Everlasting Lightbulb

I was watching a tv program a few months back about how light bulbs were made.

It was mentioned that as the US voltage is 115v, and the UK is 240v & if a UK bulb is used in a US mains ring, the bulbs brightness doesn't change as the current remains the same - however, because the voltage isn't as high this light bulb effectively never blows.

Is this true? Does anyone import UK light bulbs in the US and use them?!!

Imagine the money you could save!

Originally posted by morgansolutions
Imagine the money you could save!

Well lets see I spend about $10/year on light bulbs so I can imagine saving $10/year. Hardly an amount to get excited over.

I'm sure there's plenty of ppl out there who who like to save money on anything they can -evey penny counts etc.

My question however was not how much you could save, but if there are people using UK bulbs in place of US ones.

If I'm not mistaken, the receptacles are different. Guess you could get new receptacles, too.

Lex

Originally posted by Lexion
If I'm not mistaken, the receptacles are different. Guess you could get new receptacles, too.

Lex

New fittings? Hmmm ..That could end up costing a few quid!
Do you have the "edison screw" type bulb and the "Bayonet" bulb styles in the US anyone?!!

Here's a funny story.

Many years ago our telephone was under seige because my Dad's company, (he was a marketing chief at the time and the press had got hold of the story), was about to release a double life light bulb. It was that simple, they would last at least twice as long as ordinary bulbs and they cost, (from memory), about 25% more.

Guess what, nobody bought them because they wouldn't pay the extra while cheap ordinary ones were available.

There's nowt so queer as folk...

Do you have the "edison screw" type bulb and the "Bayonet" bulb styles in the US anyone?!!

We have all kinds of bulbs as this site operated by a US based company shows...
External Link

The most common household light I'd say is the screw in lightbulb.

An English bulb running on 115 volts cannot be as bright in the US as it would burn in England.

This is not possible as the voltage is half what it needs to overcome its internal resistance.

Also, note that long life bulbs do exist but they cost more.

But this is all a waste of time because we will be seeing LED lights within 5 years I expect and they will have a lifetime at least 10 times that of florescent I understand.

Originally posted by denythestatusquo
An English bulb running on 115 volts cannot be as bright in the US as it would burn in England.

This is not possible as the voltage is half what it needs to overcome its internal resistance.

Also, note that long life bulbs do exist but they cost more.

But this is all a waste of time because we will be seeing LED lights within 5 years I expect and they will have a lifetime at least 10 times that of florescent I understand.

This is what I've found out so far....

The wattage is function of the # of volts times the # of amps. A 100 watt bulb labelled for Europe will use half the number of amps when it is used in Europe, but its output is still 100 watts.

In other words, if the European bulb were to brought over to the US, it would become a 50W bulb. The US bulb on the other hand, if used in Europe would become a 200W bulb. The bulbs are labelled for their repsective power grids....

Running a 240v bulb on a 120v system will cause it to burn a lot dimmer and it will will change the color temperature of the light it does emit down towards the warmer end of the spectrum. The bulb itself will not run hotter, it will in fact run cooler since you are feeding it only half its rated voltage.

If you run a bulb that is inteded to accept higher wattage on a circuit that is intended to feed lower wattage, this would mean the resistance of the bulb is alot less than it's american counterpart. This won't cause greater heat in the bulb, but it will take almost all the power you can feed it from that grid, and will likely trip your circuit breakers / fuses, which ever you use.

So, yeah, if you don't mind a more expensive power bill, and repeatedly tripping breakers, go ahead.

[edit on 1-12-2006 by johnsky]

But this is all a waste of time because we will be seeing LED lights within 5 years I expect and they will have a lifetime at least 10 times that of florescent I understand.

You mean like these?

www.thinkgeek.com...



Power consumption is about 1/30th of that of a standard Incandescent Bulb. The cost is still up there though. They range in price from 22 for the smallest and 36 for the spotlight per bulb. Also the color isn't right yet, the reason is because the Green sources of light in LEDs are still really really weak. Just look at those multi-colored Christmas lights. The Green is always overpowered by the Blue and Red. When Green reaches the brightness of Blue and Red the color of LED lightbulbs should be the same as all the other lights we use in our houses.

[edit on 1-12-2006 by sardion2000]

What I understand is that old old old lightbulbs actualy still work if you can find em. And there aparently is a company that employes strictly handicapable people that fasion light bulbs that reportedly never burn out eather. I don't know but I agree that the light bulb is getting dim and LEDs are the next bright idea (sorry for the puns couldent help it)

Wasn't there another post about an everlasting torch they found still burning in a 3000 year old egyptian pyramid?

Originally posted by thehumbleone
Wasn't there another post about an everlasting torch they found still burning in a 3000 year old egyptian pyramid?

That indeed would be a marvelous thing but I doubt it has any credence behind it otherwise we'd all be talking about it (whether it was covered up or not!)

I will however, look into it, and thanks for brining this interesting piece of info to my attention thehumbleone

On a another note, I had read somewhere that a german designed bulb, made in the 1850s using a carbonised bamboo filament in a glass bulb... And I've also read that it still works to this day - over 150 years later!

That is only a result of the decisions made when the light bulb is projected.

As a way to find the light bulbs that last longer, you can look for the ones which give the most orange coloured light, because their filament is working at a lower temperature.

When the filament is projected to run at a high temperature, giving a whiter, more natural light, the filament looses material, that is why old bulbs are a littler darker than the new ones, its the material that evaporates from the filament that condenses in the cooler glass bulb.

To prevent that from happening the halogen light bulb was invented, in which the combination of an halogen gas with the tungsten filament makes the evaporated tungsten get back on the filament. In that way they can make highly efficient light bulbs that work at a very high temperature, giving an almost white light.

I do not remember it anymore, but I learned how to choose the length, width and material of the filament to make a light bulb, knowing what luminosity was needed from the final result.

i believe that if a 100 watt bulb from the UK is brought over to the US and run on 120 volts, the voltage is cut in half, but the current is also cut in half because the resistance doesn't change. This gives a bulb that is 25 watts. Being run at half the current, you would save money on your power bill and your bulb would last longer, but your lights would be too dim. you could get a 400 watt UK bulb but that would be the same as just buying a 100 watt US bulb.

Originally posted by morgansolutions

Originally posted by thehumbleone
Wasn't there another post about an everlasting torch they found still burning in a 3000 year old egyptian pyramid?

That indeed would be a marvelous thing but I doubt it has any credence behind it otherwise we'd all be talking about it (whether it was covered up or not!)

I will however, look into it, and thanks for brining this interesting piece of info to my attention thehumbleone

Here it is, it took a while but i found it, Ever-burning lamps

[edit on 2-12-2006 by thehumbleone]

even if they did last longer it wouldnt matter because they probably cost a lot more in the UK due to VAT (our tax, 17.5% or something) so the extra money you would spend on the bulbs plus the shipping costs would outweigh what you would save in longevity