What makes a light fixture continuously burn out bulbs?

Question

What makes a light fixture continuously burn out bulbs?

Answer 1

Besides the possibility of the wiring issue the other responder suggested, the number one way I've seen this problem was due to vibration.    If it's anywhere near a door or something that causes the filament to jiggle, especially when lit, then that is likely why the bulbs don't last very long.

I had the problem particularly bad in my garage door opener, so I replaced the incandescent bulb with a compact fluorescent and the problem is solved.

Answer 2

if the light fixture is old the connections could be bad causing extra heat which reduces bulb life.

Answer 3

Check the joints in the fixture.  A loose neutral is the main cause of this problem.  It may also be the neutral in the switch box or in the panel.   Without a good connection it will drastically reduce the life of the bulb.

Answer 4

you need to have electrician check your ground to whole house, I've ran into this doing plumbing work, the ground problem may be in meter or poor connection to water pipe/ground rod

Answer 5

Heat is the main cause because connections bad enough to cause heat usually mean the light will flicker.

Using a bulb with too much wattage will create too much heat.

But I bought too many cheap bulbs that don't last long lately.

And I bet you can guess what country they are coming from.

Answer 6

The problem could also be that you are putting too high a wattage in the fixture. If you're using a higher watt bulb try a lower watt and see if that helps.