Tips before buying Bulbs

• The single most important point to consider is to know that we must look at bulbs in terms of Lumens and not watts. While watt is the amount of energy your bulb consumes, lumens is the actual amount or intensity of light it produces.
• A 100 watt incandescent bulb consumes just 10 percent of the energy and the 90% of the leftover energy is just a wastage. One must note that the bulb we are planning to buy produces more lumens and consumes less watts.
• Instead of the cost of the bulb, consider the efficiency and the longevity factor of the bulb. An Incandescent bulb costs less as compared to compact fluorescent light bulb but a CFL bulb lasts much longer than an incandescent bulb.
• Fixtures designed for push-in fluorescent or halogen bulbs may not be able to sustain other kind of bulbs. So, once you are deciding in favour of CFL bulb, it should be known that you cannot have an Incandescent bulb again.
• In general usage, one cannot use dimmers for fluorescent light bulbs. If you still attempt to fix a dimmer on it , you might be taking a chance with the bulb.
• Dimmers are used to minimize energy consumption in case you require less power of light. But if you feel that you are using dimmers far too often, it's time you replace your bulb and get a less watt bulb instead.
• If you use a 100 watt bulb, then do not think that you can replace it with two 50 watt bulbs. If you want to equate the amount of light, then you will have to use two 60 watts bulb to get equal luminance.
• Frosted bulbs diffuse the light while clear bulbs give unrestrained sharp light. You can have a clear bulb if you do not want to diffuse light and want to use an effective lighting.
• If you have to use bulbs in outdoor, but do not have an enclosed and protective fixture, it is better if you buy specially designed outdoor bulb. The regular bulb may not be able to face the vagaries of nature.