Keep blowing light bulbs at the house

[m151dave]

We seem to go through a lot of light bulbs at the house.

I usually replace one each month, sometimes more. I was wondering if this might have something to do with the electrical system at the house. A bad ground or weak ground maybe? The house was purchased two years ago and was built in 1989.

Is there any reason for concern?

 

[zmaxmotorsports]

Id start checking for loose neutrals/bad connections at fixtures.

 

[Mustang51js]

Where are they located,first floor second floor. What type of bulb

 

[m151dave]

Where are they located,first floor second floor. What type of bulb

It is a single story ranch style home. The bulbs are incandescent. We are migrating to LED, but I do not want to put the $$ into it if there is an electrical problem that needs fixing.

 

[m151dave]

Id start checking for loose neutrals/bad connections at fixtures.

It is never the same fixture. I have replaced many of the dated light fixtures with modern units. Being very careful on the connections when installing.

 

[pattenp]

What brand bulbs are you using?

 

[m151dave]

What brand bulbs are you using?

usually Sylvania

 

[w1im]

A bad or weak ground wouldn't have any effect on incandescent lights. The light bulb is just a small wire connecting the hot side to the neutral side of your electrical system. The ground never interacts with the bulb.

However, the neutral could be to blame. Standard home wiring has 2 hot wires and a neutral. For 120V you connect between one of the hot wires and the neutral. For 240V you connect between the hot wires. If the neutral connection is bad somewhere, you will still have 240V between the hot wires, but it may not be evenly distributed on both sides.

You could have for instance, 100V on one side and 140V on the other. Lights and other appliances connected to the 140V side would be stressed by the high voltage. The difference in voltage will be proportional to the load on each side. If the loads are equal, the voltage will be equal, even with a faulty neutral.

 

[m151dave]

A bad or weak ground wouldn't have any effect on incandescent lights. The light bulb is just a small wire connecting the hot side to the neutral side of your electrical system. The ground never interacts with the bulb.

However, the neutral could be to blame. Standard home wiring has 2 hot wires and a neutral. For 120V you connect between one of the hot wires and the neutral. For 240V you connect between the hot wires. If the neutral connection is bad somewhere, you will still have 240V between the hot wires, but it may not be evenly distributed on both sides.

You could have for instance, 100V on one side and 140V on the other. Lights and other appliances connected to the 140V side would be stressed by the high voltage. The difference in voltage will be proportional to the load on each side. If the loads are equal, the voltage will be equal, even with a faulty neutral.

Can I check with a multimeter to see if here is a problem?

 

[spongerich]

We have a couple of fixtures that seem to go through bulbs much faster than others.
Cleaning the contacts seems to help some (might just be a placebo effect). Much of our wiring is ancient. The original tube and knob stuff was replaced, but that was probably at least 50 years ago.

 

[FrankTheTank88]

Check the voltage rating on the light bulbs you buy, usually 120v. However most home voltage is between 125-130v. Buy 130v light bulbs usually found at electrical supply wear houses and see what happens. That is where places like HD and lowes get you with cheaper 120v bulbs that don't last as long so you buy more!

 

[Rookie2]

Check your voltage at the receptacle . check at several times thru the day also. The lamps need air to control temperature, if they are in globes there are usually holes for upward air flow. Any other appliance problems in the same room ?

 

[m151dave]

Check your voltage at the receptacle . check at several times thru the day also. The lamps need air to control temperature, if they are in globes there are usually holes for upward air flow. Any other appliance problems in the same room ?

No problems with anything but light bulbs. Inside and out.

 

[w1im]

Can I check with a multimeter to see if here is a problem?

Yes,

But the problem will be dependent on how much of a load is on each 120V leg. If the load is equal, the voltage will be equal on both sides, even if there is a problem with the neutral. You need an unequal load for the problem to be apparent.

Measure the voltage between line and neutral on a 120V outlet. Then switch on a heavy 120V load (like a hair dryer) and measure the voltage at the same spot again. It should not drop more than 6 or 7V when measured at the same outlet as the load. If it drops a lot more than this there may be a problem.

To confirm the issue, leave the load where it is, and find an outlet connected to the other 120V leg and measure the voltage when the load is off and again when it is on. If the voltage rises more than a volt or 2 when the load is on then you have a neutral problem.

 

[m151dave]

Yes,

But the problem will be dependent on how much of a load is on each 120V leg. If the load is equal, the voltage will be equal on both sides, even if there is a problem with the neutral. You need an unequal load for the problem to be apparent.

Measure the voltage between line and neutral on a 120V outlet. Then switch on a heavy 120V load (like a hair dryer) and measure the voltage at the same spot again. It should not drop more than 6 or 7V when measured at the same outlet as the load. If it drops a lot more than this there may be a problem.

