Energy & Power

The Museum's collections on energy and power illuminate the role of fire, steam, wind, water, electricity, and the atom in the nation's history. The artifacts include wood-burning stoves, water turbines, and windmills, as well as steam, gas, and diesel engines. Oil-exploration and coal-mining equipment form part of these collections, along with a computer that controlled a power plant and even bubble chambers—a tool of physicists to study protons, electrons, and other charged particles.

A special strength of the collections lies in objects related to the history of electrical power, including generators, batteries, cables, transformers, and early photovoltaic cells. A group of Thomas Edison's earliest light bulbs are a precious treasure. Hundreds of other objects represent the innumerable uses of electricity, from streetlights and railway signals to microwave ovens and satellite equipment.

One method that companies have long used to minimize production costs is to design products that use many of the same parts.
Description
One method that companies have long used to minimize production costs is to design products that use many of the same parts. In the early 1990s Duro-Test Lighting used this approach in a series of modular compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs).
Modular CFLs are designed so that specific parts can be replaced if they fail. This allows the reuse of expensive parts that still work. In this particular lamp, the fluorescent tube and the reflector enclosing it are made as one piece; the base-unit that houses the ballast and starter are another. In addition to allowing one to replace the tube assembly if it failed, one could swap different assemblies. The reflector lamp could be changed to a decorative lamp for example, without having to remove the base-unit.
Since the price of electronic components has dropped since this lamp was made, the economic reasoning behind this feature is less persuasive.
Lamp characteristics: Two-piece, modular compact fluorescent lamp including a base-unit and a tube assembly. The base-unit has a medium-screw base-shell with plastic insulator, and a plastic skirt that houses a ballast and a starter. A socket on top accepts a plug-in base. Tube assembly includes plastic plug-in base, a fluorescent tube with two electrodes, mercury, and a phosphor coating. A glass R-shaped envelope with silvered coating serves as a reflector and is glued to the tube assembly's base.
Date made
January 1991
1991-01
manufacturer
DURO-TEST Corporation
ID Number
1997.0062.09
catalog number
1997.0062.09
accession number
1997.0062
By the late 1890s, carbon filament lamps were no longer the hand-made devices demonstrated by Thomas Edison. He and many others had refined them into mass-produced, reliable products.
Description
By the late 1890s, carbon filament lamps were no longer the hand-made devices demonstrated by Thomas Edison. He and many others had refined them into mass-produced, reliable products. But the energy efficiency of carbon lamps remained poor, leading researchers—especially in Europe—to seek better filament materials. In 1902 Germans Werner von Bolton and Otto Feuerlien invented a filament made from element number 73, tantalum. Tantalum lamps produced 5 lumens per watt (lpw), much better than the 3.2 lpw of the carbon lamps of that day.
The electrical resistance of tantalum was lower than carbon, though. In order for the total resistance of a tantalum lamp to match the total resistance of a carbon lamp, it had to have a much longer filament. In order to support the longer filament inside a bulb of reasonable size, von Bolton and Feuerlien used a series of hooks attached to the lamp's central glass stem. The filament wound up and down within the bulb. Though the design looked complex, it worked well and was later adopted for the tungsten filaments that replaced tantalum around 1910.
This particular lamp was made by the inventors' employer, Siemens and Halske. Tantalum lamps became the first metal filament lamps offered for sale in the U.S. and in 1909 became the first lamps to carry the trade-name Mazda.
Lamp characteristics: Brass medium-screw base with skirt and porcelain-dome insulator. A tantalum filament with 11 upper and 10 lower support hooks. The support hooks are angled in order to keep tension on the filament, which tended to sag during operation. The stem assembly features soldered twist and crimp connectors, a Siemens-type press seal, and a cotton insulator. Tipped, straight-sided envelope.
Date made
ca 1907
date made
ca. 1907
maker
Siemens & Halske
ID Number
EM.239147
catalog number
239147
accession number
46578
Invented by Walther Nernst, this incandescent lamp could operate in open air and did not violate Edison’s patents. The housing is sectioned for study of the internal ballast resistance mechanism. The glower consists of six iron rods coated with rare-earth elements.
