Projector Lamps: Last long?

You have a home projector that you use frequently, and you've noticed that replacement lamps are expensive. This comes because all these projectors use a mercury vapour type lamp. You will normally see them in stores or on the internet listed as a UHP, which stands for Ultra High Pressure. Just for a bit of trivia, most street lamps in cities are also mercury vapour lamps.

These mercury vapour lamps don't last a long time either. It seems as if most of them have a rating of being able to last around 2000 hours, and that's if it's at normal operation, which means the projector is run at full lamp power. You may also choose a choice of eco-mode, which is run at a lower projector lamp power, which may have you getting more than the 2000 hours out of it.

Not that when you get a lamp it's going to always last 2000 hours. Some may only last around 1500 hours, while others will make it to 3000 hours or so. When you use a different setting for your projector lamp like the eco-mode you will usually save around 20% brightness. At times this may not be the same, and this range can fluctuate between 10% all the way up to 30%. This really depends on the brand and type of projector that you are using.

If you decide to operate your projector in that low eco-mode, you will find two big benefits. First off your projector lamp will of course have a longer life. Most companies stand by the claim that if you use low power a lamp that would last 2000 hours will now last 3000 hours. That's a lot of extra time you have using that lamp.

However, it's a hard thing to pin down this claim of so many more hours, because some other makes say it will not make a difference no matter high or low mode. But there are also some Mitsubishi products that say you can get up to 5000 hours when using eco-mode.

Because of the difference in hours that you may get from a projector lamp, some manufacturers have come out with warranties for the lamps that are 90 days used or 500 hours of use. Some may even go up to 1000 hours of use. This was done because at a few times some lamps have gone bad before 500 hours of usage. Plus if you compare the studies around 20% of those lamps will only make it to 1000 hours, and still some others that won't make it to 1500 hours of use. And when you really think about it, the life of 2000 hours is only an average. This means that you won't have every lamp making it to 2000, but some will be less and others will be more.

Also remember that if you happen to be pushing the life of your lamp it may explode, which will cause damage to your projector. It will thus cost you much more than just a replacement lamp; you will also have to have the projector fixed too.

Projector Lamps: Last long?

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