Gadgetory

hey I'm seen that's a lightbulb guy and today we're gonna be taking an inside look at how different kinds of light bulbs actually operate what do I mean by inside look up first this incandescent light bulb that I just obliterated is the classic light bulb of Thomas Edison and it works by way of a tungsten filament inside of the bulb and a tungsten is a very dense robust chemical element and when electricity passes through it it gets really hot and really bright putting out the light that you get from Aleppo the problem there is that a lot of that electrical energy gets released as heat not light the tungsten filament can handle it because it's so robust but it doesn't make for a terribly efficient process and that brings us right to our next bulb the halogen now halogens are basically just the same thing as incandescent but they have an extra trick inside to help bump the efficiency up let's take a closer look now see the filament it's enclosed in this little chamber or at least it was before I smashed it there we go it's enclosing this little chamber that's filled with gas usually bromine or iodine that gas helps to recycle the Berghof tungsten back onto the filament and then extend the lifespan and help it put out more light using less energy now if you want something even more efficient you might consider a compact fluorescent light bulb like this one here now compact fluorescents are filled with a mix of kind of harmful fluorescent gases that you don't want to inhale so forgive me for taking a little bit of extra precautions here now they work because the electricity coming in excites mercury vapor inside of the bulb and that in turn emits light that process called fluorescence is what makes CFLs more efficient than incandescent or halogen but enough talk let's smash this damn thing now CFL bulbs are never see-through because they come with a special phosphorescent coating on the inside of the bulb that white powder you see is basically the same stuff it's a mix of rare earth metals it aids in the fluorescent process and helps the bulb emit the right amount of light when you clean it up you're gonna want to sweep everything you can into a sealable container like this one and then ideally drop that off at your local recycling or Waste Management Centre and don't use a vacuum if you want to sweep as much as you can up by hand first and then vacuum if you have to that way you avoid kicking things up into the air unnecessarily now if all of this seems like way too much of a hassle for you then consider an LED bulb like this one it's a much more efficient option than that CFL and it doesn't contain any mercury either now LEDs are usually made out of plastic and thus a little more durable than other kinds of bulbs but fortunately for us we've got one here that's made out of glass now LED stands for light-emitting diode and the diodes in question are these little yellow guys inside the bulb right here there are actually little junctions with two notes when electricity passes through it jumps from one node to the other and that releases light in a process called electro luminescence it's dramatically more efficient than the bulbs of Thomas Edison and though it cost a lot more upfront it'll save you a lot over the long-run well thanks for watching us smash the light bulbs hope you learn something for more about light bulbs and feeding our LED reviews and even a handy buying guide check us out at cnet.com / - home