OPINION A VERY
BRIGHT IDEA
After 133 years the light is about to go out on the incandescent lamp. John Otten looks at its history and says LEDs are now on course to become our main source of lighting
Product life cycles are generally well known and understood, but
very few can compare with the humble electric light bulb or the incandescent lamp, which were banned from sale on 1 September. It is inconceivable today to imagine a world without electric light, and yet 133 years ago the light bulb revolutionised the developed world. The electric light bulb – otherwise
known as the standard incandescent or General Lighting Service (GLS) lamp – is considered a relatively simple product, but when it was invented by Joseph Swan in 1879, it was one of the greatest inventions of its time. Thomas Edison patented his version in the same year and some of the most famous patent battles of the era ensued. Edison, the founder of American-
based GE, was backed by shrewd financial backers who ruthlessly challenged all would-be inventors trying to copy his product. Fierce court battles were fought, but a few equally shrewd entrepreneurs either avoided or won their cases and survived. The race to invent this product had widespread implications in driving electrification and companies of the time were not slow to exploit the market possibilities. Rapid growth of
The
incandescent lamp was the foundation for some of the world’s greatest electrical companies of America including Philips and Toshiba
these businesses, often with cut-throat competition and practices that would be very questionable today, the industry was driven by a few men creating large companies, resulting in trading rings and pricing agreements on a national and international scale. This resulted in monopolies and industrial cartels, investigated by government select committees and monopolies commissions in Europe and ‘anti-trust’ legislation in America. The shrewdness and tenacity of
some of these great businessmen resulted in the incandescent lamp being the foundation for some of the world’s greatest electrical companies, including GE of America, Philips, Toshiba and Siemens/Osram. The industry was challenged by the
oil crisis in the early 1970s, when the cost of energy rose dramatically and, for the first time, companies were forced to think of alternative technologies. By the late 1970s, compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) started to emerge as competitors for the incandescent bulb, but they were expensive. In the mid-1990s, a Japanese development engineer called Dr Shuji Nakamura, of the Nichia Chemical Corporation, created a white LED.
Unlike CFLs, Nakamura’s invention was dimmable and lit instantly. Incandescent lamps are basically
heating elements, using approximately 94% of their energy generating heat. By comparison, about 80% of LEDs’ energy is used to create light, with only 20% lost to heat. For the latest LEDs, 90% of the energy gives off light. The industry quickly realised
that LEDs were the future and this culminated in European legislation banning 25W incandescent lamps from 1 September 2012 – bulbs of 60W or above were banned a year ago. Today, there is a wide range of
LEDs on the market, covering most incandescent lamps and even some fluorescent and discharge lamps. Expect further developments in terms of light output, colour consistency, heat management and higher wattage. Pricing is still an issue with LEDs,
but with a product life of 30-50,000 hours, they will be the choice of many purchasers. Already, many hotels, shops and restaurants are installing them. There is no doubt the LED is the major light source of the future. John Otten is the author of the Death of a
Light Bulb, published by Blue Ocean Publishing 2012, ISBN 978-1-907527-08-1
www.deathofalightbulb.com
22
CIBSE Journal September 2012
www.cibsejournal.com
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