Light Bulb Facts for Kids

Americans buy five million light bulbs every day.

We use bulbs every day to give us light to read, eat and play. But how much do you know about them?

Watts

The amount of light coming from a light bulb is measured in watts. These are named after James Watt, a Scottish inventor who invented the steam engine.

Sockets

A typical American home has between 50 and 100 light bulb sockets. How many are in your home?

Numbers

In 2005, Americans bought 2 billion light bulbs---that's more than 5 million every day.

Energy

Around 12 percent of the energy used in a typical American home is spent on lighting.

How Bulbs Work

Regular light bulbs pass electricity through a small piece of wire called a filament. The electricity makes the filament so hot that it glows, giving out light. If the filament gets so hot that if it was surrounded by oxygen, it would burn up, so the glass bulb seals it out and makes sure the filament is surrounded by a gas that won't make it burn.

Regular vs. Swirl

Swirl bulbs, also known as CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lights), use around 75 percent less energy than regular bulbs. If every American household swapped just one regular bulb to a CFL, over a year enough energy would be saved to power a city of 1.5 million people. Each CFL saves about 2,000 times its own weight in carbon emissions.

References

• BBC History: James Watt
• Michigan State University Science Theater: How does a light bulb work?
• "Fast Company" magazine: How many light bulbs does it take the change the world?
• Energy Star: Save Energy at Home
• Energy Saving Secrets: How Do Energy Saving Light Bulbs Work?