Are they bulbs or lamps?

19/06/2016

Bulbs or lamps ? You see we have a ‘thing’ going on in our house. My technically minded Mister, and the 14 year old tell me that electricians call light bulbs ‘lamps’ however I say they are bulbs as in ‘light bulbs’ and they say bulbs are what you plant in the garden! Aren’t men funny things?

Do you call them Bulbs or Lamps?

I also say and truly believe that light bulbs can make or break a lighting design and with that we all agree.

How do you choose the correct lamp/bulb? There are many considerations to contemplate when selecting the right one for your home…

Things to consider when choosing a light bulb:

1. Brightness: this is measured in Lumens.
I choose to have bright lights in all my work areas and on my side of the bed (especially handy when crocheting). Marc prefers a softer light on his side. In my sewing room I have very bright lights too. Whereas in the lounge and sitting room we have softer lighting scattered around.I believe its called ambient light.

2. Purpose: Inside or outside?
Common sense really, but with things like security lights, motion sensor lights bulbs/lamps must be chosen according to purpose. Childrens nightlights come into this area too, again common sense will prevail as you need the lamp to be light but not too bright.

3. Appearance: Consider if the bulb is to be viewed as part of the lighting design?
In our house we have a lot of visible bulbs because we favour simple industrial fittings. Marc made them all! So we prefer beautiful low energy bulbs with led filaments.

4. Energy: Today there is a wide variety of new energy saving inexpensive bulbs. They used to be so expensive and very ugly, halogen lights.Not anymore though! All our bulbs are now LED, because they use 90% less electricity. The 14 year old tested me on what it meant last week, he was impressed that I knew… ‘light emitting diodes’ So we get to have the classic iconic filament light bulb back with an energy saving twist. Thank goodness.

You can see the difference an LED bulb made below, to my crocheted standard lamp. The top pic is an old halogen and the bottom is an energy saving new LED filament bulb.