Why edison invented light bulb

Consumers pointed to the high price as their number one obstacle in purchasing CFLs. Since the s, improvements in CFL performance, price, efficiency they use about 75 percent less energy than incandescents and lifetime they last about 10 times longer have made them a viable option for both renters and homeowners.

One of the fastest developing lighting technologies today is the light-emitting diode or LED. A type of solid-state lighting, LEDs use a semiconductor to convert electricity into light, are often small in area less than 1 square millimeter and emit light in a specific direction, reducing the need for reflectors and diffusers that can trap light.

They are also the most efficient lights on the market. Pale yellow and green diodes were invented next. As companies continued to improve red diodes and their manufacturing, they began appeari. Explore the history of fluorescent lights , from the Geissler tube to CFLs. This interactive map is not viewable in your browser. Please view it in a modern browser. Incandescent Bulbs Light the Way Long before Thomas Edison patented -- first in and then a year later in -- and began commercializing his incandescent light bulb, British inventors were demonstrating that electric light was possible with the arc lamp.

What are the key facts? Learn more about the history of the incandescent light bulb. Read about the advancements in LED lights. Served as a digital communications specialist for the Energy Department. Our easy-to-use BulbFinder will let you find the correct bulb, step by step. He was neither the first nor the only person trying to invent an incandescent light bulb. However, Edison is often credited with the invention because his version was able to outstrip the earlier versions because of a combination of three factors: an effective incandescent material, a higher vacuum than others were able to achieve and a high resistance that made power distribution from a centralized source economically viable.

In , Humphry Davy invented the first electric light. He experimented with electricity and invented an electric battery. When he connected wires to his battery and a piece of carbon, the carbon glowed, producing light. His invention was known as the Electric Arc lamp. More notably, in , British scientist Warren de la Rue enclosed a coiled platinum filament in a vacuum tube and passed an electric current through it.

The design was based on the concept that the high melting point of platinum would allow it to operate at high temperatures and that the evacuated chamber would contain fewer gas molecules to react with the platinum, improving its longevity. Although an efficient design, the cost of the platinum made it impractical for commercial production. And by he had a working prototype, but the lack of a good vacuum and an adequate supply of electricity resulted in a bulb whose lifetime was much too short to be considered an effective prodcer of light.

In , Swan developed a longer lasting light bulb using a treated cotton thread that also removed the problem of early bulb blackening. For one thing, he often claimed to be entirely self-taught, having never attended a day of school.

He also boasted of never needing more than three hours of sleep a night. Per TIME:. When the Ford Motor Co. In some of these photos, Ford seemed attentive and alert, but Edison could be seen asleep — on a bench, in a chair, on the grass.

His secret weapon was the catnap, and he elevated it to an art. He could go to sleep any where, any time, on anything.