Pre heat
Pre Heat (English for preheating, preheating, preheating) is a term from lighting technology .
He describes:
- the state of an incandescent lamp with a permanent flow of current just below the start of light emission ( ). Because of the PTC thermistor property , the temperature difference between on and off is reduced and thus the inrush current is reduced at the actual switch- on moment. This protects the filament and increases its service life.
- Preheating a fluorescent lamp in order to reduce the heating- up time at the moment of starting and at the same time to protect the lamp . The light source is heated by the integrated filament heater. Dimming a discharge lamp was not possible with inductive ballasts. By using electronic ballasts , dimming can now be implemented.
The use of a pre-heat has a positive effect on the life expectancy of a lamp, shortens the time to full light emission and reduces the high inrush current of up to 15 times the rated current to around 1.5 to 4 times. This is paid for by permanent power consumption, even when the lamp is (apparently) switched off.