Tanning lamps (sometimes called tanning bulbs in the United States or tanning tubes in Europe) are the part of a tanning bed, booth or other tanning device which produces ultraviolet light in charge for tanning. While there are literally hundreds of different kinds of tanning lamps, they can usually be classified in two basic groups: low pressure and high pressure. Within the industry, it is common to call high pressure units "bulbs" and low pressure units "lamps", although there are a lot of exceptions and not everyone follows this example. This is likely due to the size of the unit, rather than the type. Both types necessitate an oxygen free environment inside the lamp.
Fluorescent tanning lamps necessitate an electrical ballast to offer power. While the resistance of an incandescent lamp filament inherently limits the current inside the lamp, tanning lamps do not and instead have negative resistance. They are plasma devices, like a neon sign, and will pass as much current as the exterior circuit will offer, even to the point of self destruction. Thus ballast is needed to control the amount of electricity that flows through them.
The primary purpose of the tanning lamp is to create a suntan by means other than exposure to the sun. This is accomplished in a tanning bed, tanning booth, tanning canopy or free standing single bulb tanning unit. The excellence of the tan (or how similar it is to a tan from the natural sun) depends upon the spectrum of the light that is generated from the lamps. Most tanning lamps produce much more UV than the sun on a typical day. This gives the user a faster base tan, but one that fades faster and offers less protection from the sun than a natural tan.