5 ms·
Centennial Light
- dang 7y agoThread from 2014: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8353200 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8353200
- amelius 7y agoI'd recommend following the link to the Phoebus cartel page. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoebus_cartel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoebus_cartel
- ars 7y agoThe cartel required 1,000 hour lifetimes, but do note that they could not do anything about the physical reality that higher lifetime = lower energy efficiency. People talk about it sometimes as if they made bulbs worse, but they didn't.
- deogeo 7y agoBetter not give consumers the choice though, just in case.
- A2017U1 7y agoPeople in the 30's cared about energy efficiency?
- ars 7y agoElectricity was never free. It was a tradeoff between the cost of the bulb, vs the cost of the electricity used to power it. The cartel tried to set the efficiency figure such that it wasn't worth it to run the bulb at lower efficiencies for longer life. As much as they are criticized they seemed to have calculated exactly the right figure: Bulbs today at still 1,000 hours. No one wants a lower efficiency bulb, and shorter lifetimes are too annoying. If you really want to know more, read the wikipedia article someone else linked, then read the sources it's based on.
- carapace 7y ago> the physical reality that higher lifetime = lower energy efficiency I don't usually do this, but uh, citation needed?
- ars 7y agoJust reminding everyone that you can trade energy efficiency for lifetime. This bulb produces basically no light, i.e. very poor efficiency, so the lifetime is very high.
- kylek 7y agoHighly recommend you read the (hilarious and long) 17776[0]; the bulb is a big part of the story. [0] https://www.sbnation.com/a/17776-football https://www.sbnation.com/a/17776-football
- errantspark 7y agoI cannot recommend 17776 highly enough. It is absolutely one of the best pieces of art that I've experienced in the past decade.
- tgb 7y agoI agree. I never would have imagined calling a multimedia piece ostensibly about football the greatest work of art from the 21st century that I've seen but, well, it just is. Go experience it for yourself without knowing anything more, if you haven't already.
- esaym 7y agoSo what is different about this bulb versus a regular filament one I can get at wal-mart? And more importantly... where can I buy one at?
- jedimastert 7y agoFairly little, actually. The main difference you'd see is: 1) It's a 30-watt bulb, so I'd be a lot darker than you'd be used to/would be usable 2) It's gotten even darker, so it would be almost completely useless by now. 3) Because of the lower wattage, it's basically been used more gently than any bulb you'd use now-a-days Basically, you'd probably replace it about as soon as the current ones anyways.
- Nextgrid 7y agoRegarding point 2, anyone knows why it became darker? Furthermore in the Wikipedia page they mention that when the lamp lost power for some time, it became much brighter a short time after it was powered up before dimming again. Can anyone explain that? I'd expect it to be the opposite, where the hotter the filament gets the more light it produces.
- greenyoda 7y agoThe article says it's a carbon filament bulb. Modern incandescent bulbs use a tungsten filament. Carbon filament bulbs are still sold for decorative lighting: https://www.amazon.com/carbon-filament-bulb/s?k=carbon+filament+bulb https://www.amazon.com/carbon-filament-bulb/s?k=carbon+filam... Kind of related: an interesting video on how tungsten filaments are made: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIGqBb3iZPo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIGqBb3iZPo
- ars 7y agoThe bulb is basically a space heater, not a light. It glows red and doesn't give off much light. Like the coils in your toaster basically. And that's also why it's lasting so long - low temperature equals long life.
- steve76 7y agoIs it in the M87 Imaging Payload? Should be. Couldn't we "wake" Voyager with Laplacian Resonance based on quantum loop gravity or some garbage like Turing did? Probably. PS: TURING STOLE ALL MY STUFF I DID IT I KILLED ALAN TURING! AHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH !!! Mr. Ford ======================================== Could you guys imagine if Winston Churchill worked in curse words to his speeches? And we shall defend our island. By land. By sea. By air ... ... ... and if the German Chancellor does not like it ... .... .... FOOOOK HIM. -J-
- fortran77 7y agoAren't new incandescent fixtures illegal in California? I wasn't able to put any in my new construction. Since this was moved to a new firehouse, I'm wondering how the permits were legally signed off by the inspector.
- ars 7y agoIt's not really a light, if you saw it your would think it's a space heater.