@!sinner69! 467821 wrote:
When you have proof that it have been possible to make a light-bulb last for more than a hundred years you know you have been gutted last time you bought one….arggh DAMN them producers!
to be fair CFLs, halogens and LEDs are way better and don’t blow as often (although halogens can be a bit fragile, at least though they don’t put off the breaker on the lighting circuit like the old ones did)
The worlds 5th oldest lamp was in an electrical shop in Ipswich, but using incandescent lamps for comparison is way more complex that it first seems… until very recently mainland Europe had 220V and UK 240V.
until the 1960s voltages within the UK varied from 200 – 250V in different areas. So lamps were made for various voltage ranges and sold all across Europe, and not all were marked on the glass bulb. Ipswich (EEB) was I think 230V, so if a 250V lamp got used in this area it would last ages but be a bit dim, however in somewhere like a stairwell or the loo it goes unnnoticed, whilst batches of lamps for a lower voltage in the wrong area get complained about because they blow quick.
plus lamps left switched on on a clean supply without surges last longer than those switched on and off regularly, but since 1970s we have been told to save electricity…Now the whole EU should be nominal 230V but at home it can be nearer 250V whilst at work out in the sticks as low as 220V (or no power at all at peak times, though its actually got better since the Chinese dude took over the distribution network), which makes it harder to compare the lifespan of incandescent lamps.
I agree though there is too much planned obsolescence now particularly with soldered in lithium ion batteries in many gadgets, but much is also caused by the demand for innovation by the consumer.
One of the companies berated for the lamp cartel was Philips Gloielampfabriken BV but looking at service manuals from audio equipment of the same era they did make that to be maintainable and repairable to be fair, so at least this company reinvested the profits from the lamps in other products. I think one balancing factor though was having the nationalised electricity board, as often they would get the blame for “bad power” blowing up equipment and were also big customers of places like Philips for important equipment such as two way radios so they could also fight on behalf of the consumer.
