The 10 Year Light Bulb Conspiracy?
About 12 years ago I noticed some light bulbs on clearance at a Menards home store. As I recall, they sold for about 50 cents each and were called IQ light bulbs, made by Philips. They were advertised as a bulb that would shut off automatically after 30 minutes. Furthermore, you could override this feature by turning the light on and off quickly. So I bought some. Wow, they really worked! No longer could my kids leave lights on in out of the way places.
Boy did they work. I still have two bulbs from over 10 years ago that work! The photo on the left is one such bulb in a utility closet. I also have a working IQ bulb in a basement bathroom.
So why did they discontinue this bulb? When I tried to get more bulbs at the Menards they told me that the bulbs they sold were no longer manufactured. They told me they got a whole train car at a discount price and then sold them at dirt cheap prices – the fellow at the store said they normally would have sold for about $5. In fact they were even giving them to store card owners as a promotion I was told.
So it appears Philips wanted to unload this item they discontinued. And fairly quickly. Why? If you try to find information on this product at the current Philips website, you won’t. And if you try searching Google for this information on this product, you won’t find but one old forum page! It is as if the product never existed!
A light bulb that lasts 10 years and saves me gobs of money on electricity is certainly not a bad product to me the consumer. So it is very tempting to conclude that this bulb was just too good. I suppose it is possible that the original price was so high that people were not buying it, but I would think in today’s climate of incandescent = bad, bad, bad that people would be willing to pay $10 or even $20 for such a bulb that lasts and lasts. I know I would.
The one result I did find on this product was from a 2004 Philips forum. I found an official response of
The Philips IQ Lighting was discontinued and there is no replacement. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Then, several more people exclaimed
I love mine and have been looking all over. Bought it 13 years ago and it’s going strong.
The auto off bulbs are great. I have some on my front porch, utility room and bathroom that must be nearly 8-10 years old.
And then, another post by the Philips person:
The IQ lighting Auto OFF were discontinued and there is no replacement. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Sound like corporate talking points to you? The additional sad news about all this is that you can not find a similar product made by another company – I have looked high and low! Apparently, the patent rights prevent a similar product from hitting the market.
And just in case they delete this forum or the posts, I made a few screen shots below.
If anyone from Philips wishes to clarify what happened here, please do.
I find myself coming to your blog more and more often to the point where my visits are almost daily now!
I read the article and would like to offer my take on the situation.
I believe I bought 2 or 3 of these Phillips bulbs many years ago and still have one working in my bedside lamp. I thought they were great. They may have been too expensive and possibly Phillips may have determined they didn’t sell enough to be profitable. Or just maybe it was the huge push by the “Greenies” to force CFLs on us. I think CFLs are a long way from producing as good color and intensity as incandescents. They are also expensive unless you find a promo sale where you can buy 2 and get one free. They must be more profitable than the incandescent market. The one thing “Greenies” forget is that CFLs contain mercury and even though they advertise you can return them to the store to dispose of them how many people will just toss them into the regular trash?
I would certainly buy the phillips bulbs again if they were available. A 10-15 year life for a bulb is certainly effective conservation. Remember the 50 MPG carburetor?
I too just lost my last 10 year old IQ light I am going to try to remove the chip at the bottom of the bulb and transfer it to a standard bulb, I also found this on line I am going to try one of these:
60 Watt AutoOff Light Control
Quantity in Basket: none
Code: SLC7BC
Price: $11.99
Quantity:
• Automatically turns light off after 15 minutes
• Perfect for closets, garages, basements, or anywhere lights are left on
• Works with incandescent or fluorescent bulbs
Do your kids refuse to turn off the lights? We have a product that can help: the AutoOff Light Control by AmertTac.
For years we have received phone calls and emails from customers looking for the Philips IQ Auto Off Bulb. In all our years in the light bulb business we have never witnessed a product that has fostered the kind of loyalty and passion displayed for the Philips IQ Auto Off Bulb (there are even chat rooms and blogs dedicated to the Philips IQ). So, of course, Philips discontinued their Philips IQ line. What was so special about the Philips IQ Auto Off Light Bulb? The Philips IQ Bulb had a chip inside the socket that turned the bulb off after 30 minutes of use. This made the Philips IQ bulb ideal for kid’s rooms, closets, basements, stair cases, or anywhere light is needed briefly but often left on.
