Everyone is familiar with stringing Christmas lights. Around December, displays of multi-colored lights decorate houses both inside and out, as well as many office buildings. But Christmas is only one of the many occasions when people use lights for decoration. And, decoration is only one of the purposes for which lights are installed at different times of the year.

One thing to remember at Christmas time is that the extra illumination doesn’t just cost more, it can introduce hazards, particularly in older homes. Many homes are only wired to support about 1.8kW, newer ones may well handle up to 2.4kW. When you add Christmas lights you can exceed the total. If you continually trip a circuit breaker or burn out a fuse, do some arithmetic to ensure you are under a safe level. Add up all the wattages on a single circuit and stay at least 10% under the total the ciruit is rated for.

People who live in northern climates where the winters get bitter cold know that outdoor bulbs tend to go out quicker at this time of the year. The physics behind the phenomenon is complex, but the fact remains. That suggests you can save a little money on bulbs by turning them off when the temperature dips way down.

But security concerns or decorating desires may make that impractical. One option is to replace incandescents with LED bulbs. They’re more expensive up front, but they last practically forever. A LED bulb will usually burn for over 50,000 hours. At 4 hours/day that’s over 34 years! Since they consume between 1%-8% of the electricity of incandescents, the cost savings can pay for the difference over time. That makes them ideal for Christmas lights, which most people keep for years and years.

Security issues can play out in a different way, too. Longer summer daylight means shorter nights. Readjust the timer on your outdoor flood lights and you can save bulb life and electricity for 3-5 months out of the year, depending on where you live. That can add up to a substantial savings in electricity and bulb costs.

Longer daylight during late spring and summer also suggests other ways of saving money. Consider some solar-powered outdoor lights. They absorb energy during the day and store it for later use. Most use LED bulbs that consume little electricity, so they’ll stay lit for 8-10 hours per night. If you have thirty or forty around the house – on the lawn, at the corners of the garage and elsewhere – that can add up to quite a savings, too.

Both in winter and summer, indeed all year round, incandescents are more prone to breakage. They’re fragile. Consider replacing them in those high-traffic areas where kids play. Even a plastic bat can easily break a bulb, showering everyone with glass shards. The exposed filament, if the light is on, can explode like an old-fashioned flashbulb, introducing the risk of fire.

Take into account the season when you consider your lighting scheme. You’ll save money and increase your home safety.

Two of the most basic concepts needed are ‘voltage’ and ‘current’. Current moves down a wire, pushed by a certain voltage. Current is the quantity of electricity flowing, measured in amperes or amps (A). Voltage is the force with which it’s pushed down the wire, measured in volts (V).

The analogy to water moving down a hose is often used at this point and it’s a good one. But replace the water with marbles, since electricity comes in packets, called electrons.

Actually, it’s the electric wave moving down the OUTSIDE of a wire, not the electrons moving within it, that powers a lamp. One way to prove it is to have a very long wire with a bulb at the end. Turn on the switch and the light gets lit long before the slow-moving electrons can get there. The electric wave moves at nearly the speed of light. But that’s far more technical information than we need here.

But what about the most common term, ‘watts’? Watts is a measure of electrical power. It is nothing but the product of amps x volts, W = V x A.

And, just what makes that bulb glow, the current? Not exactly. Not by itself, anyway. Something else is needed: resistance (R). As current flows through the wire, driven by a certain voltage, it encounters the tungsten filament in the bulb. It vibrates the atoms in the wire. But just as with most things, they resist that push. That resistance is measured in ohms. The term comes from the name of a physicist who studied the subject.

Mathematically, voltage = current x resistance. But the resistance of the wire is determined by the material it’s made of and its shape and length, not how much current and voltage are present in circuit. So, a standard incandescent on a circuit with an on-off switch has a fixed resistance.

When you change an ‘ordinary’ bulb from 100-watts to, say, 60-watts you’re effectively altering the amount of resistance in the circuit. The voltage and current aren’t in your direct control.

When you install a dimmer switch, you’re altering the amount of power indirectly by changing the resistance. A dimmer changes the resistance from nearly zero (at the switch) to almost 100%, in the case of incandescent. For some types of CFL, the change may only be about 20%-80%. At a certain level, a fluorescent bulb can’t stay lit.

