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
A major hurdle that makers of compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) have faced stems from the unusual shapes of the lamps, as compared to traditional incandescent lamps. Consumers have grown used to what light bulbs "are supposed" to look like.
Description
A major hurdle that makers of compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) have faced stems from the unusual shapes of the lamps, as compared to traditional incandescent lamps. Consumers have grown used to what light bulbs "are supposed" to look like. Many have rejected CFLs for that reason despite the potential cost savings.
As lamp makers refined their understanding of the new product, designs were introduced to meet consumers' preferences for less-intrusive styles. Duro-Test developed a series of five modular CFLs around 1996, including this "Duro-Brite" unit that has a removable glass globe covering the twin-tube lamp. Another unit in the collection sports a removable glass reflector. The base-units contain the lamp's ballast and starter, and the tube assemblies themselves are interchangeable.
This unit is a modular CFL with three components: a tube assembly, an adapter, and a glass cover.
Lamp characteristics: Tube assembly is a twin-tube unit mounted on a plastic base. The adapter has a medium-screw base-shell with an insulator that is part of the plastic skirt housing the ballast. A G23 socket is on top for the tube assembly, and key-slots are molded around the edge to attach the cover. Cover is a G-shaped, clear-glass envelope with aluminum collar at bottom. There are stamped protrusions on the inside of the collar to mount the cover onto the adapter. Electrical rating is 13 watts.
date made
ca. 1996
Date made
ca 1996
manufacturer
DURO-TEST Corporation
ID Number
1997.0062.11
catalog number
1997.0062.11
accession number
1997.0062
Original switch key put in on introduction of the second dynamo, November, 1881. A wooden knife switch mounted on a wooden base. Four binding posts. Used in the Hinds-Ketchum printing plant as part of the first commercial installation of the Edison lighting system.
Description (Brief)
Original switch key put in on introduction of the second dynamo, November, 1881. A wooden knife switch mounted on a wooden base. Four binding posts. Used in the Hinds-Ketchum printing plant as part of the first commercial installation of the Edison lighting system.
Date made
1881
maker
Edison Electric Co.
ID Number
EM.180944
catalog number
180944
accession number
24315
Original safety plugs put in on system in December, 1881. Prior to this a small section of lead wire had been soldered into the trunk line and there were no safety plugs [fuses] on any of the main lines to the lamps.
Description (Brief)
Original safety plugs put in on system in December, 1881. Prior to this a small section of lead wire had been soldered into the trunk line and there were no safety plugs [fuses] on any of the main lines to the lamps. Used in the Hinds-Ketchum printing plant as part of the first commercial installation of the Edison lighting system
Date made
1881
maker
Edison Electric Co.
ID Number
EM.180943
catalog number
180943
accession number
24315
Original switch key by which current was turned on lamps in the building. #499 and 451 Water Street, New York City, on the evening of January 15, 1881. A wooden pivot switch mounted on a wooden base. Four binding posts.
Description (Brief)
Original switch key by which current was turned on lamps in the building. #499 and 451 Water Street, New York City, on the evening of January 15, 1881. A wooden pivot switch mounted on a wooden base. Four binding posts. Used in the Hinds-Ketchum printing plant as part of the first commercial installation of the Edison lighting system.
Date made
1881
ID Number
EM.180942
catalog number
180942
accession number
24315
Donor reported: "Fixture and lamp socket, with covered tin shade, used by engravers to concentrate the light on a small space.
Description (Brief)
Donor reported: "Fixture and lamp socket, with covered tin shade, used by engravers to concentrate the light on a small space. This fixture and shade excited great interest at the time as it was apparently the first shade that any one had ever seen which covered the top of the lamp or light without ventilation. Double swing gas pipe brackets with rough tin shades - one extra shade." A converted gas fixture with a keyless Edison socket for a Johnson bevel-ring incandescent lamp. Used in the Hinds-Ketchum printing plant as part of the first commercial installation of the Edison lighting system.
