What would cause light bulbs to blow frequently in an old house?
Question:I've lived in this house for less than a year and have replaced every bulb at least 3 times. The wiring is copper and in good condition. Plug in lamps dont seem to blow as often, only over head lights.
Answers:
Install a dimmer on the one that blows the most often and use it between 50% and 75% capacity for a while; see if it lasts any longer: If it does, then your problem is either over-voltage or over-heating. (The idea of checking the actual voltage is good but you'd need a GOOD multimeter to get an accurate reading, maybe not a Radio-Shack piece of junk...)
If the dimmer appears to prolong your bulbs' life, try lower wattage bulbs, remove any covers/diffusers, etc to get better ventilation. Again as someone else mentioned, VIBRATIONS can be a problem too. Do you live near a train line? Subway? Busy road?..
Note: Here in Australia, residential lighting circuits are NEVER GROUNDED; so if it is the same where you are, I don't think "bad grounding" is your problem.
Hope this helps.
There's a short somewhere, have a professional check it out.
a ghost
seriously i dont know
could be an intermittent short. I am only speculating though
I would say it has to do with the ground wires
omg..mine do that too..we have lived here for over two years and we have to replace lightbulbs every month it seems. I would invest in a more expensive brand and the kind that give more hours of lighting.that is all I can say about it.we are getting ready to move out of this house so we are not investing in expensive lightbulbs for this place anyway...Kimmie
Old wires you probably need to have an electrician come take a look behind your walls at your wiring! ♥ =o)
have an electrician check the grounds of the wiring. check the plugs of your plug in lamps, if they are warm to the touch after being on for a few hours then you may have a grounding problem
Check the light sockets.
If you are using the right wattage then I would have to say something is wrong with the wiring or there is too heavy of a usage on the breaker. We live in an older home and have the same problem. It is so bad the lights flicker when the washer changes cycles. It is not enough to flip the breaker but enought put a strain on the lighting. There are two lights over the bathroom mirror that won't last a month if you put a bulb in them. I'm only glad we rent and will be moving next year. If you own the home, talk to an electrition.
Totally an evil spirit trying to take you back to hell with it. Switch to 13 watt, 120 volt white spiral bulbs. Should do the trick.
The life of light bulbs is an average.Check the voltage rating of the bulbs and the house voltage. How much are the bulbs that are burning out being used. Shorts in the wiring would burn out fuses or open the circuit breaker. Probably there is nothing wrong.
We have the same problem in our 1851 home. Newer wiring even. I am suspecting it is a grounding issue as others have mentioned. I have also purchased the spiral bulbs in hope that they would last longer...that did not work either (although I do still use them to conserve energy). In addition, one of our sinks upstairs has copper oxide build up on it, which I have read is another indicator of insufficient or absent grounding.
So I am going to look into grounding and see if that helps...it is definitely the prime suspect on my list.
Several of the other answers have attributed the problem to shorts or to ground wires, neither of which is possible, as anyone with a basic understanding of electricity will agree. What is actually happening is that the overhead bulbs are overheating because of inadequate ventilation in the recessed light fixture. The hotter the bulb, the shorter the life of the filament.
You've got two choices: either put a smaller wattage bulbs in the fixtures, or change over to florescent bulbs which run a lot cooler. I've changed to florescent bulbs in my house, not so much because my incandescent bulbs were burning out, but to save on my electric bill.
You may have over-voltage in your house. Occasionally this causes more serious problems. You can get a cheap multimeter at Radio Shack. If the voltage is 125V or higher, talk to the power company about it. 7 or 8 extra volts on a 120V line will cut the bulb life expectancy in half. If it's a slight over-voltage, you can buy special 125V or 130V bulbs, though sometimes they're hard to find.
Too high a wattage bulb in too small an enclosed fixture (such as a globe), the heat can't get out--the bulb burns too hot, leading to short bulb life.
Recessed lighting fixtures often get covered by attic insulation. This blocks the intended ventilation method--heat can build up around the bulb, causing short bulb life.
A vibration problem. Such as, bulbs under a heavily used stairway, on or near an out of balance bathroom or ceiling fan, or near a door that gets slammed, or kids upstairs jumping, etc. You can buy special shock resistant, also called "rough service" bulbs, for this situation, or try one of the new compact screw-in fluorescent bulbs.
Flickering. Intermittent electrical contact can cause flickering. It's like turning the light on-and-off constantly, and will reduce bulb life. It can be caused by a bad light socket, or a poor electrical connection somewhere in the wires leading to the light (most likely right at the fixture). Flickering can cause the bad connection to get hot and possibly start a fire. If you don't locate the cause of the flickering and it affects all or many lights, you could have a bad neutral connection -- a dangerous situation. Another indication of a neutral problem; as larger appliances (washing machines/dish washers) cycle, lights will get quite noticeably brighter or dimmer (minor changes in intensity are normal). If you suspect this problem have either the electric company or an electrician check it out.
Hi You know Sandyspa might have something.It`s an older house and believe it or not the wire connections at the ceiling sockets may be loose.Over the years vibration will cause the screws to loosen.The loose connection wiring will draw more current(power) to the light bulb,causing more heat at the socket ,thus the bulb does not last as long.All your connections in the house should be checked, possible fire hazards.The person should go through the whole house and check all electrical connections.If a spot in the house overheats,it could start house fire.Good Luck
maybe try some other kind or wiring, not an electrician, but try a different kind of bulb?
what wattage bulbs are you using most overhead light sockets are only rated for 60 watts
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