If you didn’t read that title correctly you would assume that it referred to a sixty WATT light bulb. But no, a sixty year light bulb is indeed the subject of this article, and what’s more it isn’t just a dream either.
Most people are probably aware by now that the energy saving light bulbs that are replacing all the traditional ones are of a much lower wattage than the ones we use now. They also last a lot longer as well.
But what about sixty years longer? Is this really true?
Well actually yes it is. At the end of January 2009, scientists revealed that they have in fact been able to come up with a light bulb that really does last this long. You cannot buy this wondrous product at the moment, but you can expect to be able to in a couple of years from now.
So what exactly is this new product going to be like?
Well you can expect it to be rather smaller than the traditional bulbs we are used to. The reason for this is that the light itself is produced by an LED – otherwise known as a light emitting diode. This is very bright when compared to normal light bulbs and thus it will be an adequate replacement. We could enjoy bills for lighting our homes that are just a quarter of what we pay now.
Add to that the fact that a single bulb could last as long as sixty years and you can see that this is a giant leap forward for the lighting industry.
But LEDs have been around for a while. They aren’t exactly brand new technology. So why has it taken until now to use them in this way?
Well if the truth be told it is actually more a case of cost than anything else. As with many things in life, we could have had these light bulbs a lot sooner. But the price would have been prohibitive for many people to have bought them. Would you have paid £20 for each and every bulb you needed to light your house with?
It wasn’t the parts of the bulb that led to this estimated price – it was the cost of the methods used to make them that would have led to such a steep shelf price. But that isn’t the case any more. Manufacturers and researchers have now been able to come up with an alternative way of making them that will cut that estimated price down by around 90%.
So while buying a light bulb for £2 that lasts sixty years sounds like the stuff of science fiction, it is soon going to be science fact. You can expect to see these bulbs on the shelves in the next couple of years, so watch out for them. Even the energy saving bulbs we are all starting to buy now could be obsolete before they really get a chance to set the world alight.