Description (Brief)
Invented by Walther Nernst, this incandescent lamp could operate in open air and did not violate Edison’s patents. The housing is sectioned for study of the internal ballast resistance mechanism. The glower consists of six iron rods coated with rare-earth elements. The coating gives off light when heated and protects the rod from oxidation.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1902
associated person
Nernst, Walther
maker
Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co.
ID Number
EM.214330
catalog number
214330
accession number
38852
“Meridian” lamps were designed for stylish installations. They featured a globe shape with no external exhaust tip.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
“Meridian” lamps were designed for stylish installations. They featured a globe shape with no external exhaust tip.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1904
maker
General Electric Company
ID Number
EM.328073
catalog number
328073
accession number
270107
Only a few types of carbon lamps were made with coiled filaments.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Only a few types of carbon lamps were made with coiled filaments.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1900
maker
General Electric Company
ID Number
EM.230844
catalog number
230844
accession number
43304
Typical carbon filament lamp tested at the National Bureau of Standards.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Typical carbon filament lamp tested at the National Bureau of Standards.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1905
ID Number
1992.0342.03
catalog number
1992.0342.03
accession number
1992.0342
Brass lapel-pin with a non-functional light bulb. Resembles a typical carbon filament lamp of the early 1900s.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Brass lapel-pin with a non-functional light bulb. Resembles a typical carbon filament lamp of the early 1900s.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1905
ID Number
2002.0342.01
accession number
2002.0342
catalog number
2002.0342.01
Typical GE metal Halide lamp for outdoor use.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Typical GE metal Halide lamp for outdoor use.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1985-04
maker
General Electric Lighting Company
ID Number
1992.0553.10
catalog number
1992.0553.10
accession number
1992.0553
Linear incandescent lamp with a carbon filament. Made by the Johns-Manville Company.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Linear incandescent lamp with a carbon filament. Made by the Johns-Manville Company.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1908
maker
H. W. Johns-Manville Co.
ID Number
1997.0388.68
catalog number
1997.0388.68
accession number
1997.0388
Invented by Walther Nernst, this incandescent lamp could operate in open air and did not violate Edison’s patents. The housing is sectioned for study of the internal ballast resistance mechanism. The glower consists of three iron rods coated with rare-earth elements.
Description (Brief)
Invented by Walther Nernst, this incandescent lamp could operate in open air and did not violate Edison’s patents. The housing is sectioned for study of the internal ballast resistance mechanism. The glower consists of three iron rods coated with rare-earth elements. The coating gives off light when heated and protects the rod from oxidation.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1904
maker
Nernst
ID Number
EM.318298
catalog number
318298
accession number
232729
First generation tungsten lamp with mushroom-shaped envelope. Possibly designed for use with a reflector.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
First generation tungsten lamp with mushroom-shaped envelope. Possibly designed for use with a reflector.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1908
ID Number
1997.0388.56
catalog number
1997.0388.56
accession number
1997.0388
First generation "Mazda" tungsten lamp. GE used the"Mazda" name to differentiate this from older carbon lamps.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
First generation "Mazda" tungsten lamp. GE used the"Mazda" name to differentiate this from older carbon lamps.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1909
Maker
General Electric
ID Number
1997.0388.74
catalog number
1997.0388.74
accession number
1997.0388
Aqua - Large base chips - St. Paul Gas Light Company - 12/28/1900 - Converse - Used on St. Croix Power Company's high tension line, November, 1900, (Wisconsin). See Transactions of American Institute of Electrical Engineers, November 23, 1900. "Provo" type. 25000 volts.
Description (Brief)
Aqua - Large base chips - St. Paul Gas Light Company - 12/28/1900 - Converse - Used on St. Croix Power Company's high tension line, November, 1900, (Wisconsin). See Transactions of American Institute of Electrical Engineers, November 23, 1900. "Provo" type. 25000 volts. Same as used in Utah to carry 40,000 v.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1895
ca 1900
maker
Hemingray Glass Company
ID Number
EM.209183
catalog number
209183
accession number
37405
Typical carbon filament lamp tested at the National Bureau of Standards.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Typical carbon filament lamp tested at the National Bureau of Standards.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1905
ID Number
1992.0342.04
catalog number
1992.0342.04
accession number
1992.0342
This sintered tungsten filament lamp was made by GE under license from European inventors.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This sintered tungsten filament lamp was made by GE under license from European inventors.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1908
ID Number
EM.307434
catalog number
307434
accession number
68276
“Meridian” lamps were designed for stylish installations. They featured a globe shape with no external exhaust tip.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
“Meridian” lamps were designed for stylish installations. They featured a globe shape with no external exhaust tip.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1906
maker
General Electric Company
ID Number
EM.230830
catalog number
230830
accession number
43304
This glower assembly was the active element in a Nernst incandescent lamp. When it burned out it could be quickly replaced. The glower consists of iron rods coated with rare-earth elements.
