type private industry electronics founded 1976 1976 founder bob crane headquarters fortuna california united states number of employees 50 2009 website http www.ccrane.com c. crane company inc. is an american electronics retailer based in fortuna california . the company mainly deals in specialty radio and lighting equipment and is best known for its geobulb line of led light bulbs . history edit c. crane was founded in 1976 in san francisco california by bob crane a former cabinetmaker and his wife susan crane . the c is crane s middle initial as well as his wife s and children s. 1 the company was initially a furniture design and manufacturing company and only switched to being an electronics distributor in 1983 upon the cranes relocation to fortuna . c. crane s first electronics product was the select a tenna an antenna manufactured by intensitronics corp. of hales corners wisconsin for long distance reception of am radio broadcasts . the company advertised on late night radio shows which served to increase business from am listeners looking for a better antenna . later in the 1980s c. crane began to distribute radios such as the ge superadio to go along with their antennas . following the 1992 cape mendocino earthquakes the company expanded their catalog to include emergency radios and other disaster equipment such as flashlights . eventually c. crane began to produce its own radios in collaboration with sangean . 2 3 4 geobulb edit in 1998 c. crane introduced the cctrek flashlight . this flashlight used two white leds as opposed to an incandescent bulb . realizing the amount of energy leds save over regular light bulbs the company developed and released an led light bulb in 2001 . this was followed in 2006 by the geobulb project . 5 the geobulb based solely on leds was released on march 27 2009 . the company claims the bulb has a lifespan of 10 years and draws only 7.5 w of power and predicted widespread adoption of the bulb would cut energy usage worldwide by one tenth . 3 6 7 initially the bulb is targeted at owners of public buildings that need to be lit continuously in order to save costs associated with having to purchase and replace incandescent bulbs . reviews of the bulb reflected positively on its energy usage and lifespan but criticized the lights unnatural color and their high cost when compared to standard incandescent and compact fluorescent bulbs . 8 9 10 11 12 references edit http www.northcoastjournal.com 080405 cover0804.html c. crane history . retrieved 12 april 2010 . a b klein karen 4 august 2009 . where an inventor entrepreneur finds motivation . businessweek . retrieved 12 april 2010 . new emergency radio at c. crane company . humboldt beacon . 11 june 2009 . retrieved 12 april 2010 . geobulb . c. crane company . retrieved 12 april 2010 . tam donna 28 march 2009 . fortuna company launches energy efficient light bulb . times standard . retrieved 12 april 2010 . atlas debra 25 october 2009 . fortuna firm makes better led bulbs . redding record searchlight . retrieved 12 april 2010 . raloff janet 1 september 2009 . sun is setting on incandescent era . sciencenews . society for science and the public . retrieved 12 april 2010 . quick darren 10 february 2009 . the geobulb led light bulb . gizmag . retrieved 12 april 2010 . chan amanda . 100 bulb latest in efficient options . the arizona republic . retrieved 12 april 2010 . mcglaun shane 30 march 2009 . california company launches 119 led light bulb . inside tech . retrieved 12 april 2010 . murph darren 29 march 2009 . geobulb led light bulb uses just eight watts rings up at 120 . engadget . retrieved 12 april 2010 . retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title c. crane company & oldid 732036272 categories companies established in 1976consumer electronics retailers in the united states1976 establishments in californiacompanies based in humboldt county california navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 29 july 2016 at 04 29 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view