I live in NE Ohio and have a milky white globe on my drive-way lamppost that seems to eat about one light bulb a month. I use the 60 watt size as recommended. My engineer neighbor says that heat build up inside the globe causes the bulb failure (a common design flaw according to him) and that I could make the bulbs last longer if I drilled some vent holes in the globe. Does this make sense?
Someone named "Even Stephen" Proclaimed on Sat,
02 Oct 2004 15:01:40 GMT,
You may want to try the "Rough Service" light bulbs. The filament in a regular bulb is thin and can easily break due to vibration.
I'm not sure if drilling holes in the globe makes sense. Sounds kinda fishy to me.
-Graham
Remove the 'snails' from my email
Not at all likely, but test it this way: after a half hour or so of operation check the temperature of the globe. If it is uncomfortably warm to touch, the temperature of the globe is over 140 degrees F, and the interior likely hotter. That may shorten the bulb life modestly. You will probably find that the globe temperature is only warm at best. Replace the next failed bulb with the biggest oven bulb you can find and wait for results. Rough service lamps should also give longer life. HTH
Joe
That might be one factor in the failures. My own lamp post was burning them out at an even faster rate, but it was due to condensation dripping on the hot bulb. I went to Lowes and bought a bulb that was specifically designed for use in lamp posts and it has endured for months.
RI've had good luck using compact fluorescents. There are only a few nights per year that are too cold for the lamp to start; otherwise, I can get a lot of light out of a rather small fixture without concern for heat in warmer months.
(Cold starting capability varies with the CF, of course).
Plus, they're great for cheapskates like me who hate pay> I live in NE Ohio and have a milky white globe on my drive-way lamppost that
Sealed fixtures are common and do not shorten bulb life, try a 130v bulb or rough service bulb wind may be the cause.
I'll bet that really is the maximum size recommended. You may want to try 40W's.
Heat could be a problem, but I really don't think that is the real problem.
Here are some common sources of short lamp life, in order of what I think would be most likely:
there's the man with the correct answer plus it'll teach your engineering department about that 14w alternative.
Hi Stephen
I read the replies and may I suggest if heat is the problem buy one of those bulbs used in ovens and refrigerators and see how that does.
Lee
Even Stephen wrote:
I have 6 of those. Use CF lamps. Saves money, lasts for years.
ES> I live in NE Ohio and have a milky white globe on my drive-way lamppost tha
ES> seems to eat about one light bulb a month. I use the 60 watt size as ES> recommended. My engineer neighbor says that heat build up inside the globe ES> causes the bulb failure (a common design flaw according to him) and that I ES> could make the bulbs last longer if I drilled some vent holes in the globe. ES> Does this make sense?
I have an odd question for you: "I use the 60 watt size as recommended". Isn't that the _maximum_ wattage for the bulb, rather than the required? You can always go with less wattage (as others suggested). True, less wattage is less bright, but here we've found a lamp with less wattage, therefore less bright, looks better: a bright moonlight glow rather than a sharp spotlight effect. (Not to mention saves on the electric bill.)
A 130v or even next one up (145v?) will last longer than a 120v bulb under the same conditions because it is operating further from the maximum design spec. (These are sometimes called 'construction' bulbs.) Running under less than full voltage will give a slightly dimmer light -- probably the effect of a 50- or 55W bulb; not really noticeable.
As another poster mentioned, vibration or some sort of mechanical shock is probably what is killing your bulbs in a month. Using a higher voltage (the 130/145v ones) and/or heavy-duty style such as for a garage door opener or oven should help give a longer life.
Might also want to take a look at the stated lifespan on the bulb's box. 1,000 hours is 41.7 days, running continuously. Turning on an off will lessen the lifespan slightly. A 'soft' on (slowly goes to full brightness) would help lifespan somewhat, as opposed to the 'sudden on' like with a wall switch. (Still better off with increasing the bulb's rated voltage than fiddling with this parameter, IMO.)
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