Edison light bulb

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Edison light bulb enclosed in a cage Edison incandescent light bulb enclosed in cage.jpg
Edison light bulb enclosed in a cage

Edison light bulbs, also known as filament light bulbs and retroactively referred to as antique light bulbs or vintage light bulbs, are either carbon- or early tungsten-filament incandescent light bulbs, or modern bulbs that reproduce their appearance. Most of the bulbs in circulation are reproductions of the wound filament bulbs made popular by Edison Electric Light Company at the turn of the 20th century. They are easily identified by the long and complicated windings of their internal filaments, and by the very warm-yellow glow of the light they produce (many of the bulbs emit light at a color temperature of 2200–2400 K).

Contents

History

Original carbon-filament bulb from Thomas Edison's shop in Menlo Park Edison Carbon Bulb.jpg
Original carbon-filament bulb from Thomas Edison's shop in Menlo Park

Light bulbs with a carbon filament were first demonstrated by Thomas Edison in October 1879. [1] [2] These carbon filament bulbs, the first electric light bulbs, became available commercially that same year. [3] In 1904 a tungsten filament was invented by Austro-Hungarians Alexander Just and Franjo Hanaman, [4] and was more efficient and longer-lasting than the carbonized bamboo filament used previously. [5] The introduction of a neutral gas to the glass envelope (or bulb) also helped to improve the lifespan and brightness of the bulb. [5] To produce enough light, these lamps required the use of extremely long filaments, which remained so until the development of more efficiently wound tungsten filaments.

In the 1960s, US inventor Robert (Bob) Kyp patented a similar in appearance but flickering "electric flame" light bulb under the name Balafire [6] as well as radiometers. His flicker bulb was used in a 7-Up commercial, [7] and the company he ran since 1964, Kyp-Go, is currently the only US manufacturer of carbon-filament bulbs. [8]

Resurgence

In the 1980s, after watching a salvage operation, Bob Rosenzweig started the reproduction and selling of his faux-antique bulbs. [9] These vintage-style light bulb reproductions were sold mostly to collectors and prop houses, and continued until the turn of the 21st century when new regulations banned low-efficiency lighting in many countries. However, while domestic lighting shifted toward more efficient compact fluorescent lamps and LED lights, demand for vintage bulbs likewise increased. [9] Sold as "specialty lighting", Edison-style incandescent lamps are exempted from the ban in most places.[ citation needed ]

More contemporary "Edison light bulbs" are designed to replicate the same light color and bulb shape of the original, but offer a more energy-efficient version to Rosenzweig's popular vintage reproduction bulbs (modern tungsten coils are already more efficient). [5] [10] [11] These bulbs maintain the same "exposed" look to further preserve the vintage reproduction style, [12] and often employ the "ST" long-pear bulb shape for the same reason. LED bulbs, including LED retro types, are much more energy-efficient than any incandescent lighting. [13]

A 2010 article in The New York Times noted that some restaurants were hanging hundreds of Edison light bulbs from their ceilings, stating: "Whether in hip hangouts tapping into the popular Victorian industrial look or elegant rooms seeking to warm up their atmosphere, the bulb has become a staple for restaurant designers, in part because it emulates candlelight and flatters both dinner and diner." [9]

Within several years, the aesthetic spread globally. By August 2016, design reporter Kyle Chayka bemoaned in The Verge that every new cafe around the world was beginning to look the same no matter whether a person was "in Odessa, Beijing, Los Angeles, or Seoul: the same raw wood tables, exposed brick, and hanging Edison bulbs". [14] Quartz would later trace the popularization of these looks to Brooklyn, New York. [15] [16]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Incandescent light bulb</span> Electric light bulb with a resistively heated wire filament

An incandescent light bulb, incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe is an electric light with a filament that is heated until it glows. The filament is enclosed in a glass bulb that is either evacuated or filled with inert gas to protect the filament from oxidation. Electric current is supplied to the filament by terminals or wires embedded in the glass. A bulb socket provides mechanical support and electrical connections.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mazda (light bulb)</span> Antiquated lightbulb brand name.

