How do fluorescent lights work?

A fluorescent lamp puts this invisible light to work, and so is more efficient. Incandescent lamps also lose more energy through heat emission than do fluorescent lamps. Overall, a typical fluorescent lamp is four to six times more efficient than an incandescent lamp. read more

Vaporizing mercury and making light: The normal fluorescent lamp has a small amount of mercury in the tube. On a cold tube you would see it as a couple of pinhead sized dots if you were to break the tube so you can see inside. read more

Fluorescent lights are far more complex in design than incandescent light bulbs, and more efficient. An incandescent light bulb generates very little light relative to the amount of heat it generates, wasting much energy. read more

1901 - Use of mercury vapor arc to create UV light (critical to lighting up the modern fluorescent) and use of a ballast with the lamp: Peter Cooper Hewitt developed the first commercial mercury vapor lamp. read more

Fluorescent lights are far more complex in design than incandescent light bulbs, and more efficient. An incandescent light bulb generates very little light relative to the amount of heat it generates, wasting much energy. Fluorescent bulbs waste very little energy and generally last up to six times longer than incandescent bulbs. read more