To confirm the issue, leave the load where it is, and find an outlet connected to the other 120V leg and measure the voltage when the load is off and again when it is on. If the voltage rises more than a volt or 2 when the load is on then you have a neutral problem.

Thanks for the procedure!!

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Can I check with a multimeter to see if here is a problem?

Yes. Go to your main service panel, remove the cover and test the voltage between each hot leg and neutral. If one is low, say 110v and the other is 130v, then uve got a loose neutral problem with the incoming service. Call the PoCo right away.

Check the voltage rating on the light bulbs you buy, usually 120v. However most home voltage is between 125-130v. Buy 130v light bulbs usually found at electrical supply wear houses and see what happens. That is where places like HD and lowes get you with cheaper 120v bulbs that don't last as long so you buy more!

if both of your hot legs are measuring 130v then youve got a problem. That is too high. Call the PoCo. Nominal voltage is 120v +/- 5%.

 

[LutzTD]

usually Sylvania

bingo, if not root cause they are a contributor. worst bulbs made.

 

[elba]

usually Sylvania -problem solved !

 

[rick carpenter]

We have bad electric service that affected incans and our cfl's when we went to them. I know it was/is bad because we've had problems with the a/c too and the repairman told us of his other customers in the neighborhood and why he had them. Plus we have power outs whenever a squirrel farts. We are migrating to led's and they aren't as sensitive to bad service, not one problem yet.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

We have bad electric service that affected incans and our cfl's when we went to them. I know it was/is bad because we've had problems with the a/c too and the repairman told us of his other customers in the neighborhood and why he had them. Plus we have power outs whenever a squirrel farts. We are migrating to led's and they aren't as sensitive to bad service, not one problem yet.

If your service is so bad why not get the PoCo out there to fix it?

 

[pmiranda]

My folks AC unit died a few months after putting in a new fence. They later figured out that they had managed to nick the underground power line coming in to the house with a post hole digger. Good thing my dad didn't use an auger! He called the utility marking service next time he had to dig a hole!

 

[rick carpenter]

We have bad electric service that affected incans and our cfl's when we went to them. I know it was/is bad because we've had problems with the a/c too and the repairman told us of his other customers in the neighborhood and why he had them. Plus we have power outs whenever a squirrel farts. We are migrating to led's and they aren't as sensitive to bad service, not one problem yet.

If your service is so bad why not get the PoCo out there to fix it?

A lot of us have asked. My wife even asked them the other day if they could tell her how many times since January the power went out. They, uhh, didn't have that information.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

A lot of us have asked. My wife even asked them the other day if they could tell her how many times since January the power went out. They, uhh, didn't have that information.

What exactly is wrong with the power?

 

[toplessHO]

replace with tower signal lamps or even rough service ones

 

[rick carpenter]

A lot of us have asked. My wife even asked them the other day if they could tell her how many times since January the power went out. They, uhh, didn't have that information.

What exactly is wrong with the power?

Whatever is wrong with it, it is uneven enough or not clean enough to affect light sources more sensitive to exact voltage than led's. That's what we've been told.

 

[checkthisout]

Incandescent bulbs are complete **** now. They burn out extremely easy.

Can lights are the worse simply because they trap heat and make junky bulbs more junky.

Switch to LED and don't worry about it.

 

[ssdave]

Several have suggested using higher voltage bulbs, or rough service bulbs. This is an expedient, that will lengthen the life of the bulbs, but the problem is they put out a lot less light and more heat for the same electricity.

If you're just putting off going to cfc's because of cost, it's probably just time to do so. In the long run, you'll save money as the longer life and lower electricity use should pay them off. The problem, unless you do have a power service defect, is probably just low life on the bulbs available now. Incandescents are being phased out, and I don't think there's a lot of competition for making good bulbs.

 

[94EG8]

We had this problem years ago, finally we had the power company take a look at it. The transformer at road was going bad and the output voltage was increasing. I think it was at something like 150v when they changed it. We were going through a lot of light bulbs though, at least a few a week.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Whatever is wrong with it, it is uneven enough or not clean enough to affect light sources more sensitive to exact voltage than led's. That's what we've been told.

Get a multimeter with monitoring and monitor the power...

 

[stihlntime]

I have had a similar issue. I have a dairy up the road 3/4 mile. I've. Measured the power at the pole at 130 to 132 on both legs numerous times. I've had the loco out a half dozen times. They say its not unusual to be that high. Checked neutral tightness. My power will go off 2 to 4 times a day most of the time its 1 to 3 minutes. Loco loco has installed a whole house surge protector. I didn't even get a bill in June and July due to overcharging me earlier in the year. I wish they would pay for all the damn lightbulbs.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

I have had a similar issue. I have a dairy up the road 3/4 mile. I've. Measured the power at the pole at 130 to 132 on both legs numerous times. I've had the loco out a half dozen times. They say its not unusual to be that high. Checked neutral tightness. My power will go off 2 to 4 times a day most of the time its 1 to 3 minutes. Loco loco has installed a whole house surge protector. I didn't even get a bill in June and July due to overcharging me earlier in the year. I wish they would pay for all the damn lightbulbs.

