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North Carolina Senior Games
Silver Arts
2014
CATEGORY
LITERARY ARTS
SUB-CATEGORY
Essay
TITLE
"The Day the Light Died"
The Day the Light Died
January 1,2014 was the day the era of incandescent lights was terminated by the U.S.
government. Incandescent bulbs can no longer be imported or manufactured in the United States.
Only stocks presently in stores and warehouses may be purchased as long as they last. Since my
childhood and before, we and our ancestors have utilized the bulb with the screw-in base and the
filament that glowed when electricity was applied.
Incandescent bulbs were not invented by Thomas Edison, but he did invent the first
practical bulb in 1878. He started the first distribution system in 1880, which provided electricpowered lights to 59 customers in lower Manhattan.
Edison's bulbs had one big problem. He firmly believed that electricity should be direct
current. Alternating current was far too dangerous to be used by the general public. He was
technically correct, but not practical for long distance transmission. DC current cannot be easily
transmitted and cannot be amplified or reduced. In essence, his electrical system was limited in
the range it could cover. That meant that if you were over two miles from the generating station,
you would not receive electricity, which meant no light bulbs.
It was true that alternating electricity was more dangerous, and people are killed each day
by careless handling of it. However, AC current can be easily amplified or reduced, and it can be
transmitted over long distances. Power plants can now send electricity over great distances, and
it is easily reduced to the household 110-120 volts. If someone gets shocked or electrocuted, it is
generally due to their own carelessness.
Thomas Edison did not just put a wire inside a bulb and have something that would last a
long time. It took considerable experimentation before he discovered something in which he was
satisfied. Most people don't know that he came to North Carolina and Lincoln County in his
search for a filament that would meet his needs.
I was fortunate to be able to visit the house in Lincoln County where Thomas Edison
lived for a period of time. The house was owned by the ironmaster of the Reinhardt Furnace. The
house was situated in a large field beside a creek only a few miles from our own home. My
wife's first grade teacher was Frances Reinhardt Puckett, who, as a child, lived in the house
when Thomas Edison was there. In the 1960's my wife and I visited the elderly Mrs. Puckett,
who invited us to tour her home. She showed us a number of items Edison had left when he
departed. My wife and I walked along the creek where he searched for the elusive filament for
the electric bulb. He camped throughout the area and worked hard, but he did not fmd the magic
formula for a long-lasting bulb there.
The ubiquitous light bulb has been around since 1878, and ordinary people have been
able to turned on the bulb for over one hundred years. I remember as a child going to my
grandparents' house in Texas. They used wires dangling from the ceiling terminating in sockets
and bulbs. These provided light for the rooms.
The U.S. government's law which went into effect on January 1,2014, bans the
incandescent bulb for most home use. Refrigerator and stove incandescent lights, as well as
flashlights, will continue to be in use for the future. The original light bulb did bum more
electricity than the light it produced. It did need to be replaced with an energy-saving light
source.
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I have converted my ceiling lights and some others to CFL (Compact Fluorescent Lights).
CFL bulbs do not burn as much electricity and last longer, although probably not as long as
advertised. Unfortunately, they are dangerous to handle, as they contain mercury as part oftheir
construction. If you drop one and it breaks, a complicated procedure is required to recover the
parts. You should not throw a dead bulb in the trash can. It must be returned to special locations.
A better alternative is LED (Light Emitting Diodes). LED is common around Christmas
time, with many light strings and displays containing LED bulbs. The bulbs are more expensive
than CFL bulbs. The price may be deceptive as a $30 LED bulb may save $200 over 25 years.
Advantages ofLEDs are that they come in multiple colors, come on instantly, are
dimmable, and have faster switching. They are more expensive initially, but they are safer and
last longer than CFL' s. You may want to consider the LED bulb for your future home lighting.
In a period of a little over 130 years, several decades more than the lifetime on one
elderly teacher, the electric light has gone from incandescent bulb to CFL and now to LED. After
the death of the outlawed incandescent bulbs, the LED bulb is the electric light of choice until
the next "Thomas Edison" comes along.
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