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I have a weird issue where different types of light bulbs are triggering some kinds of visual issues.

I found this lightbulb to be perfect. However, when I unscrewed it to read the label, it fell on the ground and broke!

What kind of lightbulb is it on the inside? Incandescent, halogen, flourescent, compact flourescent, LED, or something else? If it's LED, why are the LED rods shaped like that? And what are the keywords to find a similar bulb?

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There is also a small circuit board inside the bulb end that I forgot to photograph.

nick carraway
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3 Answers3

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This is a LED filament bulb. The yellow rods are actually strings of blue LEDs mounted on an insulating substrate and coated in a phosphor than converts blue light to white.

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Compared to a standard lightbulb like this one:

enter image description here

Advantages:

  • It is filled with helium which transfers heat very efficiently, so it uses the whole glass bulb as cooling surface, instead of just using the base. So it overheats less in closed light fixtures.

  • Very low cost.

  • Many LEDs in series means they can be driven with high voltage which is more efficient

  • Transparent, so the light that comes out at the back of the bulb is reflected by the fixture, goes through the bulb and comes out where you need it. So you get a lot more light for the same cost and power. Standard bulbs or diffused bulbs are in the way of the reflected light, so if the bulb is mounted sideways you lose a significant fraction of the output.

Drawbacks:

  • All the electronics has to fit inside the base so it must be very small, which means a small capacitor, so some of these bulbs flicker.

  • Easy to break (it's glass)

  • Exposed mains voltage when broken

Other:

  • Light pattern is the opposite of a standard LED bulb: it emits more towards the sides, whereas the standard bulb emits more towards the top. This makes it better for some uses, worse in others. Usually for wall or ceiling fixtures it is better, because the bulb is mounted parallel to the wall or ceiling. For a pendant or desk lamp where you need the light to come out more like a spotlight, standard would be better.

Arrows indicate direction of highest light output with bulbs in the best orientation according to their type:

enter image description here

bobflux
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It has become trendy for marketing to call LED bulbs with retro looking glass and bases "Edison Bulbs", but in industry as the article linked to above is supporting, Edison Base bulbs are the standard for the screw is style bulbs. Their standard sizes all start with an "E" denoting Edison. Every standard screw in bulb is an Edison base bulb. Marketing departments and people who do not know anything about lighting and its history or don't care, just like calling them "edison bulbs" and they are, just one specific retro looking type. I love the retro LED bulbs. Also, they have not dominated the market for "decades" it is more accurately a century+. Radio tubes are now about 120 years old! They were made possible by light bulb technology, putting filaments,plates, and grids in evacuated glass tubes.

someone
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This is simply what is marketed as a "Vintage light bulb." That's all there is to it.

You can instantly find these anywhere that sells bulbs or instantly see them for sale online.

If you simply google nothing more than "light bulbs" you will see many of these (incredibly stupid) "Vintage Style" light bulbs:

enter image description here

Fattie
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