Description (Brief)
This glower assembly was the active element in a Nernst incandescent lamp. When it burned out it could be quickly replaced. The glower consists of iron rods coated with rare-earth elements. The coating gives off light when heated and protects the rod from oxidation.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1900
maker
Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co.
ID Number
EM.334501
catalog number
334501
accession number
271855
Typical carbon filament lamp tested at the National Bureau of Standards.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Typical carbon filament lamp tested at the National Bureau of Standards.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1905
ID Number
1992.0342.01
catalog number
1992.0342.01
accession number
1992.0342
Siemens & Halske carbon filament lamp tested at the National Bureau of Standards.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Siemens & Halske carbon filament lamp tested at the National Bureau of Standards.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1903
maker
Siemens & Halske
ID Number
1992.0342.05
catalog number
1992.0342.05
accession number
1992.0342
Many inventors worked to improve incandescent lamps during the 1890s, but only a few tried to develop practical discharge lamps.
Description
Many inventors worked to improve incandescent lamps during the 1890s, but only a few tried to develop practical discharge lamps. Unlike incandescent lamps that make light by heating a filament until it glows, discharge lamps make light by passing an electrical current through a gas. The current energizes the gas which then emits light. One inventor, Peter Cooper Hewitt, achieved success with a discharge lamp using mercury.
Hewitt experimented with mercury-filled tubes in the late 1890s and found they emitted an unappealing bluish-green light. The amount of light given off, however, was startling. In 1902 the Cooper Hewitt Vapor Lamp Company (backed by George Westinghouse) was established to make the lamps. Though few people would want his lamps in their homes, Hewitt realized that the poor color would not matter for other uses. Photo studios used Cooper Hewitt lamps extensively. In an age of black and white film, the color of a photographer's light made little difference--they just needed lots of light. Industrial uses for the lamp also emerged.
Ultimately, Cooper Hewitt lamps proved cumbersome. A heavy ballast was needed to control the electrical current and each lamp contained nearly 1 pound of mercury. Starting early models required the user to tip the entire fixture over so that the mercury would run from one end to the other. Tungsten-filament incandescent lamps made in the 1910s provided almost as much energy efficiency as Cooper Hewitt tubes and gave a much better color. General Electric bought the Cooper Hewitt Company in 1919, and in 1933 began marketing a more convenient mercury lamp, the H-1. The H-1 and fluorescent lamps used only a fraction of the mercury found in Cooper Hewitt lamps, but produced light much more efficiently.
This unit is a production-model Cooper Hewitt lamp from about 1904. An attached manufacturer's tag (not shown) gives proper operating positions for various models, and includes a caution notice and a six month warranty.
Lamp characteristics: Glass, U-shaped tube with bulbs at both ends. Bulbs house mercury-pool electrodes. A single brass screw contact is mounted on the smaller bulb; two brass screw contacts are on the larger bulb. The tube is attached to a mounting bracket that holds it in its fixture. Pads of asbestos insulation keep the glass from direct contact with the metal bracket. Unit contains about 1 pound (.5 kilograms) of mercury.
Cooper Hewitt U-shaped mercury vapor lamp. Cooper-Hewitt Company, U-tube configuration. Attached manufacturer tag shows proper operating position for various models, caution notice, corporate address, and notes a 6 month warranty.
