Tube Light

A Tube Light is a lighting device like a bulb that produces light energy to remove darkness at a space where it is installed. It works on the principle of low pressure mercury vapour discharge by which it converts ultra violet ray into observable ray. In doing so it is supported by phosphor which is coated on the inside walls of the glass tube. For proper functioning of the tube light it requires some critical components as given below:

• Filament coils as electrodes
• Mercury drop
• Phosphor coated glass bulb
• Electrode shield
• Inert gases (argon)
• Glass stem
• End cap 

·      While the above are important components that are used in the making of a tube light, however, it cannot function on its own as it does not work by direct supply of power. It requires additional components to function. The components are:

Ballast: In tube lights, ballast is an important component that regulates current to lamps and ensures adequate voltage to start the lamps. After the flow of current stabilizes, it instantly lessens the supply of voltage and maintains electric current to a certain level to produce a stable light. It can be electronic ballast or electromagnetic ballast.

Starter: This is a miniature neon lighting lamp containing a fixed contact, a small capacitor and a bimetallic strip.

Types of Tube Lights

Tube lights are very popular lighting devices in both commercial and domestic settings. Below given are some of the popular types of tube lights used for commercial as well as household applications.

X-Ray view Box Tube Light – this type of tube light is attached to x-ray box which is a device made of metallic epoxy coated powder. It normally comes with a translucent screen which can glow with the help of a backlighting tube light to read the radiographic image. When put on the translucent screen the x-ray image can be seen clearly after switching on the tube light.

CWF Tube Light – CWF stands for Cool White Fluorescent. CWF tube light is a white band fluorescent lighting device known to emit high amount of green light energy and very miniscule percentage of red light. It is mainly used for commercial lighting applications.

LED Tube Light – LED tube light works on the principal of light emitting diode. In such tube lights, a strip of light emitting diodes are fixed inside a round glass casing coated with phosphor. When switched on the electric current supplied lights up the LED strip, thereby, lighting the space where it is installed.

SMD LED Tube Light – SMD stands for ‘surface mounted device’. In this type of tube lights, there is an LED chip which is mounted directly onto a light strip without the use of a wire. This technology has enabled the functioning of LED strips. Therefore, in such tube lights the SMD LED strip creates luminosity when supplied with electrical power.