# Worlds Longest Running Bulb 108 years



## Jason_Tx (Nov 22, 2009)

There is a light bulb in Livermore California that has been burning since 1901.

The Shelby Electric Company made the bulb. It was handblown and then outfitted with a carbon filament. It has about 4 watts of light. 

The Centennial Bulb

Live Web Cam of the Centennial Bulb

Guinness Book of World Records

The fire department claims that the bulb is at least 108 years old and has only been turned off a handful of times.
If that is true, your looking at approx *946,080 hours of run time


*FYI, the 2nd longest running bulb is in Fort Worth, Texas. Its been there since September 21, 1908.

Worthless information? Probably everywhere except here on CPF it is.:thumbsup:


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## kramer5150 (Nov 22, 2009)

fascinating little piece of information... I wonder if any of those enthusiasts are CPF members?


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## Speedball (Nov 22, 2009)

Check out that zig zag twisted filament!


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## gswitter (Nov 22, 2009)

I remember seeing a feature on the bulb in Livermore on Bay Area Backroads or Evening Magazine (local SF Bay Area shows) a while back. I've been curious to stop in and check it out when I pass through the area.


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## mdhammack (Nov 22, 2009)

I wonder how long it would last overdriven?:thinking:

That is pretty interesting though, guess they don't make 'em like they used to.


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## leukos (Nov 22, 2009)

Jason_Tx said:


> The fire department claims that the bulb is at least 108 years old and has only been turned off a handful of times.
> If that is true, your looking at approx *946,080 hours of run time*


 
Sure makes an LED's lifespan of 50,000-100,000 hours seem awfully short lived...:laughing:


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## Jason_Tx (Nov 22, 2009)

leukos said:


> Sure makes an LED's lifespan of 50,000-100,000 hours seem awfully short lived...:laughing:




When I wrote this post, I thought of this but left it out to see who would be the first to mention how this incan kicks the LED @ss...


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## Monocrom (Nov 23, 2009)

I saw it featured on an episode of Myth Busters.


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## saabluster (Nov 23, 2009)

leukos said:


> Sure makes an LED's lifespan of 50,000-100,000 hours seem awfully short lived...:laughing:



Nice try but my money would still be on the LED. Remember the LED does not go  at 50,000-100,000 hours. Its output is just slightly lower. It will still outlast an incan.


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## Crenshaw (Nov 23, 2009)

I thought there was already a thread on this....:thinking:

I know i read it somewhere, and where else if not CPF?

Crenshaw


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## Monocrom (Nov 23, 2009)

Crenshaw said:


> I thought there was already a thread on this....:thinking:
> 
> I know i read it somewhere, and where else if not CPF?
> 
> Crenshaw


 
Maybe one of those _other_ sites that we never speak of in public? ...

Oh darn, I spoke about them!


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## Howecollc (Nov 24, 2009)

Speedball said:


> Check out that zig zag twisted filament!


And thanks to the nostalgia of Robert Redford, you too can have a similar but shorter lived version in your own home.

http://www.sundancecatalog.com/PRODUCT/40888.html


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## Norm (Nov 24, 2009)

Crenshaw said:


> I thought there was already a thread on this....:thinking:
> 
> I know i read it somewhere, and where else if not CPF?
> 
> Crenshaw


Perhaps this thread?
* The Grandaddy of flashlight bulbs *
Norm


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## Dioni (Nov 24, 2009)

leukos said:


> Sure makes an LED's lifespan of 50,000-100,000 hours seem awfully short lived...:laughing:


 
:laughing:

I would love to see this on the bulbs of flashlights, but without losing power, of course. 

This bulbs dond't know what a orverdrive is.


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## ampdude (Nov 24, 2009)

saabluster said:


> Nice try but my money would still be on the LED. Remember the LED does not go  at 50,000-100,000 hours. Its output is just slightly lower. It will still outlast an incan.



I'll believe it when I see it. Which won't be in this lifetime.

My experience is many LED's go *poof* in a lot shorter period.


