How many electricians does it take to screw in a light bulb? Thanks to inventors Kerem Tepecik and Dale Vith, the answer is zero, even if that bulb is atop a 30-foot-tall light pole. In the past, electricians with bucket trucks were required to do the dangerous job of changing a burnt pole light, costing property owners several dimly lit days and several hundred dollars.
Just a few short years ago, Tepecik and Vith were those guys with the bucket truck—the co-owners of a still-successful, Dallas-based electrical contracting company called D&K Lighting. In the midst of one otherwise ordinary job, their bucket truck—with Vith in the elevated seat—nearly tipped over, almost flinging him to the ground below.
That’s when the light bulb went on.
“We were driving back to the office and just got out a napkin and started coming up with some way to bring the light fixture down to the ground rather than bring us up,” Vith says.
The duo designed a prototype, using Vith’s creativity and Tepecik’s electrical engineering know-how. The result was the Retropole: a crank-operated, light-lowering device that disengages power on descent and can be retrofitted onto any existing light pole no matter its shape, height, or design. Now, anyone can replace a burnt bulb in a matter of minutes. The investment is repaid in two to three bulb changes, with future repairs costing only the price of a new bulb.
“There’s also the safety issue,” Tepecik says. “You probably don’t notice a pole light unless it’s out. If you’re in a dark parking lot, you may not want to park there. And that can mean a huge amount of money in lost sales if a business has a neglected parking lot.”
Retropole, whose customers include DFW Airport, GlaxoSmithKline, and Brinker restaurants, is already available in nearly 200 markets across the country. Tepecik and Vith plan to expand even further to help others see the light.
