Reducing the cost of energy is an issue that spans across the globe and is putting pressure on the people in power to, ultimately, stop the production of old-style light bulbs.

Interest in Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) has dramatically increased recently, even though they have been available for many years.

This is due to the negative aspects of more conventional light bulbs with regards to environmental issues.

Millions have been invested by the big lamp companies into upping the quality and performance of their energy efficient lights.

The new ranges of CFL’s have longer lifespans, do no flicker and work just as well through a large variety of room temperatures.

They are also of course, far more eco-friendly than the older traditional light bulbs.

This type of lamp is now able to be used in nearly any domestic or commercial lighting setting. Alongside all the savings to be made on energy and maintenance, it’s clear to see that energy saving lamps are the future of lighting.

Light bulbs have a very simple structure. At the base, they have two metal contacts, which connect to the ends of an electrical circuit. The metal contacts are attached to two stiff wires, which are attached to a thin metal filament. The filament sits in the middle of the bulb, held up by a glass mount. The wires and the filament are housed in a glass bulb, which is filled with an inert gas, such as argon.

An electric current flows from one metal contact to the other when the bulb is connected to a power supply, moving through the wires and filament. Electric current inside a solid conducter is defined by the mass movement of free electrons (electrons that aren’t strongly attached to an atom) from an area of negative charge, to an area of positive charge.

As electrons bolt through the filament, they are constantly colliding with the atoms in the filament. The energy of each collision vibrates an atom, basically, the current heats up the atoms. A finer conductor heats up quicker than a thicker one as it has a greater resistance to the movement of electrons.

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