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Courtesy of Dyson

The Light Bulb of the Future Is Here, and It Lasts 40 Years and Beyond

This could save consumers hundreds of dollars and help work towards a greener planet.

| 2 min read

This could save consumers hundreds of dollars and help work towards a greener planet.

British inventor Jake Dyson has created the light bulb of the future — the cheap and environmentally-friendly LED maintains its brightness for over 40 years.

Dyson founded his company, Jake Dyson Lighting, back in 2004, which is now part of the larger Dyson brand, which also specializes in vacuums, air treatments, hand dryers, and hair care.

Currently, two models of the lamps are available — a floor and desk lamp, called the CSYS™, as well as the Cu-Beam, which is an overhead lamp. According to Dyson, both lamps rely on light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which are light sources with a two-lead semiconductor. Unlike incandescent and fluorescent light bulbs which release light and heat in all directions, LEDs emit light in a specific direction, which utilizes the light and energy more efficient.

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"In our CSYS task lights and Cu-Beam suspended lights, there are heat pipes which channel heat away from the LEDs and dissipate it out of the room," Dyson explained in an interview with Tech Insider. "This helps to keep them cool and protect them from the damage which would otherwise occur.”

Amazingly, the LEDs can reportedly last for 40 years, or over 350,000 hours, at full brightness, courtesy of the heat pipes that avoid damage. And if 40 years of brightness doesn’t sound like enough to you, fear not, because Dyson clarifies that the lights will still work after the 40-year time mark, just not at their full intensity. Instead, they’ll work at about 70% of the original intensity.

The CSYS™ lights also feature a touch-sensitive, continuous dimming, and the dimmer has a memory. When the light is switched back on, it’ll be at whatever brightness was set before.

As for why other light bulb companies haven’t adopted the anti-heat-damage technology? Simple: business.

"The market for disposable light bulbs is worth billions of dollars a year worldwide, so some manufacturers are not interested in creating lighting products that last a lifetime," Dyson says.

Dyson’s goal is to not only save consumers hundreds, or potentially even thousands, of dollars on constantly buying regular light bulbs that burn out, but he also wants to work towards a greener planet. Reducing the amount of waste from light bulbs that regularly need to be thrown out could benefit the environment.

"I'd like to see more manufacturers thinking sustainably, developing lighting products which don't have bulbs that need to be thrown away after a relatively short amount of time," Dyson concluded.

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