Tanning bed bulbs are located in every sun bed or suntan lamp in the shops. When you are buying a new or especially a used tanning bed, make a good examination of the lamps. Make sure that they are real tanning lamps and comply with the FDA regulations with regard to health and safety. You should also consider how difficult it is to get at the bulbs. Make sure that the lamps are easy to change when necessary. It is very important, and a lot cheaper, if you can carry out such routine maintenance yourself, if you have a home tanning bed.

There are two very different, non-interchangeable kinds of bulbs used in conventional and high pressure beds. You need to make sure you get the right sun bed lamps for your sun bed, because you cannot use just any bulb you like. If you are purchasing replacement bulbs on the Internet, check the make and model of your existing bulbs very carefully, because you have to ensure that the lamps 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 lamps in these beds are located in the canopy 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 sun bed.

The biggest advantage of these 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 salon, which means it works out cheaper. You can achieve 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 acquire the same level of colour. Maintaining your tan is a lot easier too. You only need two or three sessions each month to maintain the colour, compared with four times that many sessions on a low pressure bed. Many of these lamps use UVA rays only, not UVB rays which cause burning.

Conventional Tanning Bed Bulbs: Conventional, or low pressure sunbeds use long tube lamps that look like regular fluorescent tubes. The lamps are situated above and below the tanning bed, which means that all the body parts are browned at the same time, without having to change positions during the tanning session.

Low pressure beds use UVA and UVB rays in varying mixes. 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 produce skin burn when you are outside in the sun. It is very important to determine which type of rays your sun bed’s bulbs emit. You must ensure you replace your existing bulbs with lamps of the same specifications 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 types of beds. The owner of your tanning salon will be able to help you select a lotion that will work for the bed you are using and your skin type. Regardless of the 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.