Features

• The wattages indicated on light bulbs refers to the amount of power they need to produce a certain amount of lumens. Lumens are the measurement used to gauge the intensity of a lamp's light output. Fluorescent lamps are manufactured to put out around 100 lumens per watt of power used. These bulbs are traditionally used indoors but can also be used outdoors.
  
  

Power

• Using fluorescent light bulbs opposed to others, like incandescents, will take less power to produce a desired amount of light. Powering a 23 watt fluorescent bulb daily for four hours can spare the consumer the cost of nearly 76 kilowatts of electricity each year when compared with powering a 100 watt incandescent bulb for the same amount of time. Fluorescent bulbs, depending on the wattage, usually last around 10,000 hours before becoming ineffective, which is several times longer than traditional incandescents.
  
  

Function

• Fluorescents contain two electrodes, an anode and a cathode. Fluorescent bulbs also contain mercury vapor gas and argon. When electricity passes through the bulb between electrodes, photons are produced because electrons react with the gas. Photons react with the inner coating of the bulb and visible light is produced.
  
  

Mercury

• The only downfall in fluorescent lighting is that fluorescent bulbs contain mercury, which is a dangerous material to handle. Because mercury is recyclable, used fluorescent tubes should be recycled and disposed of properly. A fluorescent bulb will usually contain around 4 mg of mercury, depending on the size and wattage of the bulb.
  
  

Plant Growth

• An advantage of fluorescent light is that the high level of lumen output produced by fluorescent bulbs can be used to encourage plant growth. The whitish-blue light given off make these bulbs is ideal for vegetative growth and to promote growth of seedlings.