Facts, Facts, Facts – Save, save, save

The world of energy-efficient lighting at a glance

Efficient lamps are available today in a variety of shapes and with different bases and wattages. The image of the classical, tubular energy-saving lamp that hardly fits into any luminaire has long since become a thing of the past. OSRAM has the world's largest product range of energy-efficient light sources. In addition to classical energy-saving lamps, OSRAM's Halogen Energy Savers and innovative OSRAM Parathom LED lamps are an inspiration to style-conscious savers everywhere!

Facts at a glance: All about energy-efficient lighting

1. High energy efficiency:

Energy-efficient lamps from OSRAM reduce energy costs by more than 80 percent compared to similar incandescent lamps.

Halogen Energy Savers: Energy savings up to 30 percent

Compact fluorescent lamps: Energy savings up to 80 percent

 

Parathom with LEDs: Energy savings upwards of 80 percent

2. Significant reduction in CO₂:

Energy-efficient lamps from OSRAM reduce CO₂ by up to 800 kg compared to similar incandescent lamps. That's equivalent to driving some 5,000 kilometers!

Halogen Energy Savers: Up to 100 kg reduction in CO₂ per lamp over its entire life

Compact fluorescent lamps: Up to 800 kg reduction in CO₂ per lamp over its entire life (when a 100 watt incandescent lamp is replaced with a 20 watt energy-saving lamp)

Parathom with LEDs: Up to 400 kg reduction in CO₂ per lamp over its entire life (when a 40 watt incandescent lamp is replaced with an 8 watt LED lamp)

3. Long lamp life:

Energy-efficient lamps from OSRAM have a much longer life than conventional incandescent lamps, operating for up to 25,000 hours.

By comparison, an incandescnt lamp only operates for up to 1,000 hours.

Halogen Energy Savers: Long, mid-range lamp life of 2,000 to 5,000 hours

Compact fluorescent lamps: Very long, mid-range lamp life of 6,000 to 20,000 hours

Parathom with LEDs: Extremely long, mid-range lamp life of up to 25,000 hours

4. Wide range of light colors:

Energy-efficient lamps from OSRAM are sold in a varety of light colors. The quality of light from a lamp depends on its color temperature, light distribution and color rendering properties. The warmth or coolness of the light color is expressed in Kelvin.

Special types also are available in different color temperatures, such as "daylight," "warm white" and the new color "warm comfort light." Below is an overview of the different product groups and their color appearance:

Halogen Energy Savers: Offer warm, natural light that corresponds 1:1 with the light emitted by a conventional incandescent lamp.

Compact fluorescent lamps: These classical energy-saving lamps are available in different light colors, including the new and very attractive "warm comfort light."

• "warm comfort light"
• "warm white"
• "cool white"
• "daylight"

Parathom: Depending on the LED, the Parathom family offers not only "warm white" and "cool white," but also a whole spectrum of colors in blue, green, red and yellow. This line also includes special lamp variants that can change their color appearance.

• "warm white"
• "cool white"
• Color change version (blue, green, red, yellow, color changing)
  
  

5. Easy exchange:

Energy-efficient light sources from OSRAM (compact fluorescent lamps, Halogen Energy Savers and Parathom lamps) fit in the most common base sizes E14/E27 and are available for standard line voltage, meaning they can easily and simply be used to replace conventional incandescent lamps.

6. Proper disposal is the key:

Energy-efficient lamps are good for the environment thanks to their efficient operation and reduced CO₂ emissions. However, critics often point out that energy-saving lamps contain mercury and therefore are a burden to the environment. Only the compact fluorescent lamps contain small amounts of mercury, which pose no threat to the environment or human health as long as consumers dispose of them properly.

Halogen Energy Savers: Can be disposed of with regular household waste.

Compact fluorescent lamps: Energy-saving lamps contain small amounts of mercury. For this reason, consumers cannot dispose of them with their household waste, as they are accustomed to doing with conventional incandescent lamps. Energy-saving lamps must be turned in, free of charge, to municipal recycling or electronic scrap collection centers.

Parathom: LED lamps, like compact fluorescent lamps, have an electronic control system and therefore must be disposed of as electronic scrap at a municipal recycling center.


7. Technology behind the energy-efficient lamps from OSRAM:

Halogen Energy Saver

OSRAM Halogen Energy Saver lamps are an improvement on the incandescent lamp, consuming up to 30 percent less energy. The glass bulb is filled with an inert gas containing traces of halogens, which prevent the evaporated tungsten from collecting on the inside of the bulb. The gas achieves this by reacting chemically with the evaporated tungsten to form a gaseous compound and flowing back to the hot filament. There the tungsten is deposited and the released halogen returns to the cycle. As a result, the glass bulb remains clear for the entire life of the lamp.

Compact fluorescent lamps – The OSRAM Duluxstar and Dulux Superstar

In contrast to a conventional incandescent lamp, an energy-saving lamp converts five times more energy into light. In principle, it is a convolute fluorescent lamp with integrated electronic control system and screw base. Inside the fluorescent tube, electrons collide with mercury atoms, initially to generate invisible ultraviolet light. The tube's inside coating (= phosphor) converts it into visible light. Depending on the composition of the phosphor, the light color is warm or cool. Energy-saving lamps require an electronic control system in order to operate. It is already integrated in the OSRAM Duluxstar and OSRAM Dulux Superstar energy-saving lamps to facilitate the replacement of conventional incandescent lamps. Compact fluorescent lamps achieve energy savings of up to 80 percent.

LED – Parathom

This new lamp technology uses light emitting diodes (electronic semiconductors) to generate light. When electricity flows through it, an LED emits light in a specific color. The light color emitted depends on the semiconductor material. Because LEDs always produce only one specific color, and have no need of additional color filters, colored LED lamps capable of replacing incandescent lamps already are unbeatable when it comes to efficiency, and they achieve energy savings upwards of 80 percent.

 

ABOUT OSRAM
OSRAM is part of the Industry sector of Siemens and one of the two leading lighting manufacturers in the world.Sales for the OSRAM group worldwide in the year ending September 30, 2008 totaled 4.6 billion euros, 88 percent of which came from outside Germany.OSRAM is a high-tech company in the lighting industry.Over 60 percent of sales come from energy-efficient products.This global player employs more than 43,500 people worldwide, supplies customers in some 150 countries and has 46 production facilities in 17 countries.

Press contact:

OSRAM

Nadine Müller
Tel: +49-89-6213-3769
Fax: +49-89-6213-3457
Email: nadine.mueller@osram.com