Bulbs

Bulb or Lamp?

Light fixtures or luminaires are objects that accommodate a light bulb (e.g. a table or ceiling lamp), lamps are the objects that can be fitted with bulbs (e.g. halogen bulb). Given their shape, incandescent bulbs are often called incandescent lamps and, in many instances, the word lamp is interchanged with bulb, and vice versa. Energy-saving bulbs are correctly called compact fluorescent lamp bulbs, neon-tubes are usually referred to as fluorescent lamps although they do not contain neon but do use mercury and argon. It is easy to get lost in this vocabulary jungle.

The following is an attempt at a basic overview of types of light bulbs relevant to households and other rooms such as classrooms. There is a wide range of information available, so this scope is limited and only minimal follow up links have been included.