Date made
1881
ID Number
EM.180939
catalog number
180939
accession number
24315
Production model SL*18/27 compact fluorescent lamp to replace a 60 watt incandescent lamp.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Production model SL*18/27 compact fluorescent lamp to replace a 60 watt incandescent lamp.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1990
maker
Philips Lighting Co.
ID Number
1996.0357.03
accession number
1996.0357
catalog number
1996.0357.03
Production model SLS20 "Earth Light" compact fluorescent lamp to replace a 75 watt incandescent lamp.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Production model SLS20 "Earth Light" compact fluorescent lamp to replace a 75 watt incandescent lamp.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1993
maker
Philips Lighting Co.
ID Number
1996.0357.02
accession number
1996.0357
catalog number
1996.0357.02
Inventing a new technical device not only involves creating the device itself, but often entails creating special tools to produce the device or the component pieces of the device.
Description
Inventing a new technical device not only involves creating the device itself, but often entails creating special tools to produce the device or the component pieces of the device. Thomas Edison conducted experiments on hundreds of different types of natural fibers in his search for a material that would serve as a light bulb filament.
Date made
1880
associated user
unknown
maker
Edison, Thomas Alva
S. R. Wells & Co.
ID Number
EM.314259
catalog number
314259
accession number
198085
During the 1970s, energy crises lamp makers scrambled to develop products that would be more energy efficient. One manufacturer, Duro-Test, began working with researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on an improved version of the ordinary incandescent lamp.
Description
During the 1970s, energy crises lamp makers scrambled to develop products that would be more energy efficient. One manufacturer, Duro-Test, began working with researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on an improved version of the ordinary incandescent lamp. The resulting product was called the "MI-T-Wattsaver" and was produced by the company from 1981 through 1989.
The basic concept seemed simple. The hotter a tungsten filament operates, the more efficient it becomes. Most of the energy emitted by the filament is in the form of invisible infrared rays that we feel as heat. If some of that heat could be directed back at the filament to raise its temperature, the lamp would give more light with no additional electricity needed. The researchers at Duro-Test and MIT called this concept a heat-mirror. They developed a special coating that would allow visible light to pass while reflecting infrared back to the filament, and put the coating on the inside of the glass bulb.
The concept worked but problems emerged. Tests showed that the coating aged with use, reducing the amount of heat reflected to the filament. The lamp was also difficult to make since the coating needed to be precisely applied and the filament needed to be mounted exactly in the center of the round bulb. As the price of compact fluorescent lamps fell in the late 1980s, Duro-Test decided to discontinue the MI-T-Wattsaver. The heat-mirror concept continues in use today in some tungsten-halogen lamps though.
The lamp seen here is a prototype sent to the U.S. Department of Energy for testing and evaluation in 1981.
Lamp characteristics: The piece has two sections-the lamp itself and a base adapter. The lamp has a brass bi-pin base (1/2" pin spacing with exhaust tube in between). Tungsten filament (broken) in CC-8 configuration with crimp connectors. A metal disc inside bottom of envelope may serve as a heat shield (the base pins pass through this disc). Tipless, G-24 glass envelope made in two halves. Both halves have an interior coating of infrared-reflecting film. The base adapter has a brass medium-screw shell, the insulator is part of a three-piece plastic skirt. Twist-lock receptacle on top connects to lamp.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1980
date made
ca. 1980
collaborator
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
maker
DURO-TEST Corporation
ID Number
1992.0553.09
catalog number
1992.0553.09
accession number
1992.0553
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
A krypton-filled lamp in original package. Krypton gas made incandescent lamps slightly more energy efficient.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
A krypton-filled lamp in original package. Krypton gas made incandescent lamps slightly more energy efficient.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1966
maker
DURO-TEST Corporation
ID Number
1997.0387.21
accession number
1997.0387
catalog number
1997.0387.21
Cooper Hewitt mercury vapor lamp for Michelson interferometer. A Cooper Hewitt lamp mounted in a wooden luminaire. Linear double-ended lamp with single connector at each end, mercury-pool electrodes, T-shaped envelope with small reservoir at top, large reservoir at bottom.