Date made
ca 1904
date made
ca. 1904
maker
Cooper Hewitt Electric Company
ID Number
1998.0005.10
catalog number
1998.0005.10
accession number
1998.0005
First generation tungsten lamp adapted from a zirconium design by Drs. Hollefreund and Zernig of Germany.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
First generation tungsten lamp adapted from a zirconium design by Drs. Hollefreund and Zernig of Germany.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1908
maker
Zirkon Gluhlampenwerkes
ID Number
1997.0388.66
catalog number
1997.0388.66
accession number
1997.0388
Thomas Edison and others considered element number 6, carbon, ideal for lamp filaments in part because it has the highest melting point of any element. Element number 74, tungsten, has the next highest melting point but it then existed only as a powder.
Description
Thomas Edison and others considered element number 6, carbon, ideal for lamp filaments in part because it has the highest melting point of any element. Element number 74, tungsten, has the next highest melting point but it then existed only as a powder. Attempts to make it into a workable form failed until early in the 1900s when a burst of invention occurred in Europe. A pressing technique called "sintering" (squeezing a material into a dense mass) was adopted by several inventors.
The most commercially successful design proved to be that of Dr. Alexander Just and Franz Hanaman of Austria. Their work on sintering tungsten was based on a prior sintering process developed by Carl Auer von Welsbach for his filament made of osmium. Just and Hanaman made a tungsten and organic paste, squirted it through a die, baked out the organic material, then sintered the tungsten in a mix of gasses. The resulting filament gave about 8 lumens per watt and lasted 800 hours.
Another Austrian, Dr. Hans Kutzel, used an electric arc to make a tungsten and water paste. He then pressed, baked, and sintered the tungsten in a manner similar to Just and Hanaman's procedure. Yet another pair of Austrians, Fritz Blau and Hermann Remane, adapted the osmium lamp process (they worked for Welsbach) by making a filament from an osmium and tungsten mix. They soon changed their "Osram" lamp filament to tungsten only. (The German word for tungsten is wolfram.)
All three filaments were brittle and collectively known as "non-ductile" filaments. Individual filaments could not be made long enough to give the proper electrical resistance, so lamps needed several filaments connected end-to-end. U.S. companies quickly licensed rights to all of the non-ductile patents. This particular lamp was made under license by General Electric and sent to the National Bureau of Standards for use as a standard lamp.
Lamp characteristics: Medium-screw base with glass insulator. Five single-arch tungsten filaments (in series) with 5 upper and 8 lower support hooks. The stem assembly features soldered connectors, Siemens-type press seal, and a cotton insulator. Tipped, straight-sided envelope with taper at neck.
Date made
ca 1908
date made
ca. 1908
maker
General Electric
ID Number
1992.0342.16
catalog number
1992.0342.16
accession number
1992.0342
Crawford-Voelker lamp with titanium-carbide filament and U-shape envelope. Invented by William Lawrence Voelker.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Crawford-Voelker lamp with titanium-carbide filament and U-shape envelope. Invented by William Lawrence Voelker.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1895
date made
ca 1901
maker
Crawford-Voelker Laboratory
ID Number
1997.0388.59
catalog number
1997.0388.59
accession number
1997.0388
Just non-ductile (sintered) tungsten-filament lamp, ca. 1908. First generation tungsten filament lamp. Characteristics: Brass medium-screw base with collar, porcelain-dome insulator. Four single-arch tungsten filaments in series with 4 upper, 6 lower supports.
Description (Brief)
Just non-ductile (sintered) tungsten-filament lamp, ca. 1908. First generation tungsten filament lamp. Characteristics: Brass medium-screw base with collar, porcelain-dome insulator. Four single-arch tungsten filaments in series with 4 upper, 6 lower supports. Welded or paste connectors, Siemans seal. Glass stem is mounted on two shock-absorbing springs (one set in the press, the other attached to a glass rod that is set in the exhaust tip). Tipped, straight-sided envelope with taper at neck. Lamp developed by Dr. Alexander Just and Franz Hanaman in Vienna in 1902. Mazda A type. Printed on lamp: “Just Tungsten Lamp Pats. Pending”. Written on lamp: “20246a.1628”. Something else is written at base, near neutral lead-weld. [See Bright, Electric Lamp Industry, pp. 184-94.]
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1908
maker
Just, Alexander
Hanaman, Franz
ID Number
1997.0388.55
accession number
1997.0388
catalog number
1997.0388.55

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