Other products, such as the Bulb Boss by Beacon Light Products, approached the problem differently. The Bulb Boss was a small disk that fit into a light socket that would make a standard light bulb shut off after 15 or 30 minutes. One advantage of the Bulb Boss over the Philips IQ was that after the initial investment a standard (cheap) light bulb could be used. Alas, the Bulb Boss went the way of the Philips IQ Auto Off Bulb.
The product we offer, the AutoOff Light Control by AmerTac, combines the best features of the Philips IQ Auto Off Bulb and the Bulb Boss, plus it goes a step further. The AutoOff Light Control is an adapter that screws into any standard socket. Once the AutoOff Light Control is installed it will accept any medium (standard) base light bulb. The AutoOff Light Control keeps your light on for 15 minutes before automatically turning the bulb off. If you can screw in a light bulb you can install the AutoOff Light Control, plus, like the Bulb Boss, it’s reusable. What’s unique about the AutoOff Light Control is that it also works with compact fluorescent light bulbs. Imagine the savings when you combine the energy savings of compact fluorescent lighting with an AutoOff Light Control!
Amazon sells the Grey model
the 10 or 15 minute option is availble lots of places and at lots of prices – what the Bulb Boss and the Phillips light bulb had was the option to turn it on for an additional hour or two after it flashed that the original time was ending…Without this feature your product is pretty much like everyone else’s.
I found a device that screws into the socket then you screw a bulb up tp 60 watts into that. Ad says it will work with fluorescent light bulbs. Automatically turns light off after 15 minutes.
http://www.lightbulbsdirect.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=SLC7BC&Category_Code=LightControl&Product_Count=1
I was reading where someone was recommending straw. The truth is we need to hold big oil accountable for clean up the mess they have created!
It’s time to bring these babies back from obscurity!
Sent from my iPhone 4G
Hi Mike,
I was searching for a circuit diagram and support for my varanda light
so that the bulb turns off at the dawn.. (if could help)
Then I came across your blog and searched for the same.
try reading this website…
http://oikos.com/esb/35/smartlights.html
Geez, I just went to Menards to look for a couple of these and of course didn’t find any. I love the ones I have and thought I’d get some more for the new garage. I’m posting this from my phone as I thought I’d do a quick search to see if home depot or some else had them. Thanks for your blog. It just saved me some running around.
I found your blog by doing yet another search for the Philips bulbs. I bought 3 off the CLRX rack at Sears in 1991, now I wish I had gotten many more. It was great for when I had to bring loads from the basement – I almost fell more than once trying to shut the switch off with a laundry basket in my arms, no place to set the basket down at the top of the stairs, either. So I had to leave the light on, carry the laundry to the upstairs bedrooms, and try to remember to go back into the basement to shut the light off. Can’t tell you how many times I’d open the basement door some days later and find the light still on. That was never a problem after I got the IQ bulb. It was also great for the porch light and entry hallway. One of them eventually burned out (probably one that was switched to stay on most often), another was left behind in a rushed move that should *not* have been rushed (won’t get into that other than to warn people not to trust college ethics instructors). I still have the third, but that’s because I hid it from the ethics instructor. Now that we’re not together, I live in a place where I need 2 of the bulbs — another basement stair light, but this one needs a ladder to change the bulbs, and there are two sockets wired to the switch. Obviously this is a prime spot for bulbs that lasts 10yrs! I looked at the socket versions, but 15min might not be long enough, and there are times when I’d need to override the shut off. That part is probably the patent that Philips is protecting. Maybe I’ll just never buy anything Philips again, but today’s conglomerations makes it hard to know who gets your money.
Phillips certainly doesnt want to sell a bulb which has a lifetime of 10 -15 years….Then how could they continue their business. Their CFLs are specially designed to work for only 1 year, just for the warranty sake and they want consumers to buy the bulb yearly… That is marketing and that is business.
came across your blog, mine died today after over 16 years. I have one of the dimmer lights but not the auto off left. I will miss my lightbulb dearly, I can’t believe that it stopped working. I feel like I lost a friend.
