First came the lightbulb. (Thomas Edison first patented the incandescent bulb in 1879.) Then came replacement bulbs.

Edison’s first light bulbs lasted a whole 13.5 hours.

LED bulbs are rated up to 50,000 hours. That’s 50 x longer than the average incandescent bulb, nearly 25 x longer than a halogen bulb and almost 10 x longer than a Compact Fluorescent Light Bulb. If use is limited to 8 hours a day, LED bulbs can last 17 years. Operated 24/7, an LED can last up to six years.

Facilities managers of larger plants and buildings want to be sure that the bulbs they’re installing…sometimes using ladders or even cherry-pickers…are working bulbs. It’s simply more efficient to know a bulb is good or not before walking away from the replacement task.

Building managers have always had this problem. In 1932, when the Dale Hotel opened in Holdrege, Nebraska, the innovative maintenance crew built their own bulb tester pictured here. The board is hot and workers could test each bulb before lugging a ladder and bulbs to the top of the 6th floor from the basement maintenance room.

We’ve come a long way since then.

Holiday season is the time of year that light bulb testers come in handy to test string lights before you go to the effort of hanging the decorations and find a single twinkle light isn’t working making the entire run of lights dark. The Light Keeper Pro is available online from Amazon and in-store at Home Depot.

Keep your world bright this holiday season with the help of Allstar Electrical. Call on us to install proper waterproof exterior outlets for your holiday décor. We offer Commercial and Residential Electrical Audits to ensure your real estate has adequate and updated electrical connections and service too.