Incandescents - The Usual Light Bulbs
Incandescents - The Usual Light Bulbs
Thomas Edison invented the incandescent light bulb nearly 120 years ago, and it still works pretty much as it did then. Inside a glass bulb, electricity heats up a wire filament, causing it to glow and give off light. Of course, electrical heaters work in much the same way, and that's why more than 90 percent of the energy produced by incandescent lights is heat, not light. As a result, incandescents are inefficient light sources. The heat they produce can drive up your electricity bill in hot weather if your home or office is air-conditioned.
While regular incandescent bulbs last usually between 750 to 1,000 hours before burning out, some long-life bulbs last up to 2,500 hours. The trade off is that long-life bulbs are less energy efficient and produce less light per watt.
