It seems that everyone wants to get the color of natural daylight into their interior spaces.  It's been on of the best ways to chase those winter blues as those of us in the northern hemisphere know all too well. Imagine simply changing your light bulbs to something like this and have it change the way you look at your rooms and working areas.  Nothing has been more exciting in the area of screw-in fluorescent lighting than the daylight colors that are now available.  It only makes sense that people would want daylight color as that is what we were made to exist under before artificial illumination.  What's so great about these 42 watt full spectrum compact fluorescent is the great color they emit but also the higher wattages of incandescent lighting they replace to save energy.  These 42 watt bulbs are different from other higher wattage lamps as the size, though larger than low wattage units, are probably the smallest source for this light output.  These are really very compact with a spiral twist shape that allows for it to be used in shorter applications or even in many table lamps for reading. TCP made this 42 watt lamp to fit in many places in order to replace a 150 watt incandescent bulb while delivering a great daylight effect.  TCP has been a market leader in compact fluorescent lighting technology and has innovated in areas that the traditional larger manufacturers haven't.

As with all fluorescent bulbs, they rely on ballasts inside of the fixtures or units to make them work.  Most of the time though the ballast in the lamp are matched electrically and so it's good to make sure the ballast you have is the right one for the lamp you choose. In fact, these 42 watt full spectrum compact fluorescents have the ballast as an integral part of the unit.  You can't change the ballast, when the light goes out you will need to change the unit.  This is good for home users because you don't have to determine what's gone bad when it finally does get to the end of its life, you simply replace it with a complete new bulb. We have these with the standard medium base like the one you have on any standard light bulb that you may be using now.

These lamps have special phosphors that give it a similar color to daylight or natural sunshine.  It produces light the way our eyes naturally use it, giving better visual acuity and reducing problems like eyestrain.  But fluorescents can come in many other colors as well and are identified by their Kelvin temperature. By definition, virtually all are full spectrum in that they contain some of all colors in their spectral range. However, the term full spectrum is primarily used when referring to those lamps that fall into the white to blue/white color temperature range. Color temperature is measured by a term called Kelvin. 2700 Kelvin would be a warm tone color like incandescent light, 4100K would be office white, 5100K would be a noontime daylight color and 6500K would be a blue sky white.  So if you want to get the look of daylight, then either the 5100K or the 6500K color would be best for you.  For most people, this will be satisfactory for most of the applications that you might run into.  Along with the color, it's just plain easier to see or read under these lamps which makes them ideal for older people who need more light to do visual tasks.

There are several types of 42 watt full spectrum compact fluorescent light bulbs, we describe some of the most common used for replacing higher watt incandescent with a daylight color.  Don't forget that we also stock all the larger or linear types of fluorescent lamps used in commercial lighting as well in almost any color you would like.  If you need help identifying a bulb, our customer service representatives can help you determine what you have.