by low efficiency due to strong heating, but at the same time the power level is high.

How is a CFL lamp arranged?

The device of such light sources and fluorescent linear bulbs is similar. The difference between these options lies in the shape of the flask. There is another difference - energy-saving lighting elements (CFLs) are equipped with an electronic ballast. The electronic ballast is hidden inside the body of the product. Electrodes are located inside the flask.

The compact fluorescent lamp can be installed in various types of luminaires, which is possible due to a wide range of models with different holders (pin, threaded).

Compact energy saving lamp device

The basis of the functioning of such light sources is the phenomenon of luminescence. To implement it, the inner walls of an energy-saving light bulb are coated with a phosphor.

Various tube shapes

This is a powder of a special composition, due to which the ultraviolet radiation produced by the light source becomes visible to humans. The appearance of UV radiation is due to the processes that take place inside the flask when the mains voltage is applied. This is facilitated by gaseous filling (inert gas and mercury vapor).

Main problems

Before buying an energy-saving CFL lamp, you should find out about a number of problems that may arise if the product is used improperly:

1. Illuminated switches are not recommended. Such switching equipment will contribute to the spontaneous ignition of the lighting element, which will greatly reduce its service life. You can go the other way and turn off the backlight power circuit in the circuit of such a switch.
2. Compact fluorescent lamps should not be connected to motion, light or noise sensors. Frequent operation of the light source with interruptions of less than 2 minutes. will shorten the life of the product. For the same reason, you should not connect a conventional dimmer. There are special versions of dimmers for CFLs.
3. High levels of humidity will adversely affect the operation of the energy-saving lamp. For example, light sources installed in a bathroom often burn out due to a breakdown in the electronic ballast circuit.
4. The lower the temperature environment, the more complicated the process of launching CFLs. The recommended maximum is -25 degrees.
5. Compact fluorescent lamps heat up noticeably less than halogen and incandescent counterparts. But, nevertheless, it is important to ensure effective cooling of the light source, or rather, the part of the housing inside which the electronic ballast is installed. Usually, there are holes in the base of the CFL, which contributes to natural cooling. But if you install such bulbs in closed fixtures, this will not save you from overheating. The lack of heat outflow from the light source will first lead to a decrease in the intensity of the luminous flux and a significant change in the shade of the glow, and then energy-saving lighting elements (CFLs) will fail.
6. In case of violation of the tightness of the flask, mercury will enter the surrounding space.
7. If you stay under the radiation of this type of lamp for a long time, you may experience health problems. The severity of diseases depends on the intensity of radiation, as well as the duration of exposure.
8. The presence of ripples in the on state. Even more advanced electronic ballasts did not completely solve this problem.

In order for the purchase of products of this type, made at a rather high price, to pay off over time, it is necessary to avoid the impact of negative factors on the lamps.

On what to base the choice

It is recommended to pay attention to parameters such as color rendering index, color temperature, luminous flux, power. And, of course, the service life that characterizes energy-saving lighting elements is also important.

Ballast status

The ballast circuit includes quite a few elements: a rectifier, a generator, filters, a power factor corrector, different types protection, electrode heating device, unit providing instant start. In order for compact fluorescent lamps to function with a high degree of efficiency, all these elements must be characterized by parameters that are sufficient for normal operation.

This means that the details in the electronic ballast circuit cannot be too small. Therefore, the ballast built into the CFL housing must also be large in size. Almost all energy-saving lamps with a minimum body size are prone to rapid heating, which will eventually adversely affect the service life.

Color rendering, color temperature: The focus is mainly on the energy efficiency of the light source, so not everyone knows that when choosing, you need to take into account such a parameter as the color rendering index, which is responsible for matching colors when illuminating a room with a CFL lamp.

Color temperature in Kelvin

The best products are those whose color rendering index exceeds 90 points. A score between 80 and 90 is considered acceptable. The acceptable minimum is 80 points. If compact fluorescent lamps have a color rendering index below 80, the light quality will be lower.

You can find out which group the selected lighting element belongs to by examining the markings on the lamp body. Finding such information among other parameters in the accompanying documentation is almost impossible.

The marking also determines the color temperature. The value of this CFL parameter can vary from 2,700 to 6,800 K. The lower this value, the more comfortable the lighting will be for the eyes.

Pulsation, luminous flux

The efficiency of a lighting system is determined by a parameter such as luminous flux (lm) or luminous efficiency (lm/W). The higher the value of these parameters, the brighter the light in the room. But not all manufacturers indicate this value among other parameters.