Next time you start to wire something, or design a lighting scheme for your home, keep in mind these basic concepts. They’ll help you interpret the diagrams and instructions you use.

This change in the magnetic field leads to an alteration in the voltage of the second electric circuit. In order to further the flow in the transformer one can add another change of load to the current in the second circuit. In this manner, a change in every electric circuit gives birth to an electric change in the subsequent circuit. Hence, electrical energy can be said to be transported by the principle of mutual induction.

Light transformers are some of the most efficient and effective electric devices as they are known to successfully transfer 99.75% of the total energy input to the output junction.

Transformers come in a variety of sizes that can range from minute, button sized devices to huge equipment weighing hundreds of tons. Lighting transformers are extremely useful due to their increased efficiency and effectiveness.

Lighting transformers are used to augment the levels of voltage in a circuit prior to transferring the electrical energy through electric cables over long distances. The working of a light transformer can be understood to be based upon two fundamental principles. The first principle is the one dealing with the fact that electric current can be used to create a magnetic field.

This is the principle of electromagnetism. The second principle that is used is the one of electromagnetic induction which states that an alteration in the magnetic field inside a coil of wires results in the creation and transfer of voltage across the ends of the coil. Transformers are classified on the basis of certain characteristics. In detail, they are categorized on the basis of the application function, the type of cooling being utilized, the end purpose of the device, the level of power being utilized and the range of the frequency. Lighting transformers in order to achieve the ideal levels of efficiency need to have no energy losses. In other words, they should be 100% efficient. As 100% efficiency is not completely possible, it is important to maximize as much effectiveness as possible. Hence, in properly created lighting transformers, the energy is distributed in the core, the windings and the surrounding structure. The loss of energy varies with the load of the current. In a simple transformer, the change in current across the primary coil results in a magnetic field. The primary coil along with the secondary coil is wound around a core. The core is created from a material which has high magnetic permeability. Due to the excess magnetic nature of the core, the electric current generated by the primary coil is passed to the core through the magnetic field and from the core it is transferred to the secondary coil.

An Electric ballast is an electronic device whose main purpose is to limit the amount of current flowing through an electric circuit.  Hence it is also called as a control Gear for electric circuits.
There are many different kinds of electric ballasts.  They can be simple ballasts, or may be very complex ballasts.  A simple resistor put in series in an electric circuit is an example of a simple Ballast.  This simple ballast can be used with small bulbs like Neon Lamps.  But in case of  simple ballasts,  a lot of energy gets wasted using resistors,  hence alternative complex ballasts are used nowadays which make use of Inductors,  Capacitors or both,  having suitable reactances.

Computerized ballasts or Remote controlled ballasts form the most complex type of electronic ballasts.  These may be used with fluorescent lamps.

Ballasts are used in a circuit to provide a positive resistance to it.  In some circuits, there are electronic devices which provide a negative resistance to it.  Hence they withdraw a lot of current,  which may lead to the damage of the source or that device.  Hence,  in order to regulate the amount of current flowing in a circuit the electronic ballasts are used with such devices.

Gas discharge lamps,  etc.  are some devices which provide a negative resistance to an electronic circuit.

LED’s or Light emitting diodes have a resistance of their own,  but its not sufficient enough to regulate the current flowing from the source through it,  and hence electronic ballasts are required in series with them,  in order to make the current appropriate so it does not destroys the Diode.

Rapid start Electronic ballasts should be used for fluorescent lights having 40 watts as their average power,  because such electronic ballasts cause lesser problems than others.  True electronic ballasts are very useful for long time use.  They produce a very high output as compared to other ballasts,  keeps the temperature adequate and hence results in longer tube life.

The light emitted from Bulbs and lamps is about 12% more when true electronic ballasts are used,  and their usage also helps in saving electricity up to 28%.  That is,  True Electronic ballasts give more output and also help to save electricity,  and hence are better than Standard ballasts.

Also, instant start electronic ballasts should be avoided.  Instant start ballasts provide a very high voltage at the time of switching the bulb on,  so that the lights turn on instantly.  But such instant starts wears the light bulb and decreases its intensity within a few days.

Having reflectors about your light may prove very friendly for the bulb or lamp,  and may help to provide intense lightning,  without much loss of electricity,  and will prevent wearing down of your ballast.

Hence,  Electronic ballasts,  can be a boon for household or commercial lighting purposes,  if used judiciously and properly.