Phasing Out the Inefficient Incandescent Lightbulb

Q. Who invented the incandescent lightbulb?

A. Likely, you’ll guess Thomas Alva Edison. But German watchmaker Henricg Globel was the inventor of the first bulb in 1854. Edison, in 1879, was the first to place a carbon filament in an oxygen-less bulb that burned for 40 hours.

Q. How many lightbulb facts can we squeeze into one sentence?

A. Let’s see…

Edison tested more than 1,600 materials to find the right filament, including coconut fiber, fishing line, and hair from a friend’s beard, finally finding success with carbonized bamboo that burned for 14.5 hours and eventually evolved to the incandescent bulb that today burns 1,000 hours, accounting for 10% to 20% of a home owner’s total energy bill, which is one reason the U.S. government in 2007 decided to ban incandescent bulbs in 2014.

That was 10. And we’re just getting started.

Q. How many lightbulb jokes does it take…?

A. Incandescent lightbulb jokes became popular in the 1960s as a way to poke fun at cultures, beliefs, and occupations. The original seems to be:

Q. How many (insert group to stereotype) does it take to change a lightbulb?

A. Ten. One to hold the lightbulb, and 9 to turn around the ladder.

Among our favorites:

Q. How many bureaucrats does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

A. Two. One to assure everyone that everything possible is being done while the other screws the bulb into the water faucet.

Q. How many therapists does it take to change a lightbulb?

A. One. But the lightbulb must really want to change.

Q. What’s so great about CFLs?

A. A compact fluorescent lightbulb can burn up to 10,000 hours and produces less heat than incandescent lightbulbs, making it more efficient. A 13-watt CFL produces the same light as a 60w incandescent bulb. According to Energy Star, each CFL can prevent more than 400 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions over its lifetime.

Q. What’s the lowdown on LEDs?

A. Light-emitting diodes are even more efficient than CLFs and light-years from incandescent bulbs. LEDs use only 2 to 10 watts of electricity and lose only 10% of energy to heat: 90% goes to light. Here’s the kicker: LED lightbulbs can burn more than 100,000 hours.

Comments

(10)

This article is pure garbage as the ones I have used have NOT lasted longer than the incandescent ones and are almost 5 times as expensive. Just another way of Big Government telling you whats best for and ramming things down the American public's throats like Obamacare. I am stocking up on the incandescent ones now! Whats next, another Government Mandate is passed telling me that my toilet paper must be of a certain thickness?
Posted by John on March 29, 2012

As others have stated, BE HONEST ABOUT THE LIFE OF CFL's. They do not last anywhere near as advertised, making their cost savings dubious. Also, it is quite ironic that the government has been phasing in bans of mercury thermometers due to the toxicity of mercury, and now require CFL's to be used, which contain mercury and are far more likely to be broken. I do not object to people using CFL's. I object to the government forcing people to use them.
Posted by William on December 12, 2011

I am not a paid lobbyist, and I've never listened to Limbaugh. However, I have purchased dozens of CFL bulbs, and will not buy another until government forces me to (you know, in our "free" country). Incandescent lasts for years in my house - not one CFL bulb of any brand has lasted more than a few months. They are useless expensive garbage IMO. My original intent was to slowly replace all bulbs in the house with CFL as the incandescent burned out, but what I am seeing is in fixtures that have multiple bulbs, nine times out of ten the burned out bulb is the CFL I had put in a few months earlier, and the incandescent are still going strong. I don't have a problem with green, but government stupidity is something else.
Posted by Alan on December 08, 2011

Biggest mistake our government has ever made. I will definitely be buying my future incandescent bulbs from Canadian manufacturers (where most are made now, anyway). Never will a CFL be used in my house. And the ironic thing is that the UN is now considering a world-wide ban on mercury which would eliminate the manufacturer of CFLs. Maybe it's time to invest in beeswax?
Posted by b on December 05, 2011

I took the plunge and bought seven CFLs for my basement. In less than a year all of them had died and I was back to the trusty 100w incandescent. CFLs are junk. I have stocked up on incandescents and hopefully have enough to last until the LED is perfected.
Posted by rusty on December 04, 2011

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