How hot are the filaments in lightbulbs and what make some lightbulbs last longer than others?

Question

Is it the quality of the inert gas?

Answer 1

Yes its all down to the gas and what type or mixture is used and you can change the colour  with the type of inert gas you use And by the way there is no such thing as a light bulb, it is a lamp. Bulbs you put in the garden. The standard household lamp tungsten filament is in Argon or nitrogen. The more expensive top of the range use Krypton/xenon and the temperature of the filament is between 2,200 C and 2,500 C

Answer 2

Bulbs generally last longer at lower voltages, which makes them cooler, which makes them evaporate tungsten slower.  

"Halogen" bulbs have a gas that slows the tungsten evaporation, and makes the bulb last longer.  

http://www.mediacollege.com/lighting/col...

shows the color temperature of "household light bulbs" at about 2,500 Kelvin

Answer 3

The filaments are made of tungsten, and if I remember correctly they get to about 10,000 degrees 'C'.  It is largely to do with the Vacuum in the bulb, the higher the vacuum the longer it will survive.  In some cases the bulb may be filled with argon, an inert gas, and the same thing applies.  Also, cheap bulbs don't have as good a quality tungsten, and in these bulbs, the impurities in the filament cause weak spots that burn-out sooner.

Some bulbs are filled with a halogen, typically, bromine or iodine. These gases help to prevent the vapourised tungsten from condensing on the glass envelope, but to reform back onto the filament itself, thus lengthening the life of the bulb. Also halogen bulbs can burn at much higher temperatures (typically double that of a conventional bulb).  Again, the better the gas and the tungsten, the better the bulb.

Answer 4

some light bulbs last longer than others because some r constantly being turned on and off and on and off, as where others r being left on for long periods of time, and then shut off for long periods of time.

Answer 5

There was a fashion some years ago for bulbs advertised as "long-life". I suspect that they achieved longer life by running the filament a little cooler. Trouble with that is that they are less efficient at producing light, so cost more in electricity. With everyone so energy-conscious now, I think they've died out in favour of energy-efficient bulbs.

The converse of those are "photoflood" bulbs, used for indoor photography. They run very hot, produce more light, but have a life of only a few hours.