Energy saving lamps are not as special as many people believe. The principle is simple – it is the combination of high efficiency small size fluorescent tube with small size integrated ballast.

The fluorescent tube has been made small by bending it a couple of times and the ballast has been made small by the use of electronic components.

Since the invention of fluorescent tubes it is a known factor that those lamps provide 60 lumens or more per Watt of energy compared to an average of 12 lumens per Watt for incandescent lamps.

Hence fluorescent tubes provide 5 times more light than normal lamps saving thus about 80% of energy compared to normal lamps. This is a known fact for ages but now that we can make the tubes small and with the use of the electronics we can make them so small that they can replace existing lamps in existing fixtures. That is all what is new.

Energy saving lamps used to be very expensive to the general public but prices have come down sharply mainly after the patents of Osram and Philips have expired after which mass production started in China.

Today they are not that expensive any more. Even so, in developing countries consumers still hesitate as the price difference between a normal lamp and an energy saving lamp is still significant. As a matter of fact the energy saving lamp is cheaper in use than the normal lamp but most people are still not aware of that and look at the cost of the initial “investment“ to buy the lamp rather than looking at the total cost of a light during the total lifetime of the lamp.

We have to explain the user that energy saving lamps are cheaper and better and that using them saves our earth and resources, reduces CO2 and preserves the environment in many ways.

Option 1 : Buy the normal lamp 6 pieces because the life of a normal lamp is only 1.000 hours. If they cost US$ 0.50 per piece then this will cost US$ 3.00 .

During the 6.000 hours the lamp will consume 100W per hour which makes a total of 600.000 Watts = 600 kWh (kilo Watt hours) which costs about US$ 0,10 per kWh making a total cost of US$ 60.00 !

The total cost of option 1 will therefore be US$ 3.00 + US$ 60.00 = US$ 63.00

Option 2 : Buy the energy saving lamp and only 1 piece since the life is 6.000 hours or more. The lamp can be 20W only since it provides 5 times more light than the normal lamp. Such a lamp may cost US$ 6.00 .

During the 6.000 hours the lamp will consume 20W per hour only which makes a total of 120.000 Watts = 120 kWh (kilo Watt hours) which costs about US$ 0,10 per kWh making a total cost of US$ 12.00 !

The total cost of option 2 will therefore be US$ 6.00 + US$ 12.00 = US$ 18.00

So you see that the consumer may think that the energy saving lamp is “expensive“ with US$ 6.00 versus the normal lamp of only US$ 0.50 but actually the purchase of the energy saving lamp will save the consumer US$ 45.00 !

Energy Saving Lamps exist in a large variety of qualities and corresponding prices. In western Europe the tendency is that the market goes for cheaper and cheaper lamps as long as there is no government rule about the minimum quality such lamps have to provide. In the U.K. there is a ruling coming up from the Energy Trust Committee that sponsors the use of these lamps but those lamps have to comply for stringent rules on life and lumen-maintenance. It is likely that those rules will be adapted for the rest of Europe within a couple of years. If so, the consumer will be protected against very cheap bad lamps. As such the lamp is a kind of throw away item in Europe. When the lamp is finished, no problem, just buy a new (cheap) one.

Funny enough we find that in poor countries people are prepared to pay a lot of money for a good lamp as they consider the purchase of the lamp as a kind of investment and not a “ throw away item “.

Lamps can be made a lot cheaper by reducing the cost of the phosphors. These are the powders used for the coating of the glass inside the lamp. The cheapest lamps are made with only 1 or 2 phosphors where-as good lamps are made with high quality 3 phosphor which is made in Japan or in Germany.

Good lamps are made using SMT Technology for the printed circuit board (PCB) inside the base of the lamp. Using more simple technologies and reducing the number of components on the PCB will also make the lamp cheaper.

Here again expensive (good) lamps are a better deal than the cheap lamps. Cheap lamps may only provide 40 lumens per Watt against good lamps providing 60 lumens per Watt and this is exactly what saving energy is all about. Cheap lamps may have a life of only 1.000 hours against very good lamps which are guaranteed for 10.000 hours!

On the other hand even the cheap lamps do save energy compared to normal lamps and the life of a normal lamp is also 1.000 hours only. Low prices make the lamps affordable to poorer people.

In some poor countries the use of energy saving lamps is sponsored by the government. People can pay for the lamps in instalments on their energy-bills. As the lamps save energy, the bill will be lower allowing to pay for the lamps and when the lamps are paid in a year or so the consumer will face lower bills than before. This system is also known as “ Pay as you save “

Hotels and restaurants will always be looking for the more expensive professional lamps as the lamps are used almost 24 hours a day.

