Lighting Components

Outdoor Lamps and Streetlights

• Some basic components of streetlights are lampposts, fixtures or sockets and their connection to a municipal power grid. What has traditionally set streetlights apart from other types of lamps has been the type of bulb they employ. High pressure sodium lightbulbs, which cast a flickering yellow or orange glow, line city streets and highways throughout the United States. In 2009 and 2010, many cities began replacing high pressure sodium bulbs with LED bulbs. Cities preferred their longer life span, lower energy consumption and wider arc of illumination compared to their sodium counterparts.

Fluorescent Light

• Conventional fluorescent lightbulbs, which consist of a gas-filled tube and electrical connectors on both ends, are an energy-efficient overhead alternative to incandescent bulbs. Fluorescent lights require heat to produce illumination, and may employ one of three methods to generate that heat. Preheated lights feature cathodes, which heat up while the light is starting, and use a starter within the fixture. These lights may take between a few seconds and a few minutes to reach full luminance, depending on ambient room temperatures. Rapid-start lights use continuously heated cathodes and ionization from the fixture, with the starter function integrated into the ballast. Under normal conditions, these lights reach luminance within a matter of seconds. Instant-start lights require a high starting voltage, sometimes with ionization from a fixture, and become lit within a time span comparable to that of incandescent or LED bulbs.

Home Lighting

• Home lightbulbs may be incandescent lights, in which a heated filament glows within an inert gas to produce light. Such bulbs may also be compact fluorescents, in which the principles of fluorescent lights are applied in a small, twisted tube designed to fit the shape of a conventional incandescent bulb. Home lightbulbs may also be made of multiple LEDs, in which the luminance of many small LEDs are combined to provide light comparable to that of compact fluorescent or incandescent bulbs. These lights commonly use a socket with a medium screw base. Other socket sizes include the larger Mogul size, commonly used in outdoor security lights, and many smaller sizes.

Stage Lighting

• Lighting for the stage accomplishes different effects. Floodlights cast wide areas of light to illuminate sets and groups of performers. Spotlights make use of reflectors and lenses to cast narrow beams, which call an audience's attention to a specific area within the whole performance space. Colored gels change the color of the light cast, which sets a mood or accents a particular area on the stage. An electrician or lighting technician uses a control board to control stagelights.