This is due to the fact that compact fluorescent lamps do not differ in too intense luminous flux (higher than incandescent analogues, and lower compared to diode versions).

When choosing, you need to take into account such a factor as pulsation. Moreover, this drawback cannot be completely smoothed out, even using electronic ballast, since a significant decrease in pulsations is observed, but they do not disappear.

The maximum allowable limit is 5%. But today, more often, the intensity of pulsations differs from the normalized values ​​upwards.

Service life, warranty

The duration of operation can be specified in units of hours or years, respectively: up to 10,000 hours or up to 10 years. Considering that compact fluorescent lamps last much longer than most analogues, therefore, a guarantee can be provided for a period of 3 to 5 years.

But not all manufacturers provide information about warranty period, in this case it is recommended to refrain from buying.

What is the difference between fluorescent and energy saving?

The design of all types of luminescent lighting elements is the same. The difference lies only in the ballast circuit (remote, built-in) and the shape of the bulb. Accordingly, under the definition of an energy-saving lamp, any kind of light source (compact, linear) is completely covered.

This is due to the fact that the special principle of operation provides significant energy savings during operation. Compact fluorescent lamps are commonly called energy-saving due to their more convenient design, which allows them to be used in everyday life.

Impact on the grid and consumers

Features of the device of this kind of lighting elements, in particular, the presence of a rectifier in the design, contribute to the appearance of interference in the network, which leads to a decrease in the power factor. For comparison, incandescent lamps are characterized by a coefficient of 1, and compact fluorescent lamps - 0.65.

Until recently, most Ukrainians did not even think about the existence of such terms as "energy saving" and "energy efficiency". However, the winter cold promises to be a test and a rethinking of the way of life for many people. Probably, only a person who has abandoned the benefits of civilization is now not interested in the problems that arise again and again in our country in the energy sector. And yet, almost every month, ordinary users are brought utility bills at new rates.

So, to be honest, Ukrainians really do not know how to save money - most of the apartment owners spend energy extremely uneconomically through their own fault. But you can and should learn to save on electricity bills if you use all the possibilities of modern technology rationally.

How electricity tariffs have grown and the advantages and disadvantages of multi-zone metering, we talked about in this article. Now it is proposed to talk about the most effective and affordable way for everyone to save the family budget - replacing incandescent lamps with more economical LED and fluorescent lamps.

100% - savings

The basis of electricity consumption in an apartment building in the city is lighting (excluding households equipped with electric stoves). Replacing incandescent bulbs with economical LED bulbs will save you 100% money and lower your electricity bills.

An interesting fact: almost 20% of the world's electricity use is for lighting.

By replacing conventional light bulbs with energy-saving ones, consumption can be reduced by 5-7 times (electricity savings are 75-80%), since their light output is on average 5 times greater. 100W light bulb can be replaced with 12-20W energy saving power. The service life of a conventional incandescent lamp is 1 - 1.5 thousand hours, an energy-saving lamp - 10 thousand hours, an LED lamp - up to 50 thousand hours. By replacing lamps, you save twice: firstly, the economical use of electricity, and secondly, savings on the cost of the light bulb.

Depending on the number of lamps, their power and their burning time, on average, you can save from 50 to 100 kWh of electricity per month. First of all, the average consumer is horrified by the cost of LED lamps, but this is exactly the case when the goal justifies the investment.

The cost of a 12 W LED lamp (with a low luminous flux - an analogue of 100 W) averages 100 - 115 UAH, an ordinary incandescent bulb costs 6.50 UAH. So, in order to block the service life of an LED lamp, we need 50 pieces of ordinary lamps, and this, in turn, is 325 UAH (6.50 x 50). The savings are obvious.

Let's calculate how much electricity and money such lamps actually “eat”. First, we calculate the electricity consumption per year for both types of lamps, provided that they burn 10 hours a day:

Incandescent lamp 100 W: 0.10 kWh x 10 x 365 days = 365 kWh per year;

12 W LED lamp (Low Lumen): 0.012 kWh x 10 x 365 days = 43.8 kWh per year.

This shows that the electricity consumption of the LED lamp is 8 times less due to the lower power consumption. Now let's calculate the cost of electricity consumed by one lamp at the new tariffs. As a basis for the calculation, we take averaging data that the annual savings from the use of one LED lamp is about 150 kWh.

Saving UAH per year with monthly consumption up to 100 kWh

As you can see, the savings are obvious. Moreover, even at the rates of 2015, the payback period for an LED lamp is just over a year.

