Are Halogen Lamps As Good As Incandescent Lamps In Terms Of Their Spectrum?

[Logan-]

Are halogen lamps as good as incandescent lamps? Which one is better (preferable) from the Peat perspective? Could halogen lamps be used instead of incandescent lamps?

 

[Logan-]

I can find halogen lamps more easily than the incandescent lamps. Do they have a similar spectrum? Can the halogen lamp be used instead of the incandescent lamp?

 

[Cirion]

Use the $10 or so brooder lamp on amazon that can support a 300W incandescent light bulb that's what I used

 

[lollipop]

I can find halogen lamps more easily than the incandescent lamps. Do they have a similar spectrum? Can the halogen lamp be used instead of the incandescent lamp?

Hi @Logan- in my opinion and based on this graph, the halogen is the closest. I use halogens bulbs now as I can’t buy incandescents. Almost impossible to notice a difference.

See this image:

 

[Logan-]

Thanks.

 

[Rafe]

@lisaferraro
Thanks for posting that chart.
Fluorescent

 

[Logan-]

There is also this chart, which is confusing:

I believe halogen has a higher orange and a lower infrared, which makes it more efficient than the incandescent. They may be close in the amount of red. That chart you posted is a bit confusing and it's easier to tell on a spectral curve.

It appears the halogen peaks around the well studied nm wavelengths; around 600

Which one of these graphs is true?

 

[Cirion]

I think Schultz's chart is correct. If you look closely at the other chart, both the incandescent and halogen charts are precisely the same. Someone goofed lol.

That being said, halogen still looks like a decent choice, low in blue light and high in red/infrared. Good info, thanks!

 

[lollipop]

.

 

[lollipop]

@Logan- I definitely think Schultz chart is correct. @Cirion looks like a copy and paste error - lol. That said @Rafe fluorescent likes like death - no life in it!

 

[Logan-]

Halogen lights emit a spectrum of light that is very similar to sunlight (see this chart or this). Like bright sun, halogen provides an inexpensive source of "healing light energy" in the 600 to 900 nm wavelengths (see Halogen Lights section below), but the energy is not concentrated at the best wavelengths as in LEDs. My interest in light therapy increased a great deal when a halogen treatment returned my black-and-blue broken small toe to almost a normal color in 5 minutes. Pain level went from 8 to 2. I repeated the treatment 6 hours later when the toe turned blue and painful again and received the same benefits.

...

Halogen lights contain a lot of blue light and are very dangerous to the eyes.
Comparing halogen, incadescent, heat lamps, and the sun:The Sun, Halogen lamps, incandescent lamps, and infrared heat lamps all emit light based on the black body radiation principle (see this excel spreadsheet if you want to calculate energy in a specified range of a black body spectrum). Halogen lamps have a curve half way between the ones shown for incandescent and the Sun (see this chart). The Sun and halogen lights have about 28% of their energy in the 600 to 900 nm range. Incandescents have 15% to 21% and heat lamps have about 10%. To produce light, halogen, incandescent, and infrared heat lamps heat up a spiral filament of tungsten metal. The filament "incandesces" which means it produces light by black body radiation. A halogen gas can allow the filament to get hotter than regular incandescent bulbs. Heat lamps are the same as incadescent lamps but their long filament is operating at a cooler temperature so that it produces more far-infrared. They operate at approximately the following temperatures: Sun - 5780 K, halogen - 4100 K, incandescent - 2800 to 3200 K, heat lamp - 2400 K. Energy in the far-infrared is easily absorbed by water in the skin, concentrating the light energy in the skin that causes pain from heat sensors.

From:LED Light Therapy

 

[lollipop]

Halogen lights contain a lot of blue light and are very dangerous to the eyes.

This does not ring true to my experience. I am sitting looking at the yellow/red hue from my lights at this very moment. My husband and I compared the blue computer screen to these halogens, NO comparison and simply no blue.

Halogens see more like natural light than LEDs...

Of course my n=1.