Description (Brief)
Cooper Hewitt mercury vapor lamp for Michelson interferometer. A Cooper Hewitt lamp mounted in a wooden luminaire. Linear double-ended lamp with single connector at each end, mercury-pool electrodes, T-shaped envelope with small reservoir at top, large reservoir at bottom. Wooden luminaire holds the tube in a vertical orientation (high voltage pulse to start?) and has cardboard covers serving as light shutters. A white, metal trough reflector is mounted behind the lamp. Unit operates with auxiliary apparatus, catalog #2001.0033.02.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1908
maker
Cooper Hewitt Electric Company
ID Number
2001.0033.01
accession number
2001.0033
catalog number
2001.0033.01
An unusual looking type of compact fluorescent lamp (CFLs) has spiral tubes, like this "Spiralux" lamp made by Duro-Test in 1996. Several manufacturers developed and now produce spiral CFLs.
Description
An unusual looking type of compact fluorescent lamp (CFLs) has spiral tubes, like this "Spiralux" lamp made by Duro-Test in 1996. Several manufacturers developed and now produce spiral CFLs. While the equipment to make these spiral tubes proved expensive to develop, the design addresses two problems.
CFL engineers faced a problem stemming from the fact that energy efficiency in fluorescent lamps depends in part on the distance the electric current travels between the two electrodes, called the arc path. A long arc path is more efficient than a short arc path. But most residential fixtures are designed to accept lamps the size of ordinary incandescent bulbs. So CFLs have been made with a variety of bent, folded, and connected tubes--all intended to put a long arc-path into a small lamp, the spiral design being one such.
The second problem centered on how light generated by the lamp interacted with shades and reflectors on fixtures. Most incandescent lamp fixtures are designed to use frosted or so-called soft white lamps. The coatings prevent the filament from being seen, making it look like the entire glass bulb is glowing. Shades and reflectors used in regular fixtures are designed using the science of optics to spread and direct the light in predictable patterns. CFLs, with their glowing tubes, are not shaped correctly for regular fixtures, causing light from the fixtures to be emitted in undesired patterns. Spiral CFLs closely mimic the shape of a glowing incandescent lamp so the optical design of the fixture operates as intended.
Lamp characteristics: Brass, medium-screw base with plastic skirt and glass base-insulator. Spiral-shaped discharge tube with internal phosphor coating, mercury, and two tungsten electrodes. The shape is intended to simulate an ordinary A-lamp.
date made
ca. 1996
Date made
ca 1996
manufacturer
DURO-TEST Corporation
ID Number
1997.0062.07
catalog number
1997.0062.07
accession number
1997.0062
Replica "stopper lamp" made to the original 1893 specifications for the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Replica "stopper lamp" made to the original 1893 specifications for the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1934
maker
Westinghouse Lamp Company
ID Number
2002.0020.01
accession number
2002.0020
catalog number
2002.0020.01
Thomas Edison used this carbon-filament bulb in the first public demonstration of his most famous invention, the first practical electric incandescent lamp, which took place at his Menlo Park, New Jersey, laboratory on New Year's Eve, 1879.As the quintessential American inventor-
Description
Thomas Edison used this carbon-filament bulb in the first public demonstration of his most famous invention, the first practical electric incandescent lamp, which took place at his Menlo Park, New Jersey, laboratory on New Year's Eve, 1879.
As the quintessential American inventor-hero, Edison personified the ideal of the hardworking self-made man. He received a record 1,093 patents and became a skilled entrepreneur. Though occasionally unsuccessful, Edison and his team developed many practical devices in his "invention factory," and fostered faith in technological progress.
Date made
1879
used date
1879-12-31
user
Edison, Thomas Alva
maker
Edison, Thomas Alva
ID Number
EM.181797
catalog number
181797
accession number
33407
Date made
1881
maker
Hammer, William J.
Edison, Thomas Alva
ID Number
EM.320526
catalog number
320526
accession number
241402

Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.

If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.