LOHUIS energy saving lamps have been approved by ELI (Efficient Lighting Initiative) which is sponsored by the World Bank and by the IMF. For details see www.efficientlighting.net

In 2002 the use of energy saving lamps amounted to 180 million pieces in the European Union against approximately 1.5 billion normal lamps. Soon 2 energy saving lamps will be sold against every 10 normal lamps. In development countries the use will also be not less than 5% very soon. In developing countries the market is about 1 lamp per person per year resulting in a demand of 50.000 energy saving lamps per 1 million people. In a country like Egypt the use of lamps is double i.e. 100.000 lamps per 1 million people very soon from today.

Energy saving lamps like all fluorescent lamps come in different colours. The difference in colour is determined by the colour-temperature of the lamps. This temperature is expressed in degrees of KELVIN (K). The spectrum of wavelength goes from infrared to ultra-violet measured in Nanometers.

Jargon
Knowledge of Light
1. Light (visible rays) / light wavelength unit: nm (nanometer)	Colours are perceived when your eye gathers light with the wavelength called visible rays. Light is one type of electromagnetic waves include the electric waves used for communication (such as television, radio and radar), X-rays, ultraviolet rays, and infrared rays. The range of visible ray perceived by human eyes differs slightly from person to person, but the upper limit is 760 nm-780 nm, and the lower limit is 38 nm-400 nm. Light (as visible rays) is divided into wavelengths, from shorter to longer or into what we call seven colours (violet, dark blue, blue, green, yellow, orange, red). The unit used for measuring the wavelength of light is nm (nanometer). (1 nm= 0.000000009m) This indicates a length of one millionth of 1 mm).
2. Spectral distribution	This indicates the density of light (energy) per unit of wavelength. The 3-band phosphor lamp (HI-LUMIC) concentrates the light in 3 bands, or blue (wavelength 447 nm), green (542 nm), and red (611 nm), providing the strongest visible reaction (visible colour reaction) at which human eyes perceive their greatest colour sensitivity. As a result, we have succeeded in enhancing the lamp's colour rendering characteristics without reducing its brightness. In addition, the lamp distributes the light into the bands having a high relative luminous factor (degree of brightness experienced by the human eye). This improves the colour appearance, while also providing greater brightness than that of any conventional fluorescent lamp (luminous flux compared at our company).
3. Colour temperature (scale indicating light colour of light source/ unit: K (Kelvin)	The colour of light emitted from object (light source) is called "light source colour." Fluorescent lamps are classified, according to the colour they emit, into cool white, daylight, etc., which are terms used to describe the light source colour. For example, the light from incandescent lamps looks yellowish-orange, that from fluorescent lamps is whitish, and that from mercury lamps, bluish white. Such light source colours are generally expressed by the colour temperature (unit K: Kelvin). Generally, the light of lower colour temperature will look reddish. As the colour temperature increase, the light becomes whiter, and as it further increases, the light looks bluish.
4. Lamp efficiency (brightness and economy)/ unit: lm/W(lumen/watt)	This is expressed by the ratio of total luminous flux (light quantity) generated from the light source to the lamp wattage consumed to generate it. For example, the lamp efficiency of a fluorescent lamp F40T10/CW (total luminous flux 3,100 lm) is 3,100/40=77.5 (lm/W).
5. Colour rendition (how the colours of an object appear to the human eyes) (The average colour rendering index: expressed by Ra)	When an object is placed under an incandescent bulb, the colours of the object look like when it is placed under natural light, while under a fluorescent lamp or a mercury lamp, it looks different. How the colours of an lbject appear to the human eyes when it is placed under a certain light source is called "colour rendition". The notation of the colour rendering properties is defined by JLS standards: the reference light source is specified in place of natural light and, in accordance with how the colours appear to the human eyes, the colour rendering index is calculated. The value of the colour rendering index when an object is placed under the reference light source (as a substitute for natural light) is set at 100. The lamp having the closest value to 100 is considered to have the most excellent colour rendition. When the value of a light source measures exactly the same as that of the reference light source, it is expressed as "Ra 100". As the discrepancy becomes greater, the value of Ra decreases. Generally, the light source whose average colour rendering index (Ra) exceeds 80 is regarded as having good colour rendering properties. In addition, seven color charts are provided for the evaluation of the colour rendering properties for specific objects, such as those having brilliant colours, leaves, skin, etc. Another system for evaluating colour rendition uses test charts with seven colours including the extremely bright ones (red, yellow, green, and blue). The values are expressed by the special colour rendering indexes (R9-R15).

Near the Equator people like the more intense colour of daylight as their eyes are used to intense sunlight. The daylight colour in lamps is at 6.500 degree K.

More to the north and to the south people prefer a softer light like 4.000 degree K which in lamp terms is called cool white.

Far away from the Equator people prefer even warmer and softer light which is at 2.700K which in lamp-terms is warm white.

In the UK people have their own colour at 3.500K which is known as “ English White “.

The warm white lamps give a cosy atmosphere and is very often used in hotel-rooms, even when they are located in the Middle East or so. People who understand light will also prefer the warm white lamps in their homes as it is the nearest colour to the normal incandescent lamps.

In Europe people will use 2700K in their homes and will use 4000K in offices and in hospitals etc.