commercial luminaires

Commercial lighting often
requires more attention than home lighting because business facilities are
places where people spend more time than at home, and both customers and
employees need enough light to be able to perform their tasks and enjoy
visiting the facility.  Although energy
consumption and cost are paramount when budgeting, a commercial facility can
still get reasonable lighting and at the same time keep costs to a minimum.  This article discusses some of the
commercial fixtures used by commercial
plants.

Bulb

Although
light bulbs are most commonly used at home, some commercial plants use them
for their lighting needs.

Pros: These are
preferred because of the light they produce which is almost like natural
sunlight and they are also cheap to buy. 
In all cases,

Disadvantages: they produce
a lot of heat, as only 15% of their energy is used as light, while the rest
comes out as heat.  They are also
short-lived and require constant
replacement.

Halogen
lighting

Halogen lighting is a
variant of the light bulb and is becoming very popular in commercial
luminaires.

Pros: They consume less energy and
produce a whiter light compared to light bulbs.  They also produce a pleasant color that
resembles natural sunlight.

Disadvantages: Their
lifespan is much shorter than the life of the light bulb, and they also cost
much more than light bulbs.

Compact
fluorescent lighting

These are
similar to fluorescent lamps.  The only
difference is that they are hardened to produce light that resembles a light
bulb.  These are also called CFLs and
are available in different types and sizes to fit the three basic lighting
layers.