The incandescent is basically a simple light bulb that you often find in your homes and offices. The invention of lâmpadas has brought a massive change to our everyday lives. The light it brings into your life changes the way you move and work. 

A wide range of new light technologies have developed over the years that consume less energy and work efficiently. However, people still use incandescent light bulbs in their homes and workspaces due to the high quality of light. 

Let’s take a look at the history of lâmpadas incandescentes, their working principle, and some advantages and disadvantages. 

What Is An Incandescent Light Bulb?

An incandescent light bulb generally refers to a device that holds a fire inside it. When you turn on the electricity, the current passes through the base and heats the filament present in it. The heated filament produces a bright light. 

The working principle of an incandescent looks the same as burning coal or logs. When the filament burns, its particles fly off in the air. As long as the particles of the filament remain, it keeps burning. This means the bulb keeps producing lighting until it has enough filament to burn off. When there are no filaments left, the bulb gets burned out. 

Typically, an incandescent bulb takes about 800 to 1,200 hours to burn out. But here is one thing that you must know about incandescent bulbs. They produce heat with light. In reality, these bulbs generate only 10% light and 90% heat. This makes them super hot, so you better not touch it with bare hands. 

Structure of an Incandescent Light Bulb

Incandescent light bulbs usually comprise a few main components, which include:

  1. Filamento

The filament serves as the core element of the light bulbs. Filament basically comprises a thin wire called tungstênio. This thin wire of tungsten produces light upon heating. The developers chose tungsten over other substances because it has a high melting point. It has the ability to bear the high temperature of the bulb without damaging it.

  1. Glass Bulb

The light bulb contains glass that encloses filament. The main aim of glass is to protect the filament from getting in contact with external oxygen. If the filament interacts with oxygen, it will oxidize and start burning out rapidly. Therefore, the bulb contains gas like nitrogen or argon to protect the filament further. This also increases the overall life quality of the bulb.

  1. Base

An incandescent bulb also has a base of metal. It creates an electrical connection between the bulb and the electrical socket. The base also provides mechanical support to the bulb.

  1. Support Wires and Glass Stem

The support wires ensure that the filament stays in its place. Whereas the glass stem helps keep the vacuum controlled in the bulb.

Working Principle

An incandescent bulb consists of a base, tungsten filament, and glass bulb. When the current passes through the thin wire of filament. The filaments start resisting the current flow. This resistance heats up the filament at a high temperature of 2,500-3,000 degrees Celsius.

When the current reaches this temperature range, the filament starts glowing and emitting visible light. The light color basically depends on the range of temperature. It emits red light at low temperature and blue or white light at high temperatures. 

Advantages of Incandescent Light Bulbs

Although most people start using other light devices than incandescent bulbs, they still offer a variety of advantages.

  1. Quality of Light

An incandescent bulb produces a pleasant, warm light that resembles natural sunlight. This means you can have a comfortable and cozy environment with incandescent bulbs.

  1. Color Rendering

Incandescent bulbs have great color rendering ability. It means they can significantly enhance the colors of the things and objects. Places that need accurate colors of the things like galleries and art studios can use incandescent bulbs.

  1. Instant Illumination

These bulbs do not take time to produce light; instead, they provide instant illumination. 

  1. Dimmabilidade

They come in dimmable features. This means you can adjust the overall intensity of the light as per your needs and preferences.

  1. Low Initial Cost

Incandescent light bulbs come at an affordable price. Therefore, anyone can purchase it.

Disadvantages of Incandescent Light Bulbs

Despite the amazing benefits of incandescent light bulbs, they also have multiple drawbacks. Some of them include:

  1. Energy Inefficiency

An incandescent bulb does not function efficiently as a modern lighting device does. These bulbs use 100% electrical energy, of which only 10% is used to create light. The remaining 90% of energy is wasted on heat generation. In simple words, these light bulbs consume a lot of energy, which automatically increases the overall electricity bills.

  1. Short Lifespan

An incandescent light bulb typically works only for 750-2000 hours. This indicates that you need to replace them frequently. This will also increase the purchase cost.

  1. Geração de Calor

As you know, incandescent light bulbs generate so much heat. This heat can cause severe damage to some devices. Also, the heat can be more dangerous in a hot environment and lead to fire.

  1. Impacto ambiental

The low life quality and inefficiency of lâmpadas incandescentes contribute to environmental impact. They increase environmental waste and carbon emissions.

Comparison with Other Lighting Technologies

Over the years, manufacturers have come up with various lighting technologies. These lighting devices have better working efficiency, life quality, and functionality. Some of the popular alternatives to incandescent bulbs include LEDs and CFLs.

  1. Lâmpadas Fluorescentes Compactas (LFCs)

lâmpadas fluorescentes compactas stands for Compact Fluorescent Lamps. They work much better and more efficiently than incandescent light bulbs. They generally use very little energy to generate light. These lamps also have better life quality. They last up to 7000 to 15,000 hours. 

The only drawback of CFLs is that they contain a small quantity of mercury. If the bulb gets broken then it may cause potential health problems. 

  1. Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs)

LEDs stand for Light Emitting Diodes. They are one of the most energy-efficient devices. They use 80% less electricity than incandescent light bulbs. Moreover, they also function for 25,000 hours and sometimes more. 

The most amazing thing about LEDs is that they generate very little heat. They also come in a variety of styles and colors which makes them more popular than other lighting devices. As they work longer, so you don’t need to worry about frequent replacement which saves you a lot of money too.

The Future of Incandescent Light Bulbs

Today’s generation focuses on using more environmentally stable and energy-efficient lighting devices. Therefore, incandescent bulbs start fading from the environment. Many countries around the world have already started to cut out incandescent bulbs from society. 

Various parts of the United States and European Union have entirely banned the sale and purchase of certain incandescent bulbs.

However, despite the great opposition to incandescent bulbs, there are still some areas that specifically need only incandescent light bulbs. The devices that need instant brightness and places that require high-precision color rendering, still use incandescent light bulbs.

Conclusão

An incandescent light bulb will always serve as a foundational purpose in the lighting industry. Although new lighting technologies have taken over the place of these incandescent bulbs. There are still some places and applications that specifically use incandescent bulbs. 

These bulbs offer a ton of benefits like color rendering, instant illumination, dimmable, and bright light. On the other hand, it also has some drawbacks like less energy-efficient, high heat production, and less durability. 

No Vorlane, we specialize in producing high-quality lighting devices. If you are looking for a high-precision color-rendering light bulb that gives light instantly, then we can provide you with incandescent light bulbs. For more information, you can visit our official website or contact us to book your meeting.

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