Your longest lasting light ?

yuandrew · #1 01-07-2007, 01:50 AM

Many know about the light bulb in Livermore, CA but I wonder how long have some "normal people's" bulbs lasted ?

In the upstairs and downstairs bathroom, I have fixtures that hold 6 vanity globes. We put in 25 watt clear globes branded "Abco" when we first moved in during the fall of 1989. They seem to have lasted a while but they've started burning out one by one in the last 4 years. Currently, I'm down to two of those original vanity globes which are still running in the downstairs bathroom. The rest have been replaced with newer Sylvania 25 watt vanity globes which are noticeably brighter and clearer; the old bulbs have a light brown coating inside the glass and appear noticably dimmer next to the new ones. If the two remaining ABCO bulbs last up to September this year, they'll be 18 years old. Unlike Livermore's light which just gets left on, the lights in my bathroom get switched maybe around 8 times a day.

A compact fluorescent bulb made by Lights of America that I bought back in 1998 lasted 8 years in the ceiling fan over my dineing room table. When it did burn out, it was actually something in the ballast that failed; I still have the working "bulb" part.

There's a 27 watt compact fluorescent desk lamp in the Den/Study that's about 7 years old and still has it's original bulb. A 40watt 48" fluorescent tube in my kitchen was probably around 5 or 6 years old when I decided to change that one fixture (out of 3) to a new ballast and T8 lamps. Oh, and let's not forget a 11 year old 100 watt Halogen "Bankers" lamp with an original bulb that my mother uses on her desk. It has a dimmer switch though and is probably used at most 60%.

Other long lights in my house include two in the upstairs hallway, a light in the closet, a light in the oven, and the light in the garage/laundry area but these are not used frequently.

How long do your light bulbs last and how old is your oldest working bulb ?

Manzerick · #2 01-07-2007, 02:10 AM

i'm amazed you know the dates of the bulbs!
I can't even remember when I put the led in my lamp post lol

Xenon · #3 01-07-2007, 04:42 AM

Unbelievable that this bulb has been burning since 1901.

Ra · #4 01-07-2007, 05:42 AM

Interesting thread Yuandrew,

However, I doubt you'll get may reactions.. You said "normal people's bulbs"
And there lays the problem:

At CPF there are no normal people !!!!!!!!!!!! OK,, maybe one or two, (myself not included!!) but I think their stay here won't last long...

But more seriously.. I have this, still working, bulb from the 1920's, from my grandfather. Maybe this thread makes me to light that bulb once again.
I don't exactly know the wattage of this bulb, but it reads Philips 225-16-(XL)

So my best guess is 225 volts 16 watts. So lets switch it on,, see if it still works after 50 years, when I'm 94 years old!!!

Regards,

Ra.

Illum · #5 01-07-2007, 08:49 AM

well, back then the production labs aim to longivity rather than marketing i believe was because of limited supplies during the war times, older bulbs uses thicker diameter tunsten in more coils...therefore tend to be underdriven and project a weaker, yellowish beam than the new GE bulbs, which I believe have thinner filaments and therefore being overdriven to produce higher intensity and higher color temp...

being a n00b in the field, thats just my way of explain it...

not to Hijack the thread, our dinner table lamp here

has been burning every dinner time for the last 10 years since we moved here, we bought spares but they never stop running

snakebite · #6 01-07-2007, 10:27 AM

i have my grandparents desk lamp they bought in 41
it still has the original tube.its blackened badly at both ends but still works!
likely one of the first fluorescent lamps availible.still has the cloth cord too.
they marked everything they bought or serviced.took good care of stuff and used it forever.
i recently put a vitalite tube in it and put the original away to preserve it.

2xTrinity · #7 01-07-2007, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Illum_the_nation

well, back then the production labs aim to longivity rather than marketing i believe was because of limited supplies during the war times, older bulbs uses thicker diameter tunsten in more coils...therefore tend to be underdriven and project a weaker, yellowish beam than the new GE bulbs, which I believe have thinner filaments and therefore being overdriven to produce higher intensity and higher color temp...

being a n00b in the field, thats just my way of explain it...

not to Hijack the thread, our dinner table lamp here

has been burning every dinner time for the last 10 years since we moved here, we bought spares but they never stop running

I believe the key at the time was that manufacturing the light bulb was a fairly expensive process, so it paid to underdrive the bulbs for longevity. Now, bulbs cost cents each so they're run harder to save on electricity.

The longest ones we have going are fairly new compared to most of the ones listed here. 9 45-watt R30s in our living room on two separate dimmer switches:

X O O
X O O
X X X

The "O" lights and "X" lights are on separate switches. Generally some combination of these has been on for 2-3 hours a day (more typically the outside "X" lights, dim, but sometimes all on full) since we moved in in 1994. We've only replaced one. The dimmer always gradually brings them up to full brightness, so there's no big current spike on startup, and they're usually underdriven.

Just about every other circuit in our has has tended to burn bulbs every couple months, until we switched to CFL (saves a lot at $0.16 kWh)