I have two light fittings in my flat that seem to hammer light bulbs, they’re constantly blowing. What could be the cause of this?
The fittings are in two separate rooms and take 3 and 6 bulbs, respectively. It’s only these multi-bulb fittings that seem to be problematic. The flat’s electrical wiring is fairly old, how old I am not sure but my fuse box uses fuse wire directly, ie no circuit breakers. The bulbs are all sensible wattage, as well, there’s no crazy bright ones in there.
Would it be worth replacing the fuse box with a modern one? I was wondering if this would make any difference without a full-blown upgrade of all the wiring as well.
A loose connection can often cause problems like that. One of the best maintenance things an electrician can do is tighten all[ the neutrals on the bar and all the screws on the fuses/breakers in the main box. You may or may not be able to do that yourself depending on mechanical competence and familiarity with electricity, ie ability not to blow yourself up.
Replacing the main panel is an decision based off how much extra money you have to invest in such things and the likelihood you’ll be adding circuits in the future. My usual advice is its worked for 30 years don’t screw with it unless you need to. Chances are after tightening everything at the box the problem is not anything to do with the panel. A new panel offers more peace of mind in terms of safety but little in the way of functionality.
The cost for changing it out for a new style breaker box will be between 800-2000usd. If its a 60 amp its unlikely any electrician would replace it with a 60amp breaker box they’d recommend either a 100 or 200amp service upgrade which involves replacing everything for where to power companies lines hit your house to the main panel.
Premature failure of light bulbs has 3 main causes, only 1 of which is related to the main fuse box.
Voltage too high. This might be related to wiring in your fuse box, but it’s more likely to be in the electric company wiring to your house. You can check this with a voltmeter. It may vary by time of day; there are recording meters that you leave connected for a day or so to check for this. But this seems unlikely in your case; this would cause all the light bulbs in the place to burn out early, not just in a couple of fixtures.
Excess vibration. If the fixture is loose, so that it shakes when traffic goes by, people upstairs walk around, even when you walk by, that vibration will wear out the light bulb early. Even a light bulb not screwed in tightly can cause vibration.
Overheating. This will cause a bulb to burn out early. Often an older fixture will have loose wires that heat up the connections. Or a poorly designed fixture will have bulbs too close together so they overheat. Or people use higher-wattage bulbs than the fixture is designed for, thus overheating them.
Given that your problems are only in the multi-bulb fixtures, I’d guess that overheating is the likely problem. Does it happen if you use compact fluorescent bulbs or led ones instead of incandescent ones? And how about not filling all the spaces – like putting only 4 bulbs in the 6-bulb fixture – does that make the bulbs last longer? (Assuming it still gives you enough light.)
You’re getting good advice on the bulb issue so I won’t say much about that except that I agree. Old fixtures could cause that issue, loose connections at the main panel cause a lot of strange problems with bulbs including going dim to bright or bright to dim depending on what other loads are cycling. Regarding the wiring in general, though, if your wiring is old enough to be either knob and tube or use soldered connections (consult an electrician if you’re not sure) then the wiring should be replaced or checked by an electrician even if it’s been working OK, IMO. Otherwise, fuses are fine and in some ways are superior to breakers. The main reason circuit breakers have gained popularity is they are easier and safer to reset and it’s more difficult for the homeowner to replace a breaker with the incorrect size (or a penny or a pipe nipple, etc.) With the slow down in construction new breaker panels are quite cheap right now for what that’s worth.
Thanks for the informative posts. The six bulb fitting takes six 50w halogen spots in a line and does seem to get very hot - trying it with 3 bulbs in is a good idea. The bulbs came stock, though, so you’d think it would be designed to run them OK.
I just use a platic grocery bag to cover my hand, make sure it’s cool first.
If you have been covering your hands before replacing the bulbs then try fewer bulbs in the fixture or replace the fixture; halogen bulbs always run hot in my experience so don’t be too alarmed by that.