Lightbulbs burning out too often - what kind to get?

Question

My house was built in 1962 - every room has one wall sconce(light fixture) in every room. It does not seem to matter what wattage I use - bulbs burn out in them way too often. I really hate those spiral florescent bulbs - they just arent bright enough. I need light all day long in each room because of the birds I have in each room. I try not to use 75W, but end up using two sources of light at 60W each. In the living room/dining room I have 5 bulbs burning all day (inside rooms very dark)
I have had someone come out and check the electrical just in case I have a problem with the wiring, but supposedly nothing is wrong. The bulbs just burn out way sooner then they should. I lived in another city and really didnt have this much problem with bulbs burning out this soon.

Answer 1

Buy heavy duty bulbs. Or go with the florescent bulbs in a higher wattage. Forget doing what jimmyelless told you. That's a hack job and won't fix a thing.

Answer 2

Turn the lights on, go to your electrical panel, turn off the breaker that controls those lights, make sure they are turned off by verifying that the light turned off, take out the bulb, look into the socket, you'll see a metal tab in the center in the bottom of the socket, take a small straight screwdriver and pry that tab away from the bottom of the socket just a little bit. It should only be standing a 1/4" off of the bottom of the socket . Screw the bulb back in and turn the breaker back on and if that doesn't fix the problem, try high hard usage bulbs or the fluorescent bulbs everyone else is talking about. MAKE SURE THE POWER IS OFF BEFORE YOU DO THIS?!?!?!?!!? With this house being as old as it is and assuming the sconces are original fixtures, the tab will wear out like a spring and will causing small (very small) arcing that will not burn the house down but enough to pop the filament in the bulb too soon. AGAIN.....MAKE SURE THE POWER IS OFF CUZ IT WILL BLOW UP IN YOUR FACE IF IT ISN'T. I can't stress that enough. Maybe you should open your curtains or install skylights instead of leaving your lights on all the time.

Answer 3

Fluorescent bulbs have improved vastly in recent years - they now produce the same light as (or more than) a regular bulb with the same colour light and no flickering. You really can't tell the difference. They have the advantage of using 1/4 the electricity and being more stable in fluctuating currents.

Give them another try - just one to start - and see if you can tell a difference. Get one that's 1/4 the wattage of the regular bulb you'd use in the same situation - ie: 25w = 100w. Since there's no delicate filament, you'll find that they last - I've had some of mine burning for almost a decade!

Answer 4

I would seriously suggest the fluorescent bulbs. We were burning out bulbs weekly, and that cured our problem. If you were not getting enough light from the ones you had, you can get higher wattage bulbs. Best part is that you can use a bulb that produces as much light as a 100 watt in a fixture rated at 60 watts, and use less electricity. We have cockatiels, and we use fluorescent bulbs without trouble.
Another option is to install new fixtures in some locations like the dining room. Some sort of track lighting sounds like a good option for that situation. Go to Lowes or something, and tell the sales person in lighting what you are dealing with. They will be able to offer you several suggestions.
It almost sounds like you DO have some sort of electrical problem if you are not getting enough light from one or two lights. You might not have enough power in your system for some reason. I think this might be an issue to take up with your power company. Also check to see if your bulbs are dirty. I have a couple cockatiels, and they generate a lot of dust.
Last, and I am sure you do NOT want to hear this. You might be suffering vision loss. My mother-in-law was complaining about not enough light in the house she had lived in for several years. She went for an eye exam, and they found cataracts.

Answer 5

You can buy the CFL bulbs in different wattage. These florescent bulbs in a 17Watt would put out close to a sixty watt bulb.forty-three watts in energy saved.. You could add some lamps, Floor or table and still save a lot of energy.With five sixty watt bulbs you are using 300 watts. You could install ten of the other bulbs and only use I70 watts.

Answer 6

Mine used to do that too. Ours was built in 1988. We figured out its because we lived close to a bumpy 35 mph road that gets a lot of semis, and it was shaking the house a tiny bit each time. I know you said you don't like them, but we did solve our problem by getting the florescent bulbs. You really do get used to them. I don't know why having birds would prevent you from using the florescents ... we have two pet parrots and they do fine with either type of bulb.

Answer 7

A microwave bulb is the same as a oven or refrigerator bulb. They cost a little more, but have thicker glass and larger filaments, and yes you can put it in a standard socket. They are good in garage door openers since there is usually high vibration with an opener. Smart capitalist consumers learn not to believe everything they hear or see. Since the best selling products are not necessarily the best product.

Answer 8

Their are energy efficient bulbs L E Ds an the new screw in florescent that you can look up on the net.

Answer 9

Try heavy duty bulbs or rough service bulbs from a hardware store.

Answer 10

It sounds like you have a load on the circuit that is causing more electricty to flow through the bulb then the load that the bulb would normally create. You need a better electrician.