eco-halogen bulbs - why do they keep breaking?

[Black Sheep]

Our chandeliers in our house take 5 of the awful things at once and they keep blowing.

our house got re-wired last year, after we'd moved in and new fuse box etc so that shouldn't be the problem but the bulbs all claim that they should last a year but they're not lasting more than 3 months

any ideas?

 

[Yellow Fang]

I had a chandelier sort of thing with originally four 40W incandescent bulbs. I replaced the bulbs with quite snazzy looking but rather expensive halogen bulbs. I baulked at buying them when the cashier told me how much they cost - £36 in total iirc, but then I went back and bought them anyway. The packaging said they would last for years. I am pretty sure two have lasted over five years, but two have failed. One failed after about a year. I could not find the same bulb design when I went to replace them, so I just replaced them with two of another design, which were much cheaper. One of these failed last month. I went to Clas Olsen where I found a bewildering array of suitable bulbs. I selected the jazziest looking but was taken aback when it cost £12. I think it uses LEDs rather than halogen. Unlike the other bulbs, it takes no time to warm up. It looks a bit weird when I first switch the lights on, because the new bulb acts like a spotlight while the other three are a bit dingy.

Maybe LED lights are the way to go. I suspect they are pretty robust.

 

[Trail Child]

I have the same problem with halogen bulbs. I only have them in my kitchen & bathroom, where I could use the brighter light (both rooms do not have direct sunlight windows). The rest of the house have those fluorescent Eco bulbs and last forever. Halogen bulbs in the kitchen blow at least every 3 months and the bathroom ones every 6 months. I would love a theory or answer because I have come pretty close to changing the light fixtures. Those bulbs aren't cheap!

 

[BigonaBianchi]

Same here. The halogen under unit lights in my new fitted kitchen
Keep blowing...I've replaced all ten of them plus the two on the glass cabinets
And they just keep failing. It's rubbish really...so much for progress.

 

[Biker Joe]

I extended the life of these lights considerably by using dimmer switches. Applying the voltage gradually is easier on the lights.

 

[summerdays]

We've moved over to the LED lights - and generally they have lasted very well (though you need to decide which colour white you want - for us the warmer ones rather than the blue ones). We have got one LED little blub I'm not sure what they are called about an inch long, and it is in a group of 6 but it stands out as very blue

 

[irw]

Same here. The halogen under unit lights in my new fitted kitchen
Keep blowing...I've replaced all ten of them plus the two on the glass cabinets
And they just keep failing. It's rubbish really...so much for progress.

Are they the 12v or 240v variants?

 

[Linford]

I have found the quality of these low energy bulbs to vary enormously. LEDs are pretty good though

 

[User482]

They used to blow all the time in our old house, but the same brand worked fine where we live now, so I guess it was the wiring.. I've since changed to LEDs.

 

[Linford]

Something to add, is that LED don't like fluctuations in voltage. I had an array in my car for a fog light, and it eventually burned out due to the voltage overdriving by about 1/2 volt IIRC. They are still a better bet than low energy flourescents though

 

[Archie_tect]

Black Sheep,
If the chandalier gets a lot of vibration, say from people walking over the floor above, they do seem to go very quickly. Our son used to bounce the floor joists all the time and the bulbs blew within weeks... we replaced the halogen fitting with a low voltage one and it's been fine since.
Always replace fittings with LED now though.... slowly working through the house!

 

[fossyant]

Same here with the chandalier light. 40w standard bulbs replaced by 30w halogens. Initially bought GE ones a couple of years back (£3 each), they blew very fast. Went back to standard ones until these were phased out. Now back to 'own brand' at £3 for two, but guess what, they don't last long. All other bulbs are energy saving ones - we use these when there is no need for a direct light, but as the kids are into crafts and my wife sews, we need the 'big' light much of the time.

 

[srw]

Are you all fitting the halogens without touching the glass with your hands?

 

[Black Sheep]

Are you all fitting the halogens without touching the glass with your hands?

how are you meant to do it?

 

[srw]

how are you meant to do it?

Using a clean cloth or (the way I usually do it) using the packaging of the capsule/bulb.

Grease from your fingers causes a hotspot on the glass which encourages early failure.