I have two ceiling light fittings in the living room fed from a dual dimmer wall plate which also push for an on/off switch. I habitually turn these on by pressing both switches at the same time; did that today and both bulbs blew as they switched on, the bulbs are from different manufs, of different ages. So what are the odds on that happening?
Annoyingly that's two of my dwindling supply of 100W incandescent bulbs gone.
these on by pressing both switches at the same time; did
different manufs, of different ages. So what are the odds
You should do as I do. Wait for the zero crossing point, then switch on ;-)
Still available on eBay. I bought some for my M-I-L a few weeks ago.
Ah thanks, off there now
Also available from Toolstation
A
Seems like a fair exchange.
They're available in many shops. The law which banned them is apparently unenforcible.
Higher than you might think as they were probably not independent events. Due to inherent inductance in the supply (cabling, and some other devices), when the flashover arc terminates in the first one, a voltage spike is generated which would stress the other one, and if it was near end of life, could trigger it to fail too. I've seen this happen too.
What, Ms-i-L? ;-)
Owain
.....and get into the habit of turning down the dimmer as you switch off - then when you hit the switch to turn them on they will have a softer (dimmed) start, or get a touch dimmer that uses soft start circuitry.
Damn, I've been hoarding them in the loft like some demented survivalist...
But they are no longer 10 for a quid:-)
Adam
"Broke into the goddam wrong rec room this time..."
In my experience it is more likely to be both dimmers blowing than the bulbs. I got so fed up looking for replacement dimmer internals (usually salvaged from the end of line or 'seconds' bins or even dust bins) as not wanting to keep buying brass surrounds all the time, that in the end I just ripped out the dimming bit and used them as nice 'brass' push on and off switches, with ordinary cfl lamps. No more blows since.
S
Same here! .-)
The odds on "women of a certain age" serving is shops being Ms-i-L must be quite high, yes.
I noticed incandescent bulbs in the local "end-of-line" shop [*] the other day, but didn't look at the price as I have a sufficient stock. I've now got used to fumbling my way around rooms in the gloom on first entering and only use incandescents in places where it matters.
[*] There must be a proper name for this kind of shop -- they have a fairly constant line of household items but augment it with once-only supplies of cut-price things that clearly came from somewhere poaher's closing down sale. They tend to sprout in high streets once the "real" shops have moved into the new shopping centre.Chris
Yes, me too. In fact, I went round the house last year, made a list and bought spares for everything.
In message , Andrew Gabriel writes
In what way? There's a loophole, or something else?
That would be exploding ones, then?
A couple. Only household ones are banned, those for "industrial use" are still allowed. And the ban only fully effects frosted lightbulbs - clear ones are being phased out over a longer period.
Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.
Ask the community — no account required