How do light bulb life extenders work?

Question

There are discs that are placed between the bulb and the electrical source. What is the physics behind how they work?

Answer 1

The extenders reduce the voltage that reaches the bulb. The bulb will not be quite as bright but will last longer because the element does not reach its rated temperature.
You can buy "long life" bulbs which are rated for 135 volts, so when they are in a 110 voltage socket they work the same way.

Answer 2

Light Bulb Extenders

Answer 3

Most commercial light bulbs had been slightly over driven, so that you can get better brightness for a slightly shorter life. This makes sense in the past as electricity was cheap and the bulb was not expensive either.

However, in today's world, electricity has become expensive, so you can cut down on electrical usage by under driving the bulb with a lowered voltage. It saves money on your power bills and at the same time, you get a longer usage life for your bulb.

Answer 4

they probably just have a small resistor inside, which thereby operates similar to a wall-mounted dimmer switch; i saw these recently advertised in a home shopping catalogue with "extend the life of your bulbs!" as one of their less obvious selling points.

out of the two, i'd go for the dimmer; despite longer lasting bulbs and lower electrical bills, i doubt you'll quickly make your money back off either (compared to e.g. a lower-wattage incandescent, or a compact flourescent bulb), but you can create better moods and effects with the adjustale dimmer... just don't try either with an energy saving bulb! (my brother ignored the warnings and managed to physcially blow-out a CF bulb by dimming it!)

i wonder how long a 240v rated 100w bulb would last if you used it as a 45 / 50w off a 110 / 120v supply?

Answer 5

They reduces the applied voltage to bulb and also protects it from harmonic distortion and fluctuation of supply which lights the bulb in normal mode and increases the life of bulb This includes one resistor and one disc capacitor.
In short life extenders oprate the bulb at slightly lower conditions than that standard contitions applied

Answer 6

DC current will make bulbs last much longer. The filament does not vibrate at 60 Hz.
Also I have found adding a dimmer switch will also add much life. I am on my third year of using heat lamps, rated at @three months.

Answer 7

The small discs that you put inside the socket are diodes which cut off half of the AC sine wave. I have installed diodes in some of my home lighting for hall lights which I leave on continually. The lights last for years and give a nice soft glow.