Fluorescent Lighting Systems: For a Brighter and More Economical Living

Making use of fluorescent lighting rather than incandescent lighting enables one to save money due to less energy consumption. Fluorescent lighting is known to be more energy efficient than their incandescent counterparts.

With the incandescent types a lot of light and energy is wasted. The UV light that the incandescent light produces is not converted to visible light that contributes to the overall luminance of a bulb. The fluorescent lighting bulbs effectively captures this UV light, and with the use of phosphor powder coating the inner portion of the bulb, the conversion of this UV light to visible light is facilitated.

A fluorescent lighting fixture is composed primarily of 3 parts namely: the bulb, the starter, and the ballast. These are assembled together with the wattage as a common reference.

When replacing a defective fluorescent lighting fixture, start with the bulb. Get it out from its original casing, and try it out on another one. If it isn't defective, check on the starter next. If it works on another fixture, then most probably, the ballast is the problem part. The ballast is usually durable and would least break down. So it is wise to check this last among the fluorescent lighting bulb components. Be sure to de-energize the circuitry for safety reasons, prior to working on the ballast. You can do this by removing the circuit fuse; else make sure to trip the circuit breaker. Then if all original parts of the bulb work well, check the switch and replace as necessary. It is also important on handling switches to always de-energize the circuitry. Be careful and practice safety at all times.

In assembling and disassembling of the component parts of a fluorescent lighting fixture during testing, make sure to be careful on the wiring. A good advice would be to do the re-wiring a wire at a time. Keep in mind that an incorrect wiring would also cause a malfunction so make sure that you connect back the appropriate wires.

Fluorescent lighting tubes come in diameters: T-2, T-5, T-8, and T-12. These vary in lengths from 12 inches to 6 feet. Take special notice of the right pin configuration for your fixture. Pin configuration includes recessed pin, single-pin or twin-pin. For a desired effect, available are warm colors to cool colors depending on the Kelvin rating. A very warm color temperature is around 2,700 degrees Kelvin, and on the other end is the 6,300 degrees Kelvin that is on the cool end of the continuum.

Fluorescent lighting systems now come in better fixtures, ballasts and improved tube technology, which makes it ideal for a wide variety of home and office use. Replacement and repair of such is not an issue either, giving it an additional plus factor.
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Corrie Duana, an expert in Home Improvement, is a writer for ArticleZone.com.