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All About Tanning Bed Bulbs

No matter whether you operate a tanning salon or use your own tanning bed at home, the quality of a tan depends hugely on the bulbs used. When they wear out or are used until they burn out, they produce a low quality tan with an uneven look that requires more time under tanning bed lamps to correct. Bulbs that perform poorly can negatively affect the business of tanning salon owners. Many clients change salons simply because of ineffective tanning bed bulbs. This article explains how these bulbs work, how long they should last, and several things to keep in mind when replacing them.

How Tanning Bed Lamps Work

Some bulbs only produce UVA light while others produce both UVA and UVB light. Long, tubular fluorescent bulbs contain gases that create UV light when stimulated by a coating of phosphorus and tiny particles of mercury distributed across the lamp surface. The electrical current produced when turning a tanning bed on stimulates the gases inside the bulbs that interact with the mercury particles to produce the UV light. The intensity of the light produced is dependent upon the thickness of the phosphorus coating across the surface of the lamp. The thicker the phosphorus coating, the more intense the light.

How Long Do The Bulbs Last?

New bulbs usually last around 800 hours. A person using a residential tanning bed for several 20-minute sessions per week can expect bulbs to last for a few years. Salon owners with tanning beds in use up to ten hours per day may need to replace the bulbs every two or three months.

It is important to know that tanning bed bulbs usually perform at their highest potency during the initial 200 hours of use. After that, the bulbs slowly lose power while completing the rest of their lifecycle. This is not usually a significant issue for people using a bed at home, but salon owners may want to replace their bulbs before the end of an 800-hour lifecycle.

Changing Tanning Bed Lamps

Using a UV light meter helps you avoid guessing when it is time to replace tanning bed lamps. A UV light meter also helps you determine how well bulbs are performing. It is usually best to replace bulbs performing at less than 75 percent of the power of a new bulb.

Don't just replace the bulbs that have lost their intensity. It is advisable to replace all bulbs at the same time so you don't have the problem of uneven tanning. This may only be a nuisance for home tanning bed users, but uneven tanning can mean going out of business to a salon owner.

Things To Consider When Purchasing Bulbs

When purchasing tanning bed bulbs, make sure you choose bulbs compatible with your bed. Tanning beds typically come with bulb recommendations from the manufacturer. It may work out if you stray from the manufacturer's recommendations, but it is usually best to stick with the recommended bulbs to achieve the best possible tan. In addition, keep the intensity level of bulbs in mind. High intensity bulbs equal shorter tanning sessions, but UV light doesn't penetrate as deep during short sessions, so tans may fade quicker.

Brand new tanning bed bulbs average $10 to $20. Since they are fairly inexpensive, consider purchasing new bulbs instead of used bulbs and replace them whenever you detect their performance is diminishing.

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