Fluorescent Lighting Components
- Fluorescent lights are made from ballasts, bulbs and gases.Andrea Bricco/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images
Fluorescent lights are a type of gas-based lighting, and are widely manufactured for residential and commercial lighting purposes. Despite using potentially hazardous materials like mercury, fluorescent bulb have several advantages over the older incandescent lights. They are easier to produce, they use far less electricity and they last much longer. All fluorescent lights have the same basic components. - The ballast is the electrical portion of the fluorescent bulb that manages the current. The ballast is located either in the base of the bulb or in its fixture. When the electricity passes through it, the ballast automatically regulates it, making sure the voltage is always correct and the cycles are consistent. Without the ballast, fluorescent bulbs would easily burn out.
- The bulb itself is made from glass and a special phosphor coating that lines the inside of the light. This is why fluorescent bulbs have a creamy color. The phosphor coating interacts with the energy that the bulb produces and glows. It is this glow that generate the light for fluorescents. The make-up of the coating determines the quality of the light that the bulb uses.
- There are gases inside the fluorescent bulb that allow it to function. The primary gas is typically a noble gas or an inert mixture that does not react easily to the current. However, the gas is mixed in with mercury vapor, which reacts to the current and produces ultraviolet radiation. It is this radiation that passes into the phosphor coating and causes it to glow.
- Electrodes are the metal contact points on either side of the bulb that complete the electrical connection. The current passes from one electrode, through the gas, and to the other electrode. This is why fluorescents are tube-shaped.
