BASICS 3 of 19
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Discharge Lamps - I "Discharge" refers to an electrical discharge like a spark, or a bolt of lightning.

Fluorescent Lamps

 

"Discharge" refers to an electrical discharge like a spark, or a bolt of lightning. There are two families of discharge lamps.

I - FLUORESCENT LAMPS:
Fluorescent lamps were typically 4-foot long straight tubes called linear fluorescent lamps. Today they are also available bent in U-shapes, in circles or twisted into compact shapes to go into household screw sockets to replace incandescent lamps.

Linear Fluorescent lamps: T12 and T8 come in 11/2, 2, 3, 4, and 8 foot lengths, 4-foot being the most common. The T12 tube is 12 "eighths" inch in diameter, T8 is 8 "eighths" of an inch—or 1 inch—in diameter.

Compact Fluorescent lamps: These come in "screw in" or "plug-in" varieties; they are discussed later in the fluorescent lamp section.

II - HIGH INTENSITY DISCHARGE (HID) LAMPS: see next page.
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