WEST ORANGE, N.J. -- At the Edison National Historic Site, archivist Leonard DeGraaf oversees a vast collection of artifacts from the great inventor's work, including early examples of the incandescent light bulb that first lit the world more than a century ago.
Since December, when Congress mandated the phase-out of such bulbs, DeGraaf has heard and read suggestions that Edison, were he alive, would be upset that one of his most famous devices was destined to be just a museum showpiece. The process has even begun in Edison's last hometown, which is encouraging residents to replace his invention with energy-efficient bulbs.
But this wouldn't necessary upset Edison, said DeGraaf.
"We are living in a different kind of environment today, and Edison was all about innovation," said DeGraaf, whose collection includes a nearly intact lab where Edison and his staff worked on such staples of everyday life as the storage battery, motion picture camera and improvements to the phonograph.
The simple incandescent bulb, which casts light when electricity passes through a filament, holds a special place in the hearts of staff and visitors to the site. Here, Edison continued meticulous research to refine the invention, which originally used Japanese bamboo as a filament. The lab where he first developed prototypes for the bulb no longer exists, but its location, about 20 miles south, is commemorated with a memorial tower capped by a giant bulb.
Edison positioned his electric-powered lamp, first patented in 1879, as a cheaper, safer alternative to the gas lighting then available to consumers. Now Congress has mandated the phase-in of energy-efficiency standards that will mostly relegate the familiar household bulb that he perfected to specialized applications such as appliances, where compact fluorescent bulbs won't work.
Incandescents, which give off a lot of wasteful heat while producing light, have "been around 140 years. ... Now we've got alternatives that address issues that we have now," DeGraaf said. Experts say bulbs such as fluorescents reduce energy use, cut down on greenhouse gases and save consumers money.
In fact, the government uses compact fluorescent bulbs to illuminate Edison's former chemistry lab. Even West Orange, where Edison spent the last half of his life, wants residents to switch to the pigtailed fluorescents as part of an "energy diet" - though local officials have incorporated Edison's incandescent bulbs into their conservation logo.
