World's Longest Burning Lightbulb

[Wits' End]

Over 100 years life with an incandescent

Wasn't sure the best forum for this but thought all would be interested.

This bulb has been burning for over 100 years. For the rest of the story check out
Centennial Bulb

Not a flashlight but interesting.

 

[Chris M.]

Re: Over 100 years life with an incandescent

Actually that bulb is not the Centennial bulb. This one is:

(live image updates every 30 seconds).

I have a bulb in my collection of the exact type at Livermore fire station, made at the same time. It still works too, but has spent most of its time sitting in darkness somewhere. They are rare but not incredibly uncommon.

The Livermore bulb however, is truly remarkable. Why it has lived so long has been a topic of discussion among light bulb collectors for quite some time. It would take too long to go over the points raised now, but when I`m more sober I`ll post some of the ideas that have come up.

 

[Lightmeup]

Pretty unbelieveable, this lightbulb has been burning since 1901!

http://www.centennialbulb.org/

 

[gadget_lover]

You know, I should run over to Livermore to see that before the great California Anti Incandescent bulb law gets passed.



Daniel

 

[2000xlt]

Yep i saw that on mythbusters, any way "WHEN " it burns out, i betcha it will winds up on ebay

 

[WAVE_PARTICLE]

Not sure if this is true or not, but I've been told that current incandescent light bulbs are engineered to fail.....that all it takes is a slightly thicker filament to make the lightbulb last forever (or at least orders of magnitude longer). Myth? :shrug: dunno.....


WP

 

[Mike Painter]

Not sure if this is true or not, but I've been told that current incandescent light bulbs are engineered to fail.....that all it takes is a slightly thicker filament to make the lightbulb last forever (or at least orders of magnitude longer). Myth? :shrug: dunno.....

WP

Not a myth. You can buy long lasting lightbulbs almost anyplace and every once in a while you'll find somebody marketing "forever" bulbs.
The "secret" is indeed the thicker filiment.
TANSTAAFL

The thicker the filiment, the less light that gets put out for the same wattage.
I have long life (7 year) bulbs in the places I don't have flourescent. They have 780 lumens and I think a normal 60 watt puts out around 1100.
They are there because I use X-10 devices to control them.

 

[C4LED]

You know, I should run over to Livermore to see that before the great California Anti Incandescent bulb law gets passed.



Daniel

That will be the first one to go! :laughing:

 

[BB]

In the CA Bulb thread--I suggested for the betterment of all human kind that it be replaced with a CPFL and people can watch it with the webcam.

-Bill

 

[gadget_lover]

In the CA Bulb thread--I suggested for the betterment of all human kind that it be replaced with a CPFL and people can watch it with the webcam.

I wonder about the irony of tens of thousands of people using their computer (using 300 watts or so) and all the internet resources to see a CPFL that was installed to save energy.

The more important point is that some things are intrinsically valued just the way they are. The longest burning light should be one. After all, you would not add a catalytic converter to the first model T, would you?

According to mapquest, it's only 10.44 miles (16 minutes) away from my house.

Daniel

 

[Sigman]

I know this subject has been posted before. I've seen it in a few threads, but I'm sure it's got it's own thread. If I find it, I'll close this one & we can continue there.

Meanwhile, here's a link to the webcam on the bulb!

 

[benchmade_boy]

i told my science teacher about this bulb and he did not believe me. but he finally got around to believing i wasnt pulling his leg.

 

[Julian Holtz]

Not sure if this is true or not, but I've been told that current incandescent light bulbs are engineered to fail.....that all it takes is a slightly thicker filament to make the lightbulb last forever (or at least orders of magnitude longer). Myth? :shrug: dunno.....


WP

Not a myth, more a half- truth. There are bulbs, that last a very long time, for applications where a failure would be critical (traffic lights), or in places where they are really hard to replace.
These bulbs are very inefficient.
So the bulb engineers have to decide whether the customer has to spend his money on wasted electricity or on replacing bulbs.
Current lightbulbs are designed in a way that the total costs of illumination including electricity and replacement bulbs are the lowest possible.
If a bulb lasted longer, one would spend more money on electricity than one would save because of longer replacement intervals.

Cheers,

Julez

 

[3rd_shift]

There are a few lightbulbs at my Mom's place that have been there and in regular use for over 17 years now.
Feit Electric "130 volt" ones I got way back in 1989 at an old Home Depot I used to shop at.

Every time I see a fixture that looks dim at her place, It's still being lit by the same Feit Electric 60 watt I put in there in 1989.
It still provides light while I change out the other 2 failed cheapie bulbs in that same lamp fixture. :laughing:

 

[Illum]

I know this subject has been posted before. I've seen it in a few threads, but I'm sure it's got it's own thread. If I find it, I'll close this one & we can continue there.

Meanwhile, here's a link to the webcam on the bulb!

Sigman...you mean the thread posed back in 02?

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=14027

 

[Sigman]

Illum...you nailed it! Thanks, I'll merge the threads now!

 

[Illum]

glad to be of service