Saturday, November 7, 2009

Tanning Bed Lamps

By Gail Jones

Tanning bed lamps are located in each tan bed or suntan lamp in the shops. When you are purchasing a new or especially a used tanning bed, make a careful examination of the bulbs. Make sure that they are real tanning bulbs and meet the FDA regulations with regard to health and safety. You should also estimate how easy it is to get at the bulbs. Make sure that the bulbs are not difficult to change when needed. It is quite important, and a lot cheaper, if you can perform such simple maintenance yourself, if you buy a home sun bed.

There are two very different, non-interchangeable kinds of bulbs used in low pressure and high pressure beds. You need to ensure you buy the right tanning bed bulbs for your sun bed, because you cannot use just any lamp you like. If you are ordering replacement bulbs on the Internet, check the make and model of your existing bulbs very carefully, because you have to make sure that the bulbs you are buying are made for your bed.

High Pressure Tanning Bulbs: high pressure beds have quartz-tube lamps in a multitude of sizes. The gases used in these bulbs are pressurized to slightly higher than atmospheric pressure. The bulbs in these beds are located in the top of the bed, so that you tan only from above. When you have tanned the skin on one side of your body for about 10-12 minutes, you turn over and tan the other side. The flat bed of these tanners is a great deal more comfortable than a regular tanning bed.

One of the biggest advantage of these HP lamps is the amount of time you have to spend on the tanning bed. Because you tan faster, you need to spend less time in the tanning salon, which means it works out cheaper. You can get the level of tan you require in about three weeks of three to five sessions a week. However, with a conventional bed, it would take you at least a month to achieve the same depth of colour. Maintaining your tan is a lot easier too. You only need two or three sessions a month to maintain the colour, as opposed to four times that many visits to a low pressure salon bed. Many of these lamps use UVA rays only, not UVB rays which are responsible for sunburn.

Conventional Sun Bed Bulbs: Conventional, or low pressure beds use long tube lamps that look like household fluorescent tubes. The lamps are situated above and below the bed of the sun bed, which means that all the body parts are tanned at the same time, without the need to change positions during the session.

Conventional beds use UVA and UVB rays in varying levels. Some use both rays and others emit mostly UVA with some UVB rays. UVA rays are responsible for the (premature) ageing effects on the skin and UVB rays are the burning rays that cause sun burn when you are outside in the sun. It is very important to determine which sort of rays your tan bed's bulbs emit. You must ensure you replace your existing bulbs with the same new lamps after about 1,000 hours of use.

Something else to think about when selecting the type of bed you use at home or in the salon, is the tanning bed lotion you will use. Different lotions suit different sorts of beds. The owner of your tanning salon can help you select a lotion that will be best for the bed you are using and your skin type. No matter what bed you use, you ought to definitely always use a lotion or a cream, because they will moisturise your skin and help you get a Hollywood tan more quickly.

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