“It’s just like riding a bike.” Chances are, you have heard this assuring statement before, of course, and it is always a welcome thought. It essentially means that once a skill is critically learned, you have it for life. Sure, you may have to fumble a while when going at it again after some time of non-use, but it would not take long for you to be fully competent again—just like riding a bike. One thing we cannot afford to neglect, though, is the fact that for you to come to that point, you must first learn to ride a bike.
In a peculiar sense, learning about lighting is somewhat similar. I recall my first few months in training to handle the lighting product line of Yosemite Home Décor and remember feeling overwhelmed with the influx of technical information on items I never before paid close attention to. I had to force myself to figure out how to match a set of specifications with an existing item number. Needless to say I found it very difficult. Each product type presented a unique set of challenges to learning, but I was never more perplexed than when I began tackling the light bulbs.
Rockie Bogenschutz and Steve Previte, my mentors, made it sound so easy. Rockie would effortlessly talk about the A19 like he was describing his hands; Steve would give me instructions on the PAR30 as though it was the only thing he ever thought of his entire life. As for me, I knew they spoke English, but they might as well have spoken Martian—it was difficult. I resolved then that if I were to keep up, I needed to crack the light bulb code—its alpha-numeric naming system. After all, T8, R20, PL13, E26, and MR16 had to mean something, right?
UNDERSTANDING THE ALPHA-NUMERIC CODE
So, what do the letters and numbers on the light bulbs mean? In most cases, an alpha-numeric code is printed on the item. When broken down, these letters and numbers correspond to certain aspects of a bulb’s description. This is much easier understood with an example. Let us take the most common bulb, the A19E26. Here, “A” refers to the bulb’s shape, “19” refers to the bulb’s size (particularly, its diameter at its widest part measured in eighths of inches), “E” refers to the base type, and “26” refers to the base’s size (its diameter measured in millimeters). Put it together and we have a standard pear-shaped bulb measuring 19/8 inches (2.37 inches) in diameter with a screw-type base measuring 26 millimeters in diameter.
Following are some letters and numbers in the lighting industry and their respective meanings:
Common Bulb Shapes and Sizes:
A15 : Regular pear shape, 1.87 inches in diameter
B : Torpedo shape
BR20 : “Bulged Reflector”, 2.5 inches in diameter
C : “Cone”
ER : “Elliptical Reflector”
F : “Flame”
G : “Globular”
PAR30 : “Parabolic Aluminized Reflector”, 3.75 inches in diameter
R20 : “Reflector”, 2.5 inches in diameter
S : “Sign”
T8 : “Tubular”, one inch in diameter
Common Base Types and Sizes:
E12 : “Edison” screw-in type, 12 millimeters in diameter (candelabra)
E14 : “Edison” screw-in type, 14 millimeters in diameter (French candelabra)
E17 : “Edison” screw-in type, 17 millimeters in diameter (intermediate)
B15 : “Bayonet” fit-and-lock-in type, 15 millimeters in diameter
E26 : “Edison” screw-in type, 26 millimeters in diameter (medium)
B22 : “Bayonet” fit-and-lock-in type, 22 millimeters in diameter
Mogul : Larger than the normal medium base bulb
UNDERSTANDING THE Y.H.D. ALPHA-NUMERIC CODE
We in Yosemite Home Décor have made an effort to personalize the light bulbs in our inventory Our point is that we want our bulbs to immediately be identified with our Company. As such, we did a little tinkering with the industry’s alpha-numeric numbering system and added a simple twist, YHD-style. To help us better understand this, I have taken three item numbers to represent the incandescent, compact fluorescent, and tube-type fluorescent groups. Here they are:
YA1926/100F
Y : “Yosemite”, identifies the product with our brand
A : Regular pear shape
19 : Diameter or the bulb at its widest part, 19/8 inches (2.37 inches)
26 : Diameter of the base, 26 millimeters (we dropped the “E”)
100 : Wattage, 100 watts
F : Glass color, frosted
YFGU24/1327
Y : “Yosemite”, identifies the product with our brand
F : “Fluorescent”
GU24 : Refers to the GU24 base type
13 : Wattage, 13 watts
27 : Color temperature, 2700 Kelvin
YFT832
Y : “Yosemite”, identifies the product with our brand
F : “Fluorescent”
T : “Tubular” shape
8 : Diameter of the bulb, 8/8 inch (one inch)
32 : Wattage, 32 watts
JUST LIKE RIDING A BIKE
More than a year after that resolution to learn the light bulb’s alpha-numeric coding system I still speak occasionally with Rockie and Steve about them, but I am able to keep up now. Sometimes I get drawn into the lighting section of department stores and stay there for a while. I look at those letter-number combinations and immediately understand what they mean—or at least it takes me a short while to get reacquainted when I look at them again after not seeing them for some time. Evidently, I have developed this familiarity because I have learned to “crack the code”.
So, if you are new to the lighting industry and find yourself frequently lost in a conversation about light bulbs, I can definitely relate to you. Simply learn the basic meanings of those letters and numbers and you will soon enough find yourself illuminated (pun intended)! When you have learned to crack the light bulb code, trust me, that skill will remain with you for a very long time—long enough for you to easy recall even after a lengthy period of non-use. It will be just like riding a bike.
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