posted 4 weeks ago
Incandescent are definitely around, I see them in the store all the time (check a hardware store if your big box grocery store doesn’t have them). For some applications, like inside of ovens, there are no alternatives.
Anne, I skimmed that impressive article on the downsides of LEDs. One thing I didn’t see mentioned is an aspect of incandescent I see a lot as an electrician: the long-term effects of so much wattage on the circuitry feeding the light.
When I go into a house where incandescent bulbs have been used for decades and I’m asked to take a look at the wiring on that circuit, invariably it is crispy-fried and either on the verge of or at the point of failure.
Electric current produces heat, not just in a light bulb but in the wire. A bulb pulling more current through 14 gauge wire will heat that wire more than a bulb pulling less. As the wire goes through these broad heating and cooling cycles, the copper becomes brittle. Just yesterday I was taking a wire nut off a splice between two such wires and one of them basically crumbled. I had to strip it further down and re-twist it back on—twice!
The insulation around the wire fares poorly from these heating and cooling cycles as well. The effects of time are not kind to old insulation to begin with, but 14 gauge wires that have had incandescent lighting loads on them for years and years almost always, in my experience, have insulation that is compromised. That means bare wire is exposed where it shouldn’t be, leading to electrical problems and potentially shock.
I know that time will eventually come for all wire, but you get a lot more life out of that wire if your lights are putting out under a dozen watts than if they’re burning 60. It’s not just about money, it’s about system integrity and safety. You may still have good reasons to go for incandescent bulbs, but that is worth considering in my opinion.
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