Lamp characteristics:

Power, W

Luminous flux (light output to the outside) - lumen - lm (Lm) - the higher the indicator, the brighter it will be;

Color temperature - kelvin (K): "warm light" - 2700-3300 K (sky color temperature during sunset, "daylight" - 4000-4200 K (natural color - diffused), "cold light" - about 5000 K;

Base E14 (minion) and E27;

Coefficient of performance (COP) - ratio of luminous flux to power (Lm / W);

Brightness (unit of light intensity) - candela - cd (cd).

Which lamp to choose: advantages and disadvantages

Let's evaluate all the pros and cons of light-emitting diode (LED) lamps, energy-saving (fluorescent) and incandescent lamps.

Lamps of Ilyich- expensive, inefficient, uneconomical and fire hazard.

The cost of the lamp could be called an advantage, but according to our calculations, this indicator confidently moves into disadvantages:

• They consume a lot of electricity, while working only 1.5 thousand hours;
• Current fluctuations and frequent switching on / off leads to a decrease in the service life;
• They have a low luminous flux, that is, the quality of illumination is worse than that of all other lamps;
• Fire hazard - the surface heats up to 120 degrees. During operation, it may cause burns and cause a fire.

An interesting fact: the incandescent lamp was created and tested by Thomas Edison in December 1879.

Energy saving - fluorescent lamps- this type of lighting has been in Ukrainian stores for quite a long time and has won its fans.

Advantages:

• Reflection of light fluorescent lamp on average 5 times more than an incandescent lamp. At the same time, electricity consumption is reduced by about 80%, while the usual level of lighting in the room remains;
• The resource is 6-10 times longer than that of an incandescent lamp - 6-12 thousand hours;
• Energy-saving lamps heat up less (the incandescent lamp heats up to 120 degrees), so they can be used in appliances with a limited temperature level;
• An energy-saving lamp has a large surface area. Thanks to this, the distribution of light throughout the room is more even and soft (100% eyes get tired less)

An interesting fact: the official date of creation of the first fluorescent (or fluorescent) lamp by the American engineer-inventor Peter Cooper Hewitt is September 17, 1901. Such a lamp contained mercury, the vapors of which were heated by conducting a current through it. The Hewitt lamp was in the form of a slightly curved ball, it gave more light than the Edison lamp, but this light had a bluish-green color - unpleasant to the eye. That is why the first mercury lamps were used only by photographers and they were not widely used.

Some dispute Hewitt's primacy in the invention, calling the little-known German physicist Martin Arons (who conducted experiments with mercury lamps at the end of the 19th century) the "father" of the fluorescent lamp. In addition, Nikola Tesla also patented an electric lighting system using discharge lamps in 1891.

Flaws:

• Uneven glow or flickering, which for a long time causes eye fatigue and irritation;
• There is a so-called "heating effect" - when the lamp is turned on, it gradually gains brightness;
• Another, but extremely significant drawback is the content of mercury from 1 to 3 mg. This indicator does not pose a direct threat to human health. But if such a lamp breaks in your house, you must carefully collect all the remnants, then treat the fall site with an ordinary solution of potassium permanganate, and ventilate the room well.

That is why such lamps should not be thrown away with ordinary garbage. Moreover, this is prohibited by the current legislation of Ukraine, and for non-compliance with the requirements for waste management, individuals are fined in the amount of UAH 340 to 1360, officials and citizens - business entities - from UAH 850 to 1700.

Of course, in practice, no one will catch violators near the landfill, but who will take care of our safety, if not ourselves? Mercury tends to accumulate in living organisms, and this leads to disorders of the central nervous system and internal organs (first of all, the liver, kidneys and respiratory tract suffer). In addition, 1 gram of mercury, when released into the environment, pollutes (an indicator of exceeding the level of maximum permissible concentrations) more than 3.3 million cubic meters of air or 200 thousand cubic meters of water. According to experts, more than 500 kg of mercury end up in Ukrainian landfills every year. And it is not difficult to imagine what consequences this can lead to.

LED lamps - LED lamps- gradually win the favor of Ukrainian consumers.

Interesting fact: On October 7, 2014, the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Japanese inventors - Isamu Akasaki, Amano Hiroshi, Shuji Nakamura. Their invention is blue LEDs, which can, in combination with green and red LEDs, form White light. The jury called this invention "revolutionary", since previously only red and green diodes were known, and with the advent of blue, it became possible to create white LED lamp, having high energy efficiency, long service life and are environmentally friendly. Incandescent light bulbs lit up the 20th century. The 21st century will be illuminated by LED lamps.

