Early failure of low energy bulbs?

Makeandsave

Mine seem to go after about 2 years i bin and open the draw and pull another one out, I have so many of them, About 5 years ago they gave them away free lol. That is one thing i have never brought a light bulb.

bubblesbonbon

maninthestreet wrote: »

Low energy bulbs, i.e compact fluorescent lignthbulbs, will fail prematurely if they are used in an enclosed luminaire.

And also if turned off & on regularly according to Wiki

"The life of a CFL is significantly shorter if it is turned on and off frequently. In the case of a 5-minute on/off cycle the lifespan of a CFL can be reduced to "close to that of incandescent light bulbs"

ipri

PS. another one just blown.....How should i dispose of them?

wealdroam

ipri wrote: »

PS. another one just blown.....How should i dispose of them?

The requirements vary.

Seek the advice of your local council.

davidanddeirdre

Re failure of these bulbs, I have a room currently with a 30 low energy bulb which replaced an incandescent 150W. It is still not really bright enough for the room, and also has dimmed with age (several years). I saw an Everready 46W in a local store so bought it thinking it would be quite a bit brighter. I never got to find out, because it blew immediately. I took it back to the shop and got a replacement, which in turn lasted about 30 secs. Going back to the shop again, I got my money back but they refused to give or sell me another bulb on the grounds there may be something wrong with my electrics to cause the problem. It is true that since using low energy bulbs for several years I have had a number of them blow well within the stated lifespans, but on the other hand I have others which seem well on the way to a ripe operational old age.... I don't have any of them in closed shades. The 30W one is in a clear glass shade open at top and bottom.
Anyone out there got any comments on this situation?

DCFC79

Never had any energy saving bulbs blow or fail after 2 years,

knightstyle

My mum has some of the original Philips ones in a heavy glass outer cover, they are now 20 years old and still in regular use, I have a drawer with about 10 which have failed in under a year! Must take them to the council disposal place!

jonnyd281

davidanddeirdre wrote: »

Re failure of these bulbs, I have a room currently with a 30 low energy bulb which replaced an incandescent 150W. It is still not really bright enough for the room, and also has dimmed with age (several years). I saw an Everready 46W in a local store so bought it thinking it would be quite a bit brighter. I never got to find out, because it blew immediately. I took it back to the shop and got a replacement, which in turn lasted about 30 secs. Going back to the shop again, I got my money back but they refused to give or sell me another bulb on the grounds there may be something wrong with my electrics to cause the problem. It is true that since using low energy bulbs for several years I have had a number of them blow well within the stated lifespans, but on the other hand I have others which seem well on the way to a ripe operational old age.... I don't have any of them in closed shades. The 30W one is in a clear glass shade open at top and bottom.
Anyone out there got any comments on this situation?

Did you buy the correct voltage?

barrymung

zenmaster wrote: »

Buy another.

The "life" of any such item is based on the MTBF (mean time between failure) or, in everyday English, the average time the thing is supposed to last.

MTBF is not quite as simple as that. What you are referring to is the MTTF (Mean time to failure) which is different to MTBF.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mean_time_between_failures#Common_MTBF_misconceptions

Anyhoo, the 10 years assumes the thing is powered up for 10 years under perfect conditions and will be an average.

barrymung

Also...incandescents are apparently less 'efficient' as a lot of the energy they consume is released as heat.

However, what most people don't take into account is that this heat is 'useful' as it actually saves on heating!

So..they reckon an incandescent bulb is only 10% efficent. This means a 100w bulb releases 90w of heat. That saves on your heating bill so in fact they cancel out!