Compact fluorescent lamps

Although it had been discussed in principle over a long period, it was only after rare earth phosphors had been developed that small fluorescent lamps with high power loading and high brightness became available. In the early 1980s, a concept for reducing mercury pressure by a lamp design with a geometric ´cold spot´ was introduced, thus allowing the lamp to work at its optimum efficacy. With geometries similar to the incandescent bulb, and being produced when there was a high demand for energy conservation, these lamps boomed especially in connection with, mostly electronic, integral ballasts, thus being applicable in almost any incandescent fixture. Giving new impetus to luminaire design, today this new lamp family also covers lighting applications which, for a long time, were restricted to ´normal´, double-capped fluorescent lamps.