 

[Logan-]

This does not ring true to my experience. I am sitting looking at the yellow/red hue from my lights at this very moment. My husband and I compared the blue computer screen to these halogens, NO comparison and simply no blue.

Halogens see more like natural light than LEDs...

Of course my n=1.

I found it confusing too. Didn't read everything the author has written on that page.
He recommends: "Use sunglasses because the blue of strong halogen lights at close range damages eyes." This is in regards to times when using halogen lamps therapeutically at close range.

 

[schultz]

Halogens see more like natural light than LEDs...

LED's have been getting better, probably because the old ones had such poor CRI scores and looked odd. I think incandescents and halogens both have CRI scores at 100. This is hugely important for the aesthetics of a room (at least for myself). Even if the spectral curve is not necessarily optimal, I will put "high" CRI LED bulbs in the rooms of my house that I tend not to stay in for very long. Bathroom, laundry room, etc. In rooms I spend more time in I put 500w incandescents up for the winter. It's looks very nice and makes it appear like the sun is shining in through the window even though it's grey and dreary outside. I estimate it costs about $30 a month per bulb, so it's not exactly cheap, but one reason is because we are always home (I work from home, as does my wife and my kids are homeschooled...) For myself it's worth the money.

This is a decent LED for occasional rooms, though it is only 1100 lumens so you would probably want several in the room (I like bright rooms).

Here is the spectral curve. Still has a blue peak, but has some nice orange and red in there! I should put like 30 of these in my shop. Might be a reasonable compromise between electricity costs and health... ooooor I could put like 8 of these in

 

[Cirion]

Can you provide me a link to both the 500W bulbs you use as well as the 500W lamps you use in your home? I kind of want to try this.

I found it hard enough to find a 300W incandescent bulb/lamp, no idea where to find 500W lol

 

[lollipop]

LED's have been getting better, probably because the old ones had such poor CRI scores and looked odd. I think incandescents and halogens both have CRI scores at 100. This is hugely important for the aesthetics of a room (at least for myself). Even if the spectral curve is not necessarily optimal, I will put "high" CRI LED bulbs in the rooms of my house that I tend not to stay in for very long. Bathroom, laundry room, etc. In rooms I spend more time in I put 500w incandescents up for the winter. It's looks very nice and makes it appear like the sun is shining in through the window even though it's grey and dreary outside. I estimate it costs about $30 a month per bulb, so it's not exactly cheap, but one reason is because we are always home (I work from home, as does my wife and my kids are homeschooled...) For myself it's worth the money.

This is a decent LED for occasional rooms, though it is only 1100 lumens so you would probably want several in the room (I like bright rooms).

Here is the spectral curve. Still has a blue peak, but has some nice orange and red in there! I should put like 30 of these in my shop. Might be a reasonable compromise between electricity costs and health... ooooor I could put like 8 of these in

View attachment 11264

Thank you @schultz! That is helpful

 

[Logan-]

Thank you @schultz! That is helpful

+1.

 

[TripleOG]

They're both tungsten filaments. They'll perform similarly at the same color temperature.

The difference between the the incandescent graph and halogen graph in comparison diagram @Logan- quoted is the halogen's kelvin rating was higher. Likely around 4100k. I've only found low wattage halogens rate over 3000k, so the high wattage options for halogen and incandescent bulbs are roughly the same spectrum.

 

[Daniel11]

Halogen bulbs are not so good, they produce to much light in the green wavelengths of 500nm to 580nm, green light still has a lot of blue light charecteristics, Incandescent bulbs produce a much better balanced spectrum of light for healthy cellular functioning.

 

[papaya]

Halogen bulbs are not so good, they produce to much light in the green wavelengths of 500nm to 580nm, green light still has a lot of blue light charecteristics, Incandescent bulbs produce a much better balanced spectrum of light for healthy cellular functioning.

are 60w incandescents useful? i have a lamp with led daylight bulbs in it, should i switch them to incandescent or does it not make a difference at low wattage. btw, i'm not talking about shining the light on me, i'm just asking about being in a room with the light.