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Well, there's a lightbulb in Livermore, California that has been burning for more than a 100 years: http://www.centennialbulb.org/ http://www.centennialbulb.org
by whoisjuan 9y ago
Well, there's a lightbulb in Livermore, California that has been burning for more than a 100 years: http://www.centennialbulb.org/ http://www.centennialbulb.org/
- russdill 9y agoThere's a tradeoff between efficiency and life. My electric oven makes a decent light when turned on high. I bet it'd burn for a lot longer than 100 years.
- sevensor 9y agoFun story, I've seen an oven element burn out. It arced through the floor of the oven, leaving a hole I could stick my finger through and almost started a house fire.
- IntronExon 9y agoThat’s absolutely terrifying! Was it a very old or poorly maintained oven? Please say yes...
- sevensor 9y agoBoth. It was in a rented apartment. My best guess is that decades of heat cycling had caused the filament to sag.
- MertsA 9y agoIt probably wasn't sagging that killed it. Over time those elements will develop hot spots and eventually the hot spot fails spectacularly spewing sparks and plasma from the failure. It's kind of similar to a plasma cutter for a second as there's the small arc in the element which ionizes the gas and it blows it out from the element and if it hits something grounded I can totally see it punching a hole through sheet metal. https://youtu.be/EC_6urfu5UI?t=7m40s https://youtu.be/EC_6urfu5UI?t=7m40s
- sevensor 9y agoInteresting. I'd totally buy that explanation.