Off Topic, light bulbs?

Timco

Buy bulbs rated at 130 volts. They exist and live long lives. Also, try 'rough service' bulbs....last forever.

T

Bill Nye_2

Light bulbs

I don't have the luxury of time to shop around and compare so.... Any one know of a "real good" incandescant light bulb? For out door use, in a fixture.

I don't have room in the fixtures for the low energy flourescents. 75 watt max. I have at least 12 fixtures out side on sheds, garages, back door, front door , etc. All are the little coach light type fixtures.

I have two halogen floods , never a problem. Two incandescant floods I just replaced again for at least 3X.

Now I have 3 more bulbs burned out. My wife leaves them on a lot. The days are longer, it's getting colder etc. Thing is they are a PIA to change. Any long life 75w bulbs that will last a coupla' years?

Weezbo

dont go off sometimes due to spacing the switch...

ok use some pinner 25 w atters there are some that fit regular bulb holders they produce enough light to steer by and are a tad more economical to operate. nothing that sees the weather for long periods of time is immune to its variations..

snow or rain falling directly on a hot bulb does little for the light bulb's longevity .sometimes the pigtail or lamp itself gets corroded and or the wires leading to the wire nuts as well as those connections go south from condensation....

these 25 watters are appliance bulbs....

Bill Nye_2

I think

I think I found it...... 5,000 hr 75 watt commercial or appliance bulbs.

http://www.1000bulbs.com/products.php?cat=75-Watt-Light-Bulbs

Christian Egli_2

Shining brightly

I suspect the 5000 hours is a bit much, some standards have been changed to mean life expectancy is measured in hours representing full days of which the light will be on for only 1 or so hour, huhuhu, this stretches the numbers.

That said, bulbs can be made to last very long if they are simply undervolted, or in the case of a new extended life bulb, built as if meant to work on slightly higher voltage than what comes through in a home. The trade off is in operating efficiency.

Dimming fixtures prolong bulb life when running bulbs at less than full output, again, at the cost of operating efficiency.

For true eternal life, or something close, try LED bulbs, like the ones on all semi trucks today and now cars too. Here is a screw in LED bulb available, at great operating efficiency gains.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/clearance/7aa8/

Cool LED bulb

John Ketterman

Light bulbs can be made to last, but they cost more. In most cases it is much cheaper for the homeowner to use generic-quality light bulbs, which are "good enough", and replace them as needed. But where it is a PITA, longer-life bulbs exist, as mentioned above.

Steamhead (in transit)

Bill, compact fluorescents

are getting smaller and smaller, especially the spiral and some decorative torpedo-shaped ones. The 1000 Bulbs site has a bunch of these. Check this one out- it is about the same physical size as a 75-watt bulb:

http://www.1000bulbs.com/product.php?product=9236

The heat buildup in that type of fixture is what causes incandescent bulbs to fail so quickly. CFLs sidestep this problem and save energy to boot.

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Boilerpro_5

Have some experience in this

as my family owned apartment buildings. WE experimented with several brnads of bulbs, all with the same ratings. We found that Phillips brand bulbs lasted twice as long on average and about 50% longer than the next best when compared to GE, Sylvanie, and others. We also found this out with car headlamps....GE's failed very quickly, Philips lasted a long time. I have also seen this with the newer compact flouresents, the only ones that last are the Phillips. Defintely stay away from the bargain brands, they don't even last as long as a stanadard incadescent. The original test was close to 25 years ago, however, it doesn't appear things have changed much. I get my Phillips bulbs from Farm and Fleet here in the rural midwest.


Boilerpro

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Maine Doug_51

It's a bulbs life....

Where I had 2 bulb exterior lights, I wired them in series. Otherwise most of the incandescants are run on dimmers. Using a higher wattage bulb on a dimmer makes them last much longer.
On the interior brick pillars in my home, all but 2 of the 21 lights are on dimmers. The outside sign lights are on a timer that feeds a dimmer that feeds an exterior outlet. Works for me.

Mike T., Swampeast MO

I was rather shocked at the variety of compact fluorescents available from the 1000 Bulbs site. Even some dimmable ones that [appear] to be OK for enclosed fixtures and not terribly high in price. I've been looking for those for quite a while.

As Steamhead mentioned there are quite a number of choices with "type A" sizing. "Type A" (actually A-19) is the typical incandescent bulb size.

Mike T., Swampeast MO

nm

Mike T., Swampeast MO

These Aero-Tech bulbs from Bulbman last a very long time. 20,000 hours is probably stretching it, but know I got 3+ years out of some 25W ones I used in landscaping and safety lights (automatic dawn-to-dusk). I've since switched to 7w compact fluorescents. Only 1 of 15 has failed in well more than a year despite instructions on the package saying they shouldn't be used with "photoelectric timers".

BillW@honeywell

I just put spiral flourescents...

in all my outside fixtures, no problem with them fitting in a variety of coach and lantern type fixtures. 25 watts in two lamps on my deck & by back door light up the backyard just fine. The look took a bit of getting used to. The package said they were OK for outdoor use in fixtures that protected them from rain & snow. They claim a $46.00 savings over the 5 year life of the bulb.

Bill Nye_2

Cold Weather

Bill and others, How do the flourescents act in COLD° weather. In my shop I have the cold weather ballast on some lights , the plain jane ones flicker a long time before they brighten up. I don't normally heat the shop unless I am working in there.

I was in a basement today, no lie, one 25watt incandescent no windows.

Thanks for all the help. It is dark from the driveway to the back step w/o the lights. Wife is on my case.

Solarstar

Lots of CFL's

Just go for It . Experiment with some differant compacts in a few spots as well with differant wattages of CFL's till the application is met to your satisfaction. I've been using them for 15 years and have over 50 in service in my house. lost only about 6 in this time frame. and at least 3 were from the kids hockey stick. took one of my outdoor lights out to experiment with a homemade LED light and the bulb I removed was from 1992 since I date them upon install so I know how long they last...Paul