The Lo-Down on Incandescents

Walking into your neighborhood hardware store to find the right bulb for your grandmother's favorite 1920's lamp can be a nerve wracking and confusing experience. The bright lights and desperately long aisles filled with bulbs of every size and shape can spontaneously ignite your fight or flight response. In a quest to guide you through this process here is your light bulb cheat sheet. There are many types of light bulbs, the most common are: fluorescent, compact fluorescent,  incandescent, halogen, and LED.

• Fluorescent bulbs gives off cold, flat lighting and are better suited for garages or basements. 
• Compact fluorescent bulbs use about a quarter of the energy that normal fluorescent use and last about ten times longer. 
• Incandescent bulbs are one of the most commonly used lights. It is inexpensive with a complimentary glow, yet it is not highly energy efficient. 
• Halogen bulbs are akin to incandescent lighting but offer the most similar lighting to daylight. They are expensive to use as they burn at a very high rate. 
• LED or light emitting diode lights offer directional light and are perfect as under-the-counter lighting. Highly energy efficient and long lasting, these lights can be a bit pricey.