Fluorescent lamps

General information and pictures for the product group: "Fluorescent lamps" Fluorescent lamps produce 70% of artificial light throughout the world. Their excellent economy and eco-friendly characteristics make them the first choice for many applications. Fluorescent lamps combine high luminous efficacy with low power consumption. A LUMILUX? fluorescent lamp, for example, needs only around 15% of the electrical power that an ordinary light bulb needs. In terms of their lifespan they are also an excellent alternative. The average life of a LUMILUX? T5 HO is 24,000 hours, and that of a LUMILUX? T8 20,000 hours - compared with just 1000 hours for an ordinary light bulb.Low power consumption and long life mean that fluorescent lamps are kind to the environment. Their recycling quota is another plus for the environment. More than 90% of the weight of an OSRAM fluorescent lamp can be reused for manufacturing lamps and 5 to 10% of the weight (e.g. metals) can be used in the manufacture of other products.First choice for durability.The environmentally friendly LUMILUX? lamp.LUMILUX? fluorescent lamps from OSRAM are increasingly kind to the environment. The T8 LUMILUX? lamps now contain only 3 mg of mercury, and the LUMILUX? T5 HE and HO lamps only 2.5 mg - so they fall far below the RoHS threshold of 5 mg. In systems with ECGs from OSRAM these lamps make an ideal contribution to environment protection - not only because of the very small quantities of hazardous substances but also because of their very high efficiency and long reliable life (with consequently lower consumption of resources). They are also perfect for combining with daylight dimmer systems and presence detectors. This leads to even greater energy savings.How a fluorescent lamp works.Fluorescent lamps are low-pressure gas discharge lamps. The glass tube is filled with an inert gas at low pressure and a small quantity of mercury. The glass wall is coated with a phosphor. At the ends of the glass tube are pasted electrodes. When an electrical charge is passed between them the mercury vapor emits UV radiation. When the UV radiation hits the phosphor the phosphor emits visible light. The color can be varied for different applications by selecting different phosphor mixes.