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World's oldest light bulb burning for 109 yrs


Still Waters

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The world's oldest light bulb has been burning for 109 years - so little wonder it has a fan club with thousands of members and its own website.

As EU rules deny householders the right to use traditional filament bulbs, the so-called 'Centennial Light' has been on almost constantly since 1901.

It holds pride of place in Fire Station 6, in Livermore, northern California.

The longest time the Guinness World Record-holding bulb has ever been turned off for is just a week.

Dangling above the fire engines, people come for hundreds and thousands of miles to see the diminutive symbol.

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what the hell man? I bought some of those uber efficient twisty looking ones...guaranteed to last at least 6 years and it blew within a week. oh yeah, I got my money back too. <_<

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what the hell man? I bought some of those uber efficient twisty looking ones...guaranteed to last at least 6 years and it blew within a week. oh yeah, I got my money back too. <_<

Yeah, we got some of those to. You might as well screw one of those twisty puffed cheetos into the light socket, they work just about as well.

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Yea, big promises. Oh, they cost more but they save money on energy use and last for years. Bull****! They cost a fortune and last about 2 months. I've had the old style last me 2 years or more at times. Plus they are dirt cheap. Not to mention that you need about 5 twisty ones to give off the same light as one of the bulby type.

Edited by jbondo
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the ones we used to buy would once in a while just fall apart. but what do you want for a dollar.

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A number of years ago I salvaged a light bulb that had been in an old steam tunnel for God knows how long. Instead of saying 75watts it said 16CP. A bit of research revealed that "CP" is candlepower, the unit of measure used before the watt became standard in 1960. I sold it to a collector. The compact florescent bulbs,(the twisty ones) contain mercury and are considered hazardous waste when they blow out. The glass on a standard light bulb is designed not to cut you when they break. Interesting.

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A number of years ago I salvaged a light bulb that had been in an old steam tunnel for God knows how long. Instead of saying 75watts it said 16CP. A bit of research revealed that "CP" is candlepower, the unit of measure used before the watt became standard in 1960. I sold it to a collector. The compact florescent bulbs,(the twisty ones) contain mercury and are considered hazardous waste when they blow out. The glass on a standard light bulb is designed not to cut you when they break. Interesting.

idk about that last part...I've accidentally walked barefoot over a broken bulb before, and there was some skin breakage...I've also had one break in my hand when I tried to twist it farther than it wanted to go in the socket and bandaids were required then as well. Those little slivers get in there...*shudders*

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Next story we hear.

"California legislature orders fire department to turn off 110 year old light bulb. CO2 footprint too large they say. Must be replaced with new light bulb."

I view the new lightbulbs to be worse then the old ones. Yes they are more energy efficient but so what, they contain mercury which is FAR worse then CO2 (but wait, mercury is not a green house gas so we can ignore how toxic it is!). As far as toxicity to life mercury is FAR worse then CO2. Plants make oxygen out of CO2, mercury... just kinda kills things.

Anyone remember the term "Mad Hatter"?

I can see the term "Mad Bulber" eventually.

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That thing is as old as my house. I don't like the Cheetos bulbs, either. I've had mostly good luck with their lasting a while (like a year) but the light is terrible. I use it for outdoor stuff, like porch lights. Otherwise, its incandescent all the way with me.

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I've had good luck with the long lasting bulbs.

The only time I've had problems is when they're in a floor lamp and a cat or dog knocks over the floor lamp and shatters the buggers all to hell. They're not long lasting then. *sigh*

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