Discount tanning bulbs, otherwise popularly known as tanning lamps, are ultraviolet devices that serve as the main component of tanning devices, like tanning booths and sunbeds. Tanning bulbs exists with the primary purpose of helping tanning device regulars achieve cosmetic tans, although the bulbs also have a reputation in the treatment of eczema and psoriasis. Cosmetic tanning quality is depended on the spectrum of light produced for the tanning bulbs. An overwhelming number of tanning bulbs produce more ultraviolet light than the sun.

Nearly all tanning bulbs gain power with the help of a ballast, a device used to stabilize the flow of electrical currents inside of the lamp. Ballasts are required because tanning bulbs are made of plasma, similar to a neon sign, and will house electricity in excess without the filter service provided by ballasts.

There are various types of tanning bulbs offered for retail sale, including reflector tanning bulbs, and lamps featuring very high output. Most bulbs function as a part of two main groups low pressure and high pressure. In the industry of discount tanning bulbs, it is customary to call high pressure tanning lamps bulbs, while tanning bulbs featuring low pressure are called lamps. Both high and low pressure tanning bulbs require an oxygen free environment inside of the lamp.

High pressure tanning bulbs range in length from three to five inches and operate with two hundred fifty to eight hundred watt ballasts. Four hundred watt high pressure tanning bulbs are the most common, they are often included in the face tanning component of a tanning bed. High pressure tanning bulbs are made of quartz glass and an additional specialized feature necessary to filter out potentially deadly ultraviolet rays. These tanning bulbs, which contain mercury and argon, exist with the purpose of produce ultraviolet light in high amounts. Handling high pressure tanning bulbs by hand requires a great deal of precision, removing even a little oil from the bulb can cause premature bulb failure. High pressure tanning bulbs should be replaced after four hundred to eight hundred hours of use to avoid ballast damage.

Low pressure tanning bulbs are similar to fluorescent lamps. The glass that makes up low pressure tanning bulbs automatically filters out all ultraviolet rays. Low pressure bulbs enjoy a lifespan of six hundred to sixteen hundred hours of use.

Tanning bulbs are also offered in several sizes featuring a multitude of voltages:

· F59 and F60- Eighty watt lamps

· F71, F72, F73, F74 -One hundred to One hundred twenty watt lamps

· F71 -One hundred sixty watt bulbs

· F59 -One hundred forty watt tanning bulbs

· F79, 2M -Two hundred watt bulbs

Discount tanning bulbs were designed in an effort to make maintaining home tanning systems easier.