Lamp Types: Incandescent, Fluorescent, LED

The lamp, or light source, is where electricity becomes light, and the technology chosen sets the efficiency, lifespan, light quality and running cost of the whole installation. The story of lighting over the last two decades is the story of one technology, LED, overtaking everything else on almost every measure at once. This lesson walks the main types, the light-quality dimensions beyond raw efficacy, and why the remaining skill is specifying good LED rather than choosing a technology at all.