Sylvania "Thrift-Mate" impedance modifier for TM50 lamp

Sylvania "Thrift-Mate" impedance modifier for TM50 lamp

<< >>
Usage conditions apply
Downloads
Description (Brief)
This unit (with its original fluorescent tube attached) was intended to replace one lamp in a two-lamp fluorescent fixture. By modifying the impedance of the circuit, a 50% reduction in light output could be obtained with an almost equal power saving. Sylvania marketed this 50% reduction unit and a 33% unit as stop-gap measures in response to the electricity price spikes during Energy Crisis. Characteristics: Medium bi-pin base with fiber insulator. Coil-core transformer to provide current for electrode warming, a 2 microfarad capacitor, and a bi-metal switch are housed in a two-piece, clam-shell style plastic housing. Lamp given to donor by co-inventor William Roche in 1996. (Interview on file). See also, US patent 4,163,176 to Cohen, Paget, Roche, Sadoski, and Bessone; and “Impedance Modified Fluorescent Lamp” by Cohen and Sadoski in Journal of the Illuminating Engineering Society, April 1979, page 179.
Location
Currently not on view
Object Name
lamp component
Date made
c1979
date made
ca 1979
ca. 1979
maker
Sylvania Electric Products Inc.
Measurements
overall: 5 in x 1 5/8 in; 12.7 cm x 4.1275 cm
ID Number
2003.0030.05
accession number
2003.0030
catalog number
2003.0030.05
Credit Line
from Harold D. Wallace, Jr.
See more items in
Work and Industry: Electricity
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Nominate this object for photography.   

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.

Note: Comment submission is temporarily unavailable while we make improvements to the site. We apologize for the interruption. If you have a question relating to the museum's collections, please first check our Collections FAQ. If you require a personal response, please use our Contact page.