INCANDESCENT BULBS

Incandescent bulbs are frequently found in Australian homes. They can be purchased for a measly few dollars but they come with many downfalls that you will eventually pay for!

Incandescent bulbs have a 95% waste in heat, so you only get 5% of the light you pay for. Running 75 - 100 Watt Incandescent bulbs throughout an average house is equivalent to running a radiator heater; this has a huge effect on air conditioning costs!

Most Incandescent bulbs have a rated life of around 1000 hours so are a big inconvenience when always burning out in well used areas such as kitchen¡¯s, bedroom¡¯s, lounge room¡¯s and hallway¡¯s.

HALOGEN BULBS

Halogen bulbs are basically a modified incandescent bulb however the halogen is chemically reactive and filled with gasses of much higher pressure they also must operate at a very dangerous 300+ degrees.

Halogen Bulbs are so dangerous various manufactures recommend the bulbs are enclosed with a glass or plastic shield to guard people and objects from UV rays and the 300+ degree bulb violently shattering from excessive heat.

They are more expensive to operate due to the need for more bulbs in the one room and only have a rate life of around 2500 hours. Also 12 Volt and 240 Volt halogens require different fittings. 

Low voltage halogens also use a transformer that consumes roughly 30 percent of the bulbs energy, further reducing the efficiency.

CFLs

CFLs an acronym for Compact Fluorescent Lamps are designed to fit into some conventional light fittings. CFLs have a rate life of around 10,000 hours.

The light dispersion of CFLs is different and may appear less bright than the bulb they replace unless used in a specially designed fitting. Most CFLs have a charge up time normally using around 5 times the bulbs rated wattage for roughly 10 minutes, making them inefficient for small areas and lights frequently being switched on and off.

CLFs are not suitable for HOT or WET areas and the majority of CFLs manufactured cannot be dimmed. Due to the charge up process in CFLs they do not instantly produce light. The colour spectrum of available CFLs is also very unnatural.

LED REPLACEMENT BULBS
LEDs an acronym for Lighting Emitting Diodes - do not use a filament, as a halogen lamp does, but use a semi conducting crystal which creates a fine colour band of light. This differs depending on which form of crystal is used. This is how different colours of light are produced. By encapsulating the crystal with hard durable plastic opposed to vacuum glass filament the LED is a lot more durable and produces very little heat.

LED Technology is very technical, so below are links to some great detailed information on LEDs for your convenience.