I am still hanging on to one last bulb! Sure wish I could buy some more. Even $10 each would be acceptable I think.
Just checking this site, real neat blubs,60 watt, I have some available, they work great. joscarsaab@aol.com
People can buy a lot of different light bulb. They are all have different prices.
I bought one Auto-Off IQ light bulb 15 years ago, and have the original bulb still in use. Once I brought it home and put it to use I immediately went back to Menards and bought more, as I knew this was a hot item. Of course, as with anything that is exceptional it is removed from production and so I could no longer find them anywhere. Over the years my stock pile is running low so now I need to find an alternative product for the Auto-Off bulb. After reading this blog I am relieved to know there are other products available.
This blog has been so interesting to read. I, too, am a light bulb fanatic. I bought several of the Phillips Auto-off and dimmer bulbs way back when they were on the market and like some of you, loved them. But my kids grew up and I didn’t need them as bad until my grandkids came along. I gave one to my ten year old grandson for his reading lamp before bed. It is perfect. His parents don’t have to run upstairs to see if he turned out the light after reading (he never did, but fell asleep with it on), for now it just goes off.
Also a fan of the reusable Bulb Boss (no longer available) and still have one brand new in package. Am also a fan of something called “The Button”. It was a sticky button that reduced the wattage of a bulb making it last up to 30 times longer. The company went out of business. The Button would reduce a 200 into a 110 watt bulb, 150 into a 90 watt bulb, a hundred into a 58 watt, a 75 into a 40, a 60 into a 33, a 40 into a 22 and a 25 into a 14. A package of three used to cost about 7 or 8 dollars. I put four 150’s (making them 90’s) into my antique chandelier with cut glass globes covering the bulbs and they lasted about ten years. A normal hundred watter would last less then six months, its life being greatly reduced by its being enclosed. But all that was defeated by The Button. I still have about 8 left and after that, we’ll have to fall back on the light dimmer. ‘The Buttons’ were not reusable like The Bulb Boss buttons.
How many of you remember the old “50 GA” made by General Electric, but by some of the other old companies too? It looked like un upside down mushroom and they were lightly tinted green, pink and maybe some other colors, but those were the only two colors I ever saw. Most were 50 watt bubls, but they did make some bigger watt bulbs, too. They were decorative and were, in a sense, the poor man’s chandelier bulb. A lot of the old chandeliers did not have fitters on them (that part of the fixture that enables one to attach a glass shade) and these bulbs looked really cool and did not offend the eye like a bare naked bulb. Personally, I’ve never seen a cooler light bulb in the green tint.
Back in 1996, I rented about a dozen of these bulbs to the production company that made the Robert Altman movie called “Kansas City.” It was a period piece set in the twenties or thirties and they wanted it to look authentic. If you ever see it, watch for the antique chandelier loaded with about five of these bulbs. You see them several times in the film as part of the backdrop. I don’t recommend the film for anything but the bulbs. I picked up a bunch of these in the seventies when I first discovered them. An architectural salvage guy who knew I had them contacted me for the movie production company. They paid me $200 just to use them for a week and they didn’t even turn them on (at least in the movie anyway).
Speaking of Phillips bulbs (going back to the beginning of this discussion) they also made some decorative bulbs back in the early nineties that were colored that were pretty cool. Not real cool, just pretty cool. They were called “hint of peach” or “hint of green” or “hint of yellow” etc. The colors were very nice, but they had that boxy square configuration that Phillips was noted for, but the worst was that they put their name and the wattage in obtrusive black font on the crown of the bulb, catching the eye and thereby subtracting from its beauty. Again, the hint of green and then peach were the best colors. Unfortunately, they only made them a short while.
In the absence of “The Button” being available to save bulb life, all one has to do is use light dimmers.
They can extend the life of an incandescent bulb of from seven to ten years, especially if you don’t peak out the bulbs for long periods of time. I could go on and on. But enough.