Light Intensity

• Fluorescent tubes provide soft, even lighting.Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of umjanedoan
  
  Halogen lights produce a bright, clean and intense light that brightens colors. Fluorescent lights provide a soft and even light.
  
  

Economy

• More expensive halogen lights use more electricity and operate at high temperatures. Lower priced fluorescent lights run cooler and use very little electricity.
  
  

Uses

• Decorator and novelty lamps use halogen bulbs for intensity, as do floodlights, studio and stage lighting and spotlights. Fluorescent tubes light kitchens, offices and large work areas.
  
  

Halogen Theory

• A halogen bulb operates like a normal incandescent bulb, with a tungsten filament that gets white hot. The addition of halogen gas allows the filament to burn brighter, hotter and longer.
  
  

Fluorescent Theory

• Fluorescent lights do not burn at all. The electricity makes mercury vapor molecules hit a phosphorescent coating on the inside of the tube causing it to glow with a cool, even light.
  
  

Size

• Halogen bulbs range from the size of a pinto bean to a 10-inch tube, half an inch in diameter. Fluorescent bulbs range from a coiled tube the size of a baseball to a 4-foot tube an inch in diameter.