Mazda was a trademarked name registered by General Electric (GE) in 1909 for incandescent light bulbs. The name was used from 1909 to 1945 in the United States by GE and Westinghouse. Mazda brand light bulbs were made for decades after 1945 outside the US. The company chose the name due to its association with Ahura Mazda, the transcendental and universal God of Zoroastrianism whose name means light of wisdom in the Avestan language.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">LED lamp</span> Electric light that produces light using LEDs

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Just</span> German-Hungarian chemist (1874–1937)

Alexander Friedrich Just was an Austro-Hungarian chemist and inventor. Later, in Hungary he used the name Just Sándor Frigyes. In 1904 with Austro-Hungarian Franjo Hanaman he was the first to develop and patent an incandescent light bulb with a tungsten filament, made by extruding a paste of tungsten powder and a carbonaceous binder to produce a fine thread, then removing the carbon by heating in an atmosphere of hydrogen and water vapors. Just and Hanaman received a Hungarian patent in 1904, and later US Patent 1,018,502. In 1905, Just and Hanaman patented a process for producing tungsten filaments by plating carbon filaments with tungsten, then removing the carbon by heating. These early tungsten lamps were more efficient than a carbon filament lamp, because they could operate at a high temperature, due to the high melting point of tungsten. The tungsten was, however, so brittle that these lamps were of limited practical use. It was supplanted by the drawn tungsten filament lamp, developed in 1910 by William David Coolidge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LED filament</span>

A LED filament light bulb is a LED lamp which is designed to resemble a traditional incandescent light bulb with visible filaments for aesthetic and light distribution purposes, but with the high efficiency of light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The name comes from their strings of many close-spaced series-connected diodes, which resemble the filaments of incandescent light bulbs much closer than previous bulbs with many LEDs. They are made as direct replacements for conventional incandescent bulbs, as they are made in the same shapes, they use the same bases that fit the same sockets, and they work at the same supply voltage. They may be used for their appearance, similar when lit to a clear incandescent bulb, or for their wide angle of light distribution, typically 300°. They are also more efficient than many other LED lamps.

References

  1. "Lighting A Revolution: Joseph W. Swan". americanhistory.si.edu. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  2. "Thomas Edison, Joseph Swan and The Real Deal Behind the Light Bulb". CIO US. 15 August 2001. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  3. "Incandescent electric lamp with 'candlestick' cap, c.1879". Science Museum (London). Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  4. Dragana Nikšić (2 July 2017). "Franjo Hanaman, Inventor of World's First Commercially Viable Light Bulb". Total Croatia News. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  5. 1 2 3 Matulka, Rebecca. "The History of the Light Bulb". Energy.gov. U.S. Department of Energy. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  6. Scientific demo with the Balafire Flicker Bulb (video)
  7. 7-Up Commercial with the Balafire Flicker Bulb
  8. Kyp-Go Web site (discontinued, archived)
  9. 1 2 3 Cardwell, Diane (8 June 2010). "When Out to Dinner, Don't Count the Watts". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  10. Wells, Quentin (2012), Smart Grid Home, p. 163, ISBN   978-1111318512 , retrieved 8 November 2012
  11. "60 Watt – Edison Bulb – 5.2 in. Length – Vintage Light Bulb". 1000bulbs. Archived from the original on 6 September 2017. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  12. Neilson, Laura (15 July 2014). "Hey, Restaurant Designers: There Are Now Edison-Style LED Light Bulbs". www.foodrepublic.com. Food Republic. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  13. "Classic LED filament lamps for decorative lighting". Philips Lighting. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  14. Chayka, Kyle (4 August 2016). "The Subway That Sunk: How Silicon Valley helps spread the same sterile aesthetic across the world". The Verge.
  15. Quito, Anne (2 December 2016). "Designers have an 8-letter word for the despised hipster aesthetic colonizing the planet". Quartz. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  16. Varathan, Preeti (25 October 2018). "Coffee shops around the world are starting to look the same". Quartz. Retrieved 25 January 2023.