Special light bulbs become beacons for first responders

Excerpt-COLFAX, La. (KALB) — Have you ever heard of a light bulb that could save your life? It’s called an Emergency Flasher Smart Alert Bulb.

“It would’ve been a life saver,” said Bobbie Hendricks, a resident of Colfax, Louisiana.

“Yes, it would’ve been,” agreed her husband, Graham Hendricks.

The Hendricks recalled a scary moment just last month when Bobbie got sick. They called an ambulance, but sometimes it’s hard to track down the right house, especially in an area as big as Colfax.

“As it was, I had to come out here and get them to stop,” explained Mr. Hendricks.

“He had to wait outside here and wave them down when we saw them come by,” continued Mrs. Hendricks.

Now, with this emergency flasher, there’s a new way to avoid the trouble. It’s a tool Sheriff Steven McCain heard about in other parts of the country.

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Hmm kind of little real info about the lightbulb itself.

It seems that it isn’t an led bulb either, according to this site.

http://www.smartelectric.com/products/100

Clever though, flipping switch twice (or would they mean ON OFF ON (3 times) ) for beacon.

I can see the utility of a strobe hidden mode.

When I had my alarm system put in I had a blue strobe light installed outside to help first responders quickly identify the house at night. The color was set by regulation.

Bob

I am in just to see what the meaning of this post is.

Bulbs like this were available locally more than a decade ago. There were 2 kinds. First would flash off briefly once every 15 seconds and was meant to signal take-out food delivery drivers while the second kind would flash off every 2 seconds to signal police or fire department.
Haven’t seen them in stores for 7 or 8 years now.

Just talked to my twin brother. He actually bought one of these bulbs 12 years ago. He tells me that the bulb in question was just a ordinary 100 watt E26 based (standard North American screw in bulb) clear globe bulb that had two leads one one side of the glass stem inside the globe. One lead used a bi-metal strip to make/break electrical contact as it heated/cooled while the other lead ran to the bulb filament like a normal bulb. The trick was a circuit in the base of the bulb that would detect the double ON/OFF cycle and switch power to the second lead with the bi-metal strip.
Those bulbs back then were nothing more advanced than a very clever flasher bulb you would put in a string of incan lights on your house or outside landscaping during the Holidays in December.

The bulb lasted for 14 days of very limited flasher use and was dead when he tested it 11 & 1/2 months later.

Please compare/contrast with small liar.