ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

• Incandescent Lamp (general service)

  • Compact Size
  • No Ballast
  • Low Initial
  • Good optical control
  • Good color rendering
  • Dimmable
  • Good lumen maintenance
  • Light output not affected by ambient temperature
  • No delay on starting or restarting
  • No stroboscopic problems at 60 hz
  • High power factor
• Incandescent Lamp (general service)


  • Short life
  • Very low efficacy (lm/W)
  • Extremely bright point source
  • High operating temperature
  • Light output affected by voltage variation
• Incandescent Lamp (Tungsten-halogen)


  • Compact Size
  • No Ballast
  • Good color rendering
  • Moderate life
  • Excellent optical control
  • Dimmable
  • Excellent lumen maintenance
• Incandescent Lamp (Tungsten-halogen)


  • Lamp Handling is difficult during maintenance
  • High cost
  • Low efficacy
  • Operating temperature affects lamp life and output UV component
• Fluorescent lamp


  • Linear, circular and compact shape
  • Moderate cost
  • Optical control limited
  • Good efficacy
  • Long lamp life
  • Good color rendition
  • Low point brightness
  • Low operating temp
  • Low infrared output
  • Can be operated with a higher system voltage
  • Only minor delay on starting and restarting
  • Good lumen maintenance
  • Dimmable, with special ballasts
• Fluorescent lamp


  • Requires ballast
  • Contains toxic mercury vapor
  • Quite sensitive to ambient temperature
  • Light output drops in cold areas
  • Light output drops in hotter luminaires
  • Lumen output decreases through lifetime
  • Flickering light on 50hz magnetic ballast
  • Lumen output decreases through lifetime
• High Intensity Discharge (HID) general type


  • High output in compact size
  • Light output not affected by ambient temperature
  • Cold weather starting problems
  • Can be operated at higher system voltage
• High Intensity Discharge (HID) general type


  • Very bright point source
  • Long warm- up and restrike times
  • Difficult to dim
  • Stroboscopic effect problems
• Mercury Vapor lamp


  • Moderate efficacy
  • Very long life
  • Good lumen maintenance
  • Dimmable to 25%
• Mercury Vapor lamp


  • Starting takes 3- 5 mins
  • Relatively high cost of lamp and ballast
  • Does not restart immediately
  • Has large ballast and may be noisy
• Metal halide


  • High efficacy
  • Good color rendering
  • Medium to long life
• Metal halide


  • Variation in color, especially at end of life
  • With large ballast and maybe noisy
  • High cost of lamp and ballast
  • Starting takes 2-8 mins.
  • Dimmable to 60%
• High Pressure Sodium


  • Very high efficacy
  • Long lamp life
  • Excellent lumen maintenance
  • Good optical control
• High Pressure Sodium


  • Poor color rendering
  • With large ballast and maybe noisy
  • High cost of lamp and ballast
  • Starting takes 1- 4 mins.
  • Dimmable to 50%- 60%
• ELECTRODELESS LAMPS (INDUCTION TYPE)


  • No electrodes needed
  • Extremely long lamp life, 100 000 h
  • Excellent lumen maintenance
  • Instant starting, no cold-start
  • No flickering
  • No glare and light pollution
  • Good efficacy, 60-80 lpw
• ELECTRODELESS LAMPS (INDUCTION TYPE)


  • Expensive
  • Operate at high frequency power
  • special generator or ballast is needed
• LED


  • Small size (heat sink can be large)
  • Physically robust
  • Long lifetime expectancy (with proper thermal management)
  • Switching has no effect on life, very short rise time
  • Contains no mercury
  • Excellent low ambient temperature operation
  • High luminous efficacy (LEDs are developing fast and their range of luminous efficacies is wide)
  • New luminaire design possibilities
  • Possibility to change colors
  • No optical heat on radiation
• LED


  • High price
  • Low luminous flux/package
  • CRI can be low
  • Risk of glare due to high output with small lamp size
  • Need for thermal management
  • Lack of standardization