Definitions

When you can combine Lux intensity with high CRI and balanced Kelvin temperature, you will have quality light that not only matches the optical brilliance of the sun, but reduces levels of melatonin and the stress hormone, cortisol.

Full Spectrum:

A light bulb or lamp that produces a light spectrum that covers the entire range of visible light (400-700nm) without gaps in its spectral output.

Color Rendering Index (CRI):

Is a measure of the quality of light. A measurement of the amount of color shift that objects undergo when lighted by a light source as compared with the color of those same objects when seen under a reference light source of comparable color temperature. CRI values generally range from 0(worst) to 100(best). CRI is very similar to your contrast knob on your TV set. High CRI equates to sharper, crisper, more natural colored pictures while at the same time reducing glare.

Lux:

Typically used to measure the light intensity produced by a lighting fixture. The higher the lux reading the more light the lighting fixture is producing over a given area. Known as lumens per square meter.

Degrees Kelvin:

A measure of the color of a light source relative to a black body at a particular temperature expressed in degrees Kelvin (K). Incandescent lights have a low color temperature (approximately 2800K) and have a red-yellowish tone; daylight has a high color temperature (approximately 6000K) and appears bluish (the most popular fluorescent light, Cool White, ia rated at 4100K). Today, the phosphors used in fluorescent lamps can be blended to provide any desired color temperature in the range from 2800K to 6000K. Lamps with color temperatures below 5000K tend to be more yellow/red, lamps rated between 5000 and 6000K are viewed as white, while lamps above 6000K tend to have a blue cast.

Intensity:

Is a measure of the time-averaged energy flux or amount of light striking a given area. For bulbs alone this is measured in terms of lumens while for lighting fixtures it is measured in lux (lumens/sq. meter).

Nanometers:

One billionth (10-9) of a meter abbreviated as "nm". Used to measure the wavelengths of light. The lower the wavelength eg. 400nm the bluer and stronger the light source. Longer wavelengths such as 700nm are red and contain less energy.

T12 Bulb:

A fluorescent lamp that is twelve-eighths of an inch (1.5") in diameter.

Fluorescent Lamp:

Is a type of lamp that uses electricity to excite mercury vapor in argon or neon gas, producing short-wave ultraviolet light. This light then causes a phosphor to fluoresce, producing visible light to the user.

Compact Fluorescent:

Is a type of fluorescent lamp which screws into a regular light bulb socket, or plugs into a small lighting fixture. In contrast to incandescent light bulbs, they have a longer life and use less electricity.

Halogen Light Bulbs:

The incandescent light bulb uses a glowing wire filament heated to white-hot by electrical resistance, to generate light. The bulb is the glass enclosure which keeps the filament in a vacuum or low-pressure noble gas or a halogen gas in the case of quartz-halogen lamps in order to prevent oxidation of the filament at high temperatures.

Intensity:

Is a measure of the time-averaged energy flux or amount of light striking a given area. For bulbs alone this is measured in terms of lumens while for lighting fixtures it is measured in lux (lumens/sq. meter).

Phosphor:

Coating on the inside of a fluorescent bulb that when struck by electron emissions created by the lamp cathode produce colors of visible light.

Pupil:

In the eye, the pupil is the hole in the middle of the iris. It appears black because most of the light entering it is absorbed by the tissues inside the eye. In humans and many animals (but few fish), the size of the pupil is controlled by involuntary contraction and dilation of the iris, in order to regulate the intensity of light entering the eye.

SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder):

Is an affective, or mood disorder. Most SAD sufferers experience normal mental health throughout most of the year, but experience depressive symptoms in the winter.

Ultraviolet Light:

The portion of the electromagnetic spectrum with wavelengths from about 100 to 380 nm. UV light is typically broken into three parts, UV-A, UV-B, and UV-C.

UV-A:

(380–320 nm), also called Long Wave or "black light" because it is invisible to the human eye.

UV-B:

(320–280 nm), also called Medium Wave radiation.

UV-C:

(< 280 nm), also called Short Wave or "germicidal" for its ability to destroy even bacterial life forms. Extremely hazardous to all life forms due to its immediate damage to cellular DNA.

Watts:

The unit for measuring electrical power. It defines the rate of energy consumption by an electrical device when it is in operation. The energy cost of operating an electrical device is calculated as its wattage times the hours of use. In single phase circuits, it is related to volts and amps by the formula: Volts x Amps x Power Factor = Watts.