We just replaced our bedroom dressers this week as well as the reading lamps. When I was probably around 5 years old, my aunt gave me a small brass lamp that was touch activated with a 3-way bulb. That was over 35 years ago. I used that lamp in my bedroom as a kid, when I moved out, and up until this week.
Was getting ready to throw the lamp out when it occurred to me that I have never changed the bulb. What is even more amazing is that it probably cycles on/off several times every day, and this has been going on constantly for at least 35 years. Reminded me of a bulb I saw in one of those Guinness’ Book of World Records that’s been burning for over 100 years. They say the reason is that it’s never been turned off. http://www.centennialbulb.org/
Every now and again, my grandmother’s ’50s-era fridge would start “fading”, ie, not keeping things as cool as usual. Lightly sanding the prongs on the power plug, and a few ins’n’outs in the outlet, would scrape off the oxidation and get it working again just fine.
From so long ago, it’s likely some oxidation grew on the connection, too, causing some extra resistance, dropping some voltage, and making that bulb act like a “long-life” bulb (eg, 130V-rated bulb used on 120V).
I never did replace any, I stocked up on incandies while they were very cheap. The little more energy they take is worthy - the light can still be pleasant here despite all government regulations. :innocent:
I think I’ve changed more CFL & LED bulbs in the last few years than I’ve ever changed Incans…. I don’t think the power saving of switching over to energy conscious bulbs is working out from my point of view :money_mouth_face:
I’m just new to LED bulbs so I can’t speak on them, but everyone leaves lights on all over our house and I got so tired of replacing incandescent bulbs I just bought up a bunch of CFLs a while ago. Everyone complains about how they are dim and off-colored at first, but I’m the one that replaces them. :rage: These large globe bulbs that go above the bathroom mirror are the only incandescent bulbs left and these 40W bulbs burn out every 2 months. :person_facepalming:
That little more energy they take makes a big impact on my energy bill. :laughing:
Replaced 40W incandies with 4W LED WW and now the bill is substantially cheaper. Sure the LED costed 4 times as much as an incandy but looking at the reduced energy bill I think it was worth it since the energy bill is slabbed so crossing a certain limit will further increase per unit cost…
Heard something about incandies making a comeback with nanotechnology or something. If that works out I might switch to them new incandies.
I thought there was at least ome research that showed that the inefficiency of incandescent lights did not actually matter, as the heat produced made it so less energy was needed for heating
Government banned sale/import, not usage of remaining stock anyway
I bought around 70+ bulbs before EU regulation came into force. It was like 0.40 cents/piece that time.
It’s still possible to get them, but expensier under some “industrial use only” declaration or something like that I heard.
I put 8w spiral CFL globes in our outside fittings 5 years ago, and have maybe replaced 2 out of 6, they run all night every night and 4 of them run 24/7/365 they are cool white and put out at least as much light as a 60w incandescent
I bought 9.5 watt warm white LED bulbs from Costco last year on sale for 50 cents each. They are even dimmable. I replaced all the incandescent bathroom bulbs which had a mixture of 60, 75, and 100 watt bulbs. So in total I replaced 19 bulbs and went from 1,250 watts down to 180.5 watts. Amazing! They don’t dim as well as the incandescent bulbs, but appear brighter and still have a nice tint. None have failed yet.
I got a 100W bulb blazing bright 24/7 under the patio to keep the pipes from freezing in this coldwave.
The inside valve is cranked shut as tight as possible, but still “trickles”, ie, opening the outside valve to drain the pipe still leaves a constant trickle that never stops.
When I lived in the woods, I had to replace incans every month or two. Power fluctuated enough to hammer them. I bought a CFL when they were very expensive and I don’t think I ever had to replace it. Probably 7 years or so till I moved.
My problem is I use incans to keep pipes from freezing. Getting harder to find high wattage lamps now.
I’m surprised you like the tint in a bathroom. I replaced our incandescent bathroom lights with warm-white LED bulbs, but they made us look like we had a liver disease. I went back to incan lights.
I had that problem when I used 2700K LED bulbs. Switched to 3000K and now it looks much better. To match my incandescent I guess 3200K or so is needed.
Of course that is true, but dependent on where you are located. Where I live excess heat is the enemy. The A/C runs many hours, uses more energy, than our furnace. The thought of operating an incandescent with an illumination efficient of no more than 3% while operating the A/C to remain cool is abhorrent to me. We have 98% LED’s which are better with maybe a luminous efficiency of up to 20%. Still a long way to go, so that new technology is of interest.
