Compact flourescent, schmompact schmorescent. In Livermore, California, there’s an incandescent lightbulb that’s been going strong for over a century. They call it the centennial bulb, and it’s officially the world’s oldest operational lightbulb at 108 years… and counting.
The bulb was hand-made in 1901, and donated to the local firehall in Livermore. It’s survived renovations and a couple moves (with a ceremonial procession, none the less!) and is still glowing in the current firehall, with all it’s 4-watt splendour. While it has been off few times in it’s younger life, the secret to it’s longevity is likely that it’s always kept on. You’ve probably noticed that most lightbulbs will fizzle out just as you flip the switch. The sudden heating of the filament, creating light, is very stressful on the fine tungsten wire, and thus the most likely time for it to break. The centennial bulb is now kept on it’s own power supply to be safe from stressful blackouts.
The “Palace Bulb” in Fort Worth, Texas is following close behind, and has been operational for 101 years. So next time you leave the lights on, you’re not being wasteful so much as optimistically ambitious.
- Source: http://www.centennialbulb.org/ (complete with a live bulb-cam)
