The light bulb, which has the title of ‘the longest burning light bulb in the world’, has been burning uninterruptedly since 1901 at the fire station in California, USA. The century-old lamp, known as “The Centennial Light”, has the title of the longest burning light bulb in the world. In addition, the light bulb can be viewed live over the internet thanks to the camera in the station.
The centennial eight-centimeter lamp, made manually in the 1890s by Shelby Electric Company founder Adolphe Chaillet, has hardly been extinguished since 1901.
IT HAS ONLY TURNED OUT 2 TIMES SO FAR…
The century-old light bulb has gone out only twice in 122 years. It was noticed that the light bulb, which was closed for a while due to the change of location of the fire station in 1976, did not work for a while on the evening of 20 May 2013. The next day, it was determined that the malfunction was caused by the power supply, not the bulb.
THE QUALITY OF THIS BULB INCREASES AS IT IS lit
In 2008 and 2009, the scientist Prof. Deborah Katz determined that the filaments inside the bulb are 8 times thicker than those in today’s light bulbs, and that the filaments, possibly made of carbon, are semiconductor.
Katz noted that as the conductors in today’s light bulbs heat up, their ability to conduct electricity begins to disappear, while the quality of the light increases as the conductors in Shelby light bulbs get warmer.
THE “GUARD OF THE LIGHT” HAS BEEN INTERESTED IN THIS BULB FOR 50 YEARS
Tom Bramell, retired Deputy Fire Chief, who has been interested in the century-old light bulb for nearly 50 years and known as the “Keeper of Light”, spoke.
Bramell stated that it was donated to the Fire Department by Dennis Bernal, the owner of Livermore Power and Water company, in 1901. Its bulb is 60 watts. Therefore, it is illuminated by reducing the level of electricity supplied to the lamp.” said.
Stating that he has been with this lamp for 50 years and talking to people from all over the world, Bramell said, “I met with researchers from Australia, India, Turkey, Germany and many other countries. I have been retired for 20 years and I still share information about the light bulb.”
Bramell added that it is still not fully understood how the light bulb can last so long.