To date, three types of light bulbs are available for sale to ordinary consumers: an incandescent lamp, a fluorescent lamp (housekeeper) and an LED light bulb. The first option can already be considered an anachronism, because it consumes a lot of electricity, and the only plus is a low price, but at the same time they often burn out, which reduces plus to minus.

Fluorescent light bulbs (housekeepers) are more expensive than incandescent bulbs, but they have a much longer service life and even allow you to save on electricity. In the equivalent with incandescent lamps, approximately 20-30% of the power consumed by an incandescent lamp is consumed.

Of course, the most promising in terms of savings are LED lamps that consume only 8-10 watts of electricity with a luminous flux equivalent to 100 watts of an incandescent lamp. Even though they are very expensive at the moment, this is more than compensated by the manufacturer's warranty obligations alone. After all, with 3 or even 5 years of warranty, you can save at least on replacing lamps.

It is also worth noting that the LED lamp almost never burns out, it can only lose some of its brightness after 3-4 years of service. She is not afraid of frequent switching on / off, as well as voltage drops, so characteristic of our power grids. Well, another important feature of LED lamps is minimal heating during prolonged operation, which allows them to be used in stretch ceilings and closed ceiling lights.

Base type and lamp size

Maxus 1-LED-335 A60 12W 3000K E27 AL

First of all, before buying a light bulb, pay attention to the type of base – study the part of the light bulb with which it is mounted in the cartridge. There are a great many plinths, you will have to choose from at least two of the most popular options:

– E27 (normal) – a classic base with a diameter of 27 mm with a thread and a central contact;

– E14 (minion) – a miniature base with a diameter of 14 mm is used, usually, in household appliances (refrigerators, ovens) or small lamps.

There are also reinforced plinths of a larger diameter or two-pin plinths for various kinds of lamps, but this is already too narrow a specialization and if you come across just such a one, it's better to take a burned-out light bulb with you to buy exactly the same.

It's ok to at least visually inspect and remember the diameter of the lamp itself, since LED and fluorescent lamps may have a diameter larger than the standard one, which will not allow them to be used in small lampshades or lamps.

Luminous flux, claimed power and analogues of LON

Panasonic 10W (75W) 2700K E27

The most important criteria for energy-saving and LED lamps are the luminous flux (brightness) and power consumption. They are dependent and cannot be considered separately, because an LED lamp that provides a luminous flux of more than 1000 lumens simply cannot consume less than 10 watts. The same applies to fluorescent lamps, where 15-20 watts of power will give off a luminous flux of 1100-1300 lm.

Based on this, please note that a conventional analogue lamp of 40 watts will provide approximately 350 lumens of luminous flux. This is a relatively minimal indicator of illumination, because anything less is twilight. There are also LED lamps of 4 watts (like an analogue of 40 watts), but their flow may not exceed 220 lumens, which in fact will give very little light. It is better to choose a light bulb of 5 or 6 watts, but with a brightness of 350 lumens, which will at least approximately provide an analogue of an incandescent lamp of 40 watts. Many consumers, in pursuit of savings, do not pay attention to this fact and receive minimal lighting, which will greatly strain their eyes.

In order not to get confused in these parameters, when choosing a lamp, it is better to be guided by such an indicator as an analogue of a general-purpose lamp (incandescent lamps). Here you can even define a certain formula in order to understand approximately what power you need:

Fluorescent lamp power = incandescent lamp power / 5

LED lamp power = incandescent lamp power / 10

Of course, you should not wait for the exact result, because different manufacturers may have different power and luminous flux indicators. However, to get the equivalent of a 100W LON, you should buy a 19-20 W fluorescent lamp or a 10-12 W LED bulb.

To get the equivalent of a 100W incandescent lamp, you should buy a 19-20 W fluorescent lamp or a 10-12 W LED bulb

Colour temperature

With comparable characteristics in power and luminous flux, fluorescent and LED lamps may differ in colour temperature. There are two options here: warm and cold light.

Warm light is closer to an ordinary incandescent lamp,
it is more familiar to the eye and does not "hurt the eye"

The warm one is closer to a conventional incandescent lamp and provides a glow with a temperature of about 2700K, which implies a warm light more familiar to the eye and does not strain the eyes much.

Lamps with a cold daytime glow are conventionally divided into daylight (3001-5999 K) and bright blue-white (over 6000 K). Although fluorescent lamps seem brighter, they remain within the limits comfortable for the human eye, but a bright blue-white glow is recommended to be used only as a backlight for certain objects, since a person will not be able to work with such lighting for a long time.

It is recommended to install light bulbs with approximately the same glow temperature in the apartment (not in one chandelier, but at all), since transitions from one room to another can also be uncomfortable for vision when the lighting is on.

Directivity, dispersion and bulb type

The average consumer often does not even pay attention to these characteristics, but faces significant difficulties during operation. For example, fluorescent lamps provide diffused light at the expense of the tube itself. At the same time, LED lights can produce diffused or directional light. Everything is simple here: diffused light is needed in chandeliers for uniform illumination, and directional light can be used in table lamps or wall lamps.

LED lamps also have a bulb that covers the LEDs themselves. In this case, the bulb can be transparent or matte. In the latter case, the LED lamp will give only scattered light due to internal reflections.

If you install a transparent LED lamp in a chandelier with a transparent or open canopy, then the very glow of the diode, even with a fleeting glance at it, will "cut your eyes", which is very uncomfortable for vision. If a matte lamp is installed in a closed matte shade, then it will "darken" it even more and take some of the brightness on itself.

Additional options

Having decided on the main characteristics, you can order lamps. But also take into account the fact that only some lamps work with brightness control devices (dimmers).

Also, some lamps cannot work with switches that have an illuminated segment to facilitate their search in the dark. The electronic circuit of such devices is sometimes incompatible with LED or fluorescent bulbs, which may cause flickering or will not allow you to turn off or turn on the lamp at all.

Usually, famous manufacturers (Maxus, eurolamp, Philips, Osram, etc.) offer more expensive, but still high-quality and guaranteed light bulbs.

You can buy cheap analogues of fluorescent (economy) and LED lamps from Chinese magicians through multiple websites and online stores, but their products often suffer in quality and do not have a proper guarantee. After paying a decent amount in 1-2 years, you will receive a lamp that has lost its brightness or completely burned out.

There is also no need to build illusions about the service life. An ordinary incandescent lamp in our unstable power grid can work for 2-3 months, a fluorescent lamp will last 2-3 years, and a light bulb on LEDs will provide nominal brightness for 4-5 years. Based on the prices today, we get that in 5 years of operation you will change about 30 incandescent lamps, dispose of 2 housekeepers or use one LED bulb.