Light bulbs, like all devices, have a certain resource, after the development of which they burn out. The burned out lamp in the apartment does not cause almost any negative emotions in the owners, it is easily replaced either immediately, or, if there is no spare at hand, they will use some portable light source. And if a light bulb burns out in a garage, in a country house or in an entrance, it can deliver a lot of unpleasant minutes. In such cases, a phone flashlight or lighter can help. But, as experience shows, for some reason, in such cases, charging the phone is running out, and not everyone carries a lighter in their pocket. And in these moments I want eternal bulbs to burn in our porches.
Why light bulbs burn out: the main reasons
The useful life of an incandescent lamp, according to manufacturers, is 1,000 hours of operation. The actual service life, as a rule, is noticeably shorter. It depends not only on the quality of manufacture of the bulb itself, but also on the conditions of its operation. Factors that shorten the useful life of a light bulb are as follows:
- A sharp increase in voltage. An increase in voltage will cause a short-term excessive heating of the tungsten filament, which will result in the evaporation of tungsten and thinning of the filament. This leads to a reduction in service life and premature burnout of the bulb.
- Frequent turning on and off the light. The bulbs usually burn out at the moment of switching on, when the spiral heats up quickly. This provokes damage to the filament, since the cold spiral has a lower resistance, and accordingly, the rated value of the starting current exceeds the value of the working one.
- Malfunctions in the electrical circuit of the lamp. Most often, these are burnt-out contacts of the switch or the cartridge, insufficiently tightened contacts in the junction box or panel, and unreliable connection of the lamp wires.
Protection of bulbs from power surges
There are enough reasons for premature burnout of lamps, and if some can be eliminated by repair and replacement of parts of the electric circuit, into which the light bulb is included, then it is impossible to exclude voltage drops in the city electric network. In the apartment or house, you can install devices that stabilize the voltage, which will not only extend the life of the lamps, but also protect other electrical appliances. Currently, there is a sufficient selection of various protective devices on the market both for the entire electrical network of a house or apartment, and for regulating the supply of voltage to lighting devices. But installing them in a garage, and even more so an entrance, is economically inexpedient.
A light bulb that has been working for more than a century exists
It would seem that the existence of an eternal light bulb is contrary to the laws of physics. But documented is the fact of the existence of an incandescent lamp, which has been operating since 1901. It is listed in the Guinness Book of Records, and anyone can watch it online. Unlike modern ones, its spiral is made of carbon, and the power is only 4 watts. Also, a centenary lamp has, in contrast to modern ones, a large wall thickness of a glass bulb.
How to make?
From the above reasons leading to premature burnout of incandescent bulbs, it follows that significantly the life of the lamp can be extended by minimizing voltage drops. But how to make an eternal light bulb?
The simplest way is to include a semiconductor (preferably silicon low-power) diode of the corresponding structure with a static current transfer coefficient of at least 50 in series with the lamp in the electric circuit. The concept of "low-power" in this context is arbitrary, since the diode power is selected accordingly to the power of the bulb to which this diode is connected. This diode can be mounted in any accessible and convenient place in the circuit: directly in the switch housing, in the lamp holder, etc. After installing such a circuit, the lamp will receive not a variable, but a unidirectional pulse current through this diode. In this case, the light will shine dimmer and flicker. Such a lamp switching circuit cannot be used in apartments and workrooms, but it is quite suitable for use in utility cold rooms. The use of such a circuit to turn on an electric bulb makes it conditionally eternal. One hundred years to shine, she, of course, will not, but she will work for several years.
It should be borne in mind that this method of extending the life of the bulb to the eternal category significantly reduces the already low efficiency of the incandescent lamp.
Modern energy-saving light bulbs
Currently, there is a wide selection of lamps for lighting. In addition to Ilyich’s bulbs familiar from childhood, a wide assortment of energy-saving lamps with various characteristics has appeared on store shelves. Which are preferable?
Fluorescent lamps are low pressure discharge lamps. They are available with a transparent and matte flask, on the walls of which a phosphor is applied. It is the source of light when the lamp is turned on. Their durability is 15 times higher than the life of incandescent lamps. In addition, such lamps emit an even and stable stream of light, which makes them very popular. In addition, they deliver a uniform and stable stream of light and have a wide range of color rendition: from warm incandescent lamps close to the light to cold daylight. The efficiency of fluorescent lamps reaches 80%.
These lamps are widely used for both industrial and domestic lighting. But they require increased attention due to the content of mercury vapor in them, which are the strongest poison. Of course, a person will not recover from one crashed light bulb, but nevertheless, a blown lamp should not be casually thrown into the bin, especially since a special method of disposal is provided for them. Spare lamps should be kept out of the reach of children.
LED lamps are also durable, their life varies in a wide range from 1.5 to 10 years, depending on the manufacturer. They are resistant to mechanical damage, function normally in a wide temperature range, emit uniform clean light. Do not contain any substances hazardous to humans.
The best lamps for home lighting
For home lighting, people prefer to choose the most economical bulbs. When comparing such characteristics of modern lamps as energy consumption, lighting efficiency, service life, requirements for operating conditions and price, LED lamps are confidently leading in this segment. With low energy consumption, they emit brighter light and are able to make your home bright and comfortable.
And if you consider that some manufacturers claim the life of their LED lamps at 30, 50, and some even up to 100 thousand hours of continuous operation, you would think that eternal bulbs have already been created. True, the warranty period for these lamps, as a rule, does not exceed two years.