Light bulbs blowing out prematurely

[Tackleberry]

I've been in my house for two years, and I've been having to replace normal light bulbs around 6-12 months of normal use. I've seen this before in my wife's college apartment, so I replaced those with flourescent bulbs, and voila! Problem solved.

I try this trick in my home, and even the flourescent bulbs go out after a year or so. I've checked the voltage with a meter and I'm getting 115-120 VAC.

I'm pretty much at a loss as to what's going on here. Any ideas here???

Thanks in advance!

[jean]

I have several incandescent lights that I have to change almost on a monthly basis. They do get left on more than they should, but this seems a little too frequent. What is wrong with this picture?

[Rewired]

Are these lamps turned on and off all day every day? Switching a bulb on and off (fluorescent and incandescent) will kill it fast. So will vibration if the bulbs are exposed to it especially while in operation.
It doesn't sound like a voltage problem because you say you have the correct voltage in the house, and as well, if it were a voltage problem, the ballasts in your fluorescent fixtures would be overheating and shutting down or burning out often.

A.D

[LazyPup]

The leading causes of premature lightbulb failures are:

1. excessive heat which results from oversized bulbs. This is especially critical in fully enclosed fixtures such as are common for ceiling fixtures. ( All fixtures have a maximaum wattage listed printed inside the fixture, normally 60 watts for ceiling fixtures)

2. Vibration: check the fixture to insure it is mounted tightly. This can be very problamatic on ceiling fixtures that have an occupied living space on the floor above. (consider installing rough service bulbs)

3. Rapid changes in temperature: Common to outdoor fixtures such as porch lights. Especially in fall or winter when outside air temps are cooler. (consider installing rough service bulbs)

4. The actual quality of the light bulbs. While those 4 or a dollar light bulbs such as found in homecenters or the dollar store
may work fine in table lamps, due to the methods used to make them, they tend to have a very limited service life, and are not suited to rough service.

5. Loose wiring connection in the fixture. As the fixtures get hot many times the wiring connection will loosen further resulting in temporary volatage losses.

6. Overloaded circuits which result in voltage drops.

[HayZee518]

Next time you buy bulbs look on the package for voltage - choose those that are 135-150 volt. GE and Sylvania list the voltage on the package. I have night lights in my home. I replaced the stock bulbs with 240 volt bulbs. Dimmer yes but I haven't replaced a bulb in any of them for six years.