That is NOT normal utility voltage.

If both legs measure high, then loose neutral wouldnt be the problem.

Either the transformer is failing or they are having issues regulating the voltage on the primary side.

I lived in a house one time where we saw several bulbs burn out at the same time. I got my meter out and discovered the incoming service was at 260v.

I quickly called PGE who sent a troubleshooter out. He took one look at my MM reading and the volt meter reading on the service meter and said thats not good.

He then huried down to the substation and then called me. He discovered the control equipment for the high voltage autotransformer was not able to adjust the taps. The incoming primary voltage was high and since it wasnt being regulated, the transformer feeding my house was putting out higher voltage on the secondary side.

He manually adjusted it, which temporarily fixed the issue but told me to keep an eye on it, which i did. And told me to call him if it got high again. It happened a few more times over the next day.

He told me the PoCo needed to replace some equipment at the sub and it would take a few days to do it...

All u folks who are having power issues need to stay on your PoCo, like flees on a dog, til they fix it!

 

[Worsedog]

Get a multimeter with monitoring and monitor the power...

This.

That is NOT normal utility voltage.

If both legs measure high, then loose neutral wouldnt be the problem.

Either the transformer is failing or they are having issues regulating the voltage on the primary side.

I lived in a house one time where we saw several bulbs burn out at the same time. I got my meter out and discovered the incoming service was at 260v.

I quickly called PGE who sent a troubleshooter out. He took one look at my MM reading and the volt meter reading on the service meter and said thats not good.

He then huried down to the substation and then called me. He discovered the control equipment for the high voltage autotransformer was not able to adjust the taps. The incoming primary voltage was high and since it wasnt being regulated, the transformer feeding my house was putting out higher voltage on the secondary side.

He manually adjusted it, which temporarily fixed the issue but told me to keep an eye on it, which i did. And told me to call him if it got high again. It happened a few more times over the next day.

He told me the PoCo needed to replace some equipment at the sub and it would take a few days to do it...

All u folks who are having power issues need to stay on your PoCo, like flees on a dog, til they fix it!

And this.

I had an issue with the lights intermittently getting very noticeably brighter at my house. The first lineman recrimped the neutral and called it good. It continued, so I called them back. Supposedly the next guy that came out said there was nothing wrong. I went through my load center checking for loose wires and found nothing amiss. I called yet again, they insisted that it was an inside problem. I put a voltmeter that had a peak hold feature in an outlet and left it for a day. I had a peak of 168 volts and this was a Fluke true RMS meter. The same day I called with that information and told them I'd be billing them for any electrical or electronic equipment that failed in my house they put there own fancy recording voltmeter on my meter box. It recorded for three days. The day after they picked it up they were out to replace the transformer.

There are standards that the power to your house must meet, hold them to it. Surges like this are within their control. Don't suffer failed and short lived equipment because they are lazy.

 

[DC73]

Check the voltage rating on the light bulbs you buy, usually 120v. However most home voltage is between 125-130v. Buy 130v light bulbs usually found at electrical supply wear houses and see what happens. That is where places like HD and lowes get you with cheaper 120v bulbs that don't last as long so you buy more!

Agree. Incandescent bulbs are typically rated at 120V. If your voltage is higher, stepping up to 130V rated bulbs will help. My previous house was very near an electrical substation. Voltage to my light fixtures was almost always in the 127-129V range. I had no choice but to use 130V incandescent bulbs if I wanted them to last. I did not notice any issues once I switched to CFL AS LONG AS I used good quality name brand CFLs.

First step for the OP is to check voltage as recommended.

DC

 

[EdT]

I had a similar/related problem several years ago with fluorescent fixtures cutting out due to over heating of the ballast. Measured the voltage at my house and my neighbor's house and found that it was running around 136VAC, or about 13% high. Called the PoCo and on my way back from work the next day saw the power company truck just leaving my house so we stopped and I asked what they found. As they pulled away, the guy said "No problem with the voltage, you have plenty". The problem went away, but I don't know if they actually did anything. I always wondered if there was some BS going on with the power company since power goes up as a square function of the voltage so increasing the voltage by 13% would increase the power consumed by almost 28% and the electric bill would go up the same amount. Easy way to "dump" excess capacity and get paid for it.

 

[Alan Douglas]

increasing the voltage by 13% would increase the power consumed by almost 28%

On average, it goes up at the same rate, not the square. Heating/cooling loads don't change at all.