The End of Incandescence

• Year Humphry Davy demonstrated the arc lamp, a light bulb precursor: 1806

• Year Thomas Alva Edison is credited with inventing the first electric light bulb: 1879

• Number of materials Edison tested to find the right filament to electrically produce light in his bulb: 1,600

• Filaments he tried: coconut fiber, fishing line, hair from a friend’s beard

• Filament he successfully used: Carbonized bamboo 

• Life of Edison’s first carbon filament bulb: 14.5 hours

• Percent of total energy bill regularly consumed by incandescent bulbs: 10 to 20

• Year the U.S. government decided to increase light bulb efficiency standards: 2007

• Year that all bulbs — incandescent, CFL, and LED — on the market will be required to use 25% less energy: 2014

• Life of the average incandescent bulb today: 1,000 hours

• Number of watts a CFL bulb needs to produce the same light as a 60w incandescent: 13

• Year GE began selling the first non-compact fluorescent bulbs: 1938

• Life of the average fluorescent bulb, including CFLs: 10,000 hours

• Percentage of energy decreased by using a CFL bulb because it doesn’t use heat to create light: 75

• Amount energy-efficient Energy Star fixtures can save in annual energy costs: $70

• Substance that creates light-producing radiation in fluorescents: Mercury vapor

• Amount of mercury that can cause mercury poisoning: 0.05mg

• Approximate amount of toxic mercury found in CFL bulb: 5mg

• Approximate amount of mercury in a watch battery: 25mg

• Amount of mercury waste produced by fluorescent bulbs in landfills: nearly 30,000 pounds

• Number of sealed plastic bags the EPA recommends wrapping a CFL in before disposal: 2

• Minimum number of clean-up steps for a broken CFL: 9

• Year unheralded Russian scientist Oleg Vladimirovich Losev invented the LED: 1927

• Year often cited as the invention of the Light Emitting Diode (LED): 1962

• Operating life expected from LEDs: 50,000, and soon to 100,000, hours

LEDs are likely to be the future of energy-efficient lighting. But we’re not there yet. The chief factor restricting more widespread LED adoption: high price.