A fluorescent lamp is a category of lamp that uses electricity to excite mercury vapor in argon or neon gas, producing short-wave ultraviolet light. This light then causes a phosphor to fluoresce, producing evident light.

Unlike incandescent lamps, fluorescent lamps forever require a ballast to convert the mains power into power suitable for the lamp type. With fluorescent lamps intended to be compatible with normal light bulb sockets (named compact fluorescent light bulbs), the ballast is integrated with the lamp, typically inside the plastic housing between the socket connector and the glow tube.

Fluorescent bulbs are about 40% efficient, sense that for the same amount of light they use 1/4 the power and produce 1/6 the heat of a standard incandescent. Fluorescents were limited to linear and a few round ones until the 1980s, when the compact fluorescent was invented. The compacts can plug into their possess fixture, or fit in to a standard screw base for self-ballasted ones. All last far longer than incandescent, but do have some starting trouble in very cold climate when installed outside.

Fluorescents most frequently come in cool white (CW), with some home bulbs being a warm white (WW), which has a pinkish tint. In between there is an "enhanced white" (EW), which is more unbiased. There is also a very icy daylight white (DW) which is rather unpleasant to most people and therefore infrequently used. Compact ones are usually considered warm white, though lots of have a yellowish cast like an incandescent. Because the above terms are entirely relative and almost arbitrary, color temperature and/or the color depiction index (CRI) are used as absolute scales of color for fluorescents, and sometimes for other types of lighting.

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