Advantages:

• Economical and efficient power consumption, long operating time;
• Environmental friendliness - do not contain mercury or other harmful impurities;
• The maximum luminous flux is reached immediately after switching on;
• Shock and vibration resistance;
• Purity and variety of colors, throughout the entire life of the LED-lamp does not lose color temperature (in some cases, this figure even grows) and a high level of color rendering;
• Relatively constant directivity of radiation - minimal loss of light flux;
• It has the ability to adjust the intensity of illumination (they differ in price from conventional LED lamps), which allows them to be used in devices with dimmers, motion sensors, timers, etc.;
• Fire safety - heats up only up to 40 degrees;
• Operated at low temperatures;
• The emission spectrum is closer to natural, there is no flicker (do not cause eye fatigue);
• LED lamps do not require special technologies for recycling;

Flaws:

• High cost could be attributed to them, but world technologies are constantly changing, and soon such lamps will become much cheaper, moreover, our calculation shows that the price is very quickly covered by real savings;
• The luminous flux indicated on the box does not always correspond to the actual light output, which can decrease up to 20% over time;
• Poorly tolerate tightness and high humidity.

Practical Tips:

When buying, pay attention to the power of the lighting device and the number of hours of operation that are guaranteed by the manufacturer;

Save the packaging: if the lamp burned out quickly, you can contact the manufacturer or seller for a replacement;

Addresses of collection and recycling points energy saving lamps throughout Ukraine (and in the city of Kyiv) can be viewed on the page

One of the most effective ways to save energy is to replace incandescent bulbs with more efficient ones. In order to save energy, standard light bulbs today can be replaced with either LED or fluorescent (they are often called energy-saving). What to choose? Let's compare two types of light sources to find out which of the lamps is better - fluorescent or LED.

Design of fluorescent and LED lamps

A hermetically sealed glass bulb, inside which contains an inert gas and mercury vapor - this is what a fluorescent light bulb is. Under the influence of electricity, radiation appears in the bulb. Passing through the walls with the phosphor deposited on them, this radiation is transformed into a luminous flux.

The LED lamp is much more complicated. It is a design consisting of a set of LEDs mounted on cooling radiators, a voltage converter, a control circuit, and additional optics. All this is designed to obtain lighting that meets the highest requirements.

Which lamps are better to choose - LED or fluorescent

Based on what is known about these lighting devices, we compare them according to several criteria:

1. Electricity consumption. For example, take a standard 60W light bulb. To replace it, provided that the illumination is maintained at the same level, you will need a 12 W energy-saving light bulb or a 5-Watt LED. Differences in energy consumption are noticeable to everyone - an LED lamp will provide more than twice the savings compared to a fluorescent lamp. If compared with ordinary lamp incandescent, consumption drops 12 times.

2. Durability. If you believe the statements of manufacturers of energy-saving lamps, their service life is an order of magnitude longer than that of conventional light bulbs. The following figures are announced: the maximum duration of work is 8000 hours, the average is about 4-5 thousand hours. LED lamps show a different result - about 50,000-60,000 hours. The comparison is clearly in favor of LEDs.

3. Persistence and unpretentiousness. Most energy-saving lamps, even the newest models, last less than the declared period due to harsh operating conditions. Power supply surges for fluorescent lamps are harmful, which leads to their earlier failure. Voltage fluctuations do not seriously affect the normal operation and parameters of LED lighting devices. If the cooling of the LEDs is organized correctly, the LEDs work for at least a dozen years. In addition, LED lamps are less affected by low temperatures, humidity, and mechanical stress.

4. Qualitative characteristics of light. For rooms, the quality of illumination is determined by the light transmission index of the device. For LED and fluorescent lamps, the value of this parameter ranges from 80–85, with a maximum value of 100. However, it should be mentioned that fluorescent lamps have a smaller spectrum than LED ones and flicker quite often.

5. Safety. Speaking about safety for humans and the environment, it should be remembered that fluorescent lamp bulbs contain a certain amount of mercury vapor. Disposal of this type of lighting fixtures requires special equipment, so they must be handed over to the appropriate organization. LED lighting products do not contain toxic or environmentally harmful compounds.

Conclusion. As a result, we can draw the following conclusion: LED lamps win the comparison in most technical and user properties. The only criterion by which fluorescent lamps are still ahead is the price. Today, however, LED manufacturers are scaling up output and lowering costs. The difference in price is getting smaller every year, and according to other criteria, the choice is obvious.

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