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Tech

Watch This Guy Turn on a 20,000 Watt Light Bulb

I’m pretty sure this is what it looks like when you die.

Photonicinduction is an electrical engineer who has been pushing electrical appliances to their limits for our viewing pleasure since 2008, but even he seems to be impressed by the subject of his latest video: a 20,000 Watt light bulb.

"In this box is one of the most ridiculous incandescent lamps I've ever come across," he informs the viewer at the opening of the video. This is quite the statement from a guy whose whole YouTube channel is premised on him fucking around with bizarro tech until it breaks, but when he pulls the nearly 2-foot long bulb from its box, it's hard to disagree with him.

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To get an idea of just how powerful this light bulb is, take a moment to consider that most light bulbs you'll find in your house are only around 100 Watts or less. The only place you're ever likely to come across a 20,000 Watt halogen bulb like the one being tested by Photonicinduction is on the set of a movie—and a very large movie set at that.

To begin his tests of this nearly $3000 light bulb, Photonicinduction plugs it into a machine that allows him to regulate the electrical current to the bulb and looks like it could double as the Delorean's engine in Back to the Future. As the light grows steadily brighter it begins to heat the room and Photonicinduction seems impressed.

"This is unbelievable—I'm starting to sweat," he says. "Bloody hell, it's like having a bonfire in the middle of the room."

After giving the bulb a test run, he turns off the autoexposure on the camera to allow the viewers to experience the full brightness of bulb. He then takes the bulb outside and uses it to illuminate his backyard, washing his neighborhood in an apocalyptic glow.

Amazingly, Photonicinduction manages not to break this piece of equipment, presumably because he'll have to set aside some serious cash for next month's electric bill after using it.