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## Dioni (Nov 24, 2009)

ampdude said:


> I'll believe it when I see it. Which won't be in this lifetime.
> 
> My experience is many LED's go *poof* in a lot shorter period.


 
+1

and I WANT to be here to see it!


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## jerry i h (Nov 24, 2009)

The pictures of the bulb
http://www.centennialbulb.org/bc/sis3.jpg
http://www.centennialbulb.org/intrvw/sister/sis17.jpg
Look very much like this modern reproduction:
http://www.tubedepot.com/al-f1893.html
Kinda hard to tell, since the pictures are taken from an oblique angle, reflections, and the distortions from the envelope. 

Actually, there is a whole class of these modern day reproductions. There is one called “squirrel cage”, which I have: really cool, and so far they last as long as regular bulbs. The only problem is the orange tinge: kinda like living in a jack-o-lantern. Google “antique reproduction light bulbs”, and you get lotsa places to buy ‘em. Some actually seem to be made of a carbon filament that is an unsupported loop, that you have to install vertically.


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## ypsifly (Nov 25, 2009)

Where I work we have a collection of late 19th/early20th century bulbs including many made by Edison and Westinghouse. I've been told that many are still in working order. 

As a side note....we also have the entire Menlo Park Laboratory, which as most of you will know, is where the light bulb was invented. We not only have the building, but when it was moved they even trucked in the dirt from the ground surrounding it.


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## Monocrom (Nov 25, 2009)

ypsifly said:


> Where I work we have a collection of late 19th/early20th century bulbs including many made by Edison and Westinghouse. I've been told that many are still in working order.
> 
> As a side note....we also have the entire Menlo Park Laboratory, which as most of you will know, is where the light bulb was invented. We not only have the building, but when it was moved they even trucked in the dirt from the ground surrounding it.


 
Another example of how things were done back before America became a disposeable society. Even the bulbs were made to last.


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## Crenshaw (Nov 25, 2009)

Monocrom said:


> Maybe one of those _other_ sites that we never speak of in public? ...
> 
> Oh darn, I spoke about them!


Oh but I dont visit those other sites...lovecpf

Crenshaw


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## Nubo (Dec 1, 2009)

It's right around the corner; I keep meaning to go take a peek before it finally blows!

For anything we'd consider a "useful" incan light, Tungsten rules. But at very low wattage, the carbon filament is well-suited for extreme longevity. This bulb was made when carbon filament technology was at its zenith, right before Tungsten took over.


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## Jason_Tx (Nov 25, 2020)

Amazing, it's still going 11 years after this thread.


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## aginthelaw (Nov 26, 2020)

See you in 2026 at the 125th anniversary. I can’t believe my grandma died right before the 105th anniversary she was also born in 1901


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## thermal guy (Nov 27, 2020)

So I’m assuming it has not run continuously all this time has it? I mean power outages and such.


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## broadgage (Nov 29, 2020)

Monocrom said:


> Another example of how things were done back before America became a disposeable society. Even the bulbs were made to last.



Misleading IMHO, a modern incandescent bulb could easily last 100 years or more by underunning it sufficiently. A 277 volt lamp worked on a 120 volt supply should last a century. 
A good qaulity carbon filament lamp run at rated voltage should achieve about 2 lumens per watt. A lower qaulity and very under run carbon lamp such as a 277 volt or 300 volt lamp run at 120 volts might be only 0.1 lumens per watt.
A modern tungsten lamp will be from 10 lumens per watt up to 20 lumens per watt depending on voltage, wattage and design life.
A modern LED lamp will reach 100 lumens a watt, and 200 lumens per watt lamps now exist.

Whether 100 years ago, or more recently, most people hate buying light bulbs and complain when they have to buy another. The cost of electricity far exceeds the lamp cost, but most people worry far less about that.

Here in the UK there was a fad a few years ago for "everlasting light bulbs" these were not truly everlasting but were very long lasting. The suppliers promised to replace any failed lamps for free if the customer paid for postage.
These long lasting lamps were significantly dimmer than proper 1000 hour incandescents and required about twice the lamp wattage for a similar light. They were popular with people who could not understand the cost of the extra electricity used.


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