Light bulb keeps burning out

[Matt]

'bout seven years back, we called the gas company (or was it the university extension service?) about insulating the attic (or putting in an attic fan?), because they supposedly have energy experts that give free consultations. Obviously my memory is not precise, but I do remember that the guy gave us several of the screw-in fluorescents that are pretty common nowadays.

We tried them with some enthusiasm, but some never worked at all, and the others stopped working pretty soon. I figured that somebody, probably the manufacturer, was getting some kind of tax deduction and maybe solving a mercury-disposal problem at the same time by giving away their flaky product. I don't remember the brand, but it was one of the major ones like Phillips or GE or Sylvania.

Since then we've bought similar lamps and put them in at least eight sockets. We had one go bad after maybe six months and took it back to the retailer, who replaced it, although I don't know that they were required to. The others are doing okay for maybe a couple years now.

[Don Klipstein]

I see lack of bayonet base. The image shown there has pin base.

The bulb shown there is also a 12 watt FUL type - which is *arguably not* a compact fluorescent due to being much less compact than, say, the PL-13 /AKA/ F13TT and also due to usually having an "old tech" phosphor.

Furthermore, the above link has some tendency to confirm my experience of that particular beast being to some notable extent by "LOA". My experience in Usenet is that "LOA" gets a notable share of bad press. My experience elsewhere on Planet Earth is telling me that the "bad press" was justified.

DISCLAIMER - I have only purchased one LOA product since 2001-2002 or so, and was disappointed by it on basis of falling short of claimed light output. The LOA products that I purchased before then have entirely fallen short of claimed light output and also had a spectacularly high rate of "dying young". And I have a delivery job, and I look at and see lights by the hundreds of thousands, including 10's of thousands of CFLs. I found highest percentage being burned out while remaining fixture both overall and also highest percentage of ones known to have burned out in less than 1.5 years or so to be LOA ones.

Of course, LOA may have improved since I started largely avoiding them, and I have experienced worse than LOA - namely the outright stool specimens of CFLs sold in many but not all dollar stores!

However, your above link has a photo showing a pin-base model and no reference of any kind to anything with a bayonet base.

Are they all bayonet base models of CFL? Are not any of them screw base or pin base? Do you actually use CFLs for all 10 of these locations? Do you use bayonet base CFLs for all 10 of them? You did already respond by providing a link showing an only-arguably CFL that is pin base and not bayonet base according to the photo.

- Don Klipstein ( [e-mail])

[JIMMIE]

I changed a stairwell light to the bayonet type and have regretted it ever since. I got years of life out of the old flourescent tube type but only a few months from the bayonet type.