Today the same technology used to light my laptop and computer screen is being used in innovative sources of lighting. This new technology in lighting means that I’m now provided with a bulb that will have a long life cycle, can hold up in cold weather conditions and will instantly turn on.

In a conventional CFL bulb, there is a hot cathode that is made of tungsten wire and is coated with barium carbonate which emits electrons. The electrons pass through a mercury vapor and in turn generate ultraviolet light. The lamp using a traditional CFL bulb might take a minute or two before it’s able to reach its full brightness and the cathode will wear out after eight to 10 thousand hours of use. If you’re using a cold cathode bulb, it will need a larger voltage drop and more energy to release its electrons in its unheated cathode.

You’ll reap many benefits if you go with the cold cathode CFL, such as long life, an instant on light, a bulb that can operate in very cold weather, full dimming capability and the ability to allow you to flash the lamp on and off very rapidly. They also last 25,000 hours compared to 10,000 for regular CFL bulbs. Since the cold cathode is a fluorescent lamp, it contains mercury vapor and when it is time to be thrown out, you must take the necessary actions to dispose of it properly.

New cold cathode lamps offer a very long life, and because of this they’re an excellent type of light for outdoor signs or lighting. They are used to replace small, colored incandescent lamps which are very inefficient. The low wattages currently found in the cold cathode light give a lower level of light that is needed for general illumination. In the future some experts have said or suspect that the cold cathode CFL bulb will eventually loose its popularity to the high light emitting LED light sources.

To sum things up, though it appears that the cold cathode light bulbs may be good for outdoor signs and last a long time, they are less efficient for indoor lighting. Going with an LED bulb or a hot cathode CFL bulb may be a better bet for your wallet and when it comes to being energy efficiency. The cold cathode light source is one that is doing well for now, but that I suspect will be replaced by better technologies as they arrive on the market. As a lighting source, cold cathode just isn’t as good as LED bulbs.

If you’re looking for something that can last a long time and light your way in very cold temperatures than the cold cathode light bulb might be the way to go, but if you’re looking for light bulbs that will be more energy efficient for your home and office, then you can always look at some of the more effective lighting sources like LED’s.