I have some light sockets in my house that seem to shoot a bulb every 7-10 days, but I have others that have had the same bulb in them for a couple of years. Why do some last so much longer? I always buy the same brand of 60-watt bulbs.
It doesn’t seem to have anything to do with actual number of hours burning, either, or how often they’re turned on and off. The bulb in the back bedroom is turned on and off maybe 2-3 times a day, and it’s been in place for at least two years. There’s one in a lamp in the living room that stays on 24/7, and it too has been in place well over a year. Yet the one in the hallway, overhead in the bathroom, and one of the two overheads in the kitchen seem to shoot every ten days or so. Some of them stay on pretty much all the time—bathroom—some get turned on and off several times a day, and some are in between.
Heat, cycles, dirty bulb glass, rate of speed of the electricity or power as it starts, which is to say that a dimmer switch should make a bulb last longer.
This has been my experience.
Even the differences in types of switches, age, and total resistance of the circuit will make/can make the same type bulbs last different amounts of time.
We tend to think of electricity as being instant on & off but in reality the speed from 0 volts to full volts and the start of current flow and rate of flow is quite measurable & when dealing with electricity, never assume…
Also in your case, the rate at which the bulb can dissipate heat will make a major difference. Sometimes, it is quite surprising which fixture is better for that. Plus add in fans or just house air currents moving heat around.
If none of this makes any sense to you or you don’t believe it or some of it, not a problem. Magic is a good reason IMO.
I personally believe in Gremlins because of strange things that happen around electric stuff.
Aside from the electrical wiring problems already mentioned, premature failures are generally due to either vibration or overheating. So something like that is usually why bulbs in certain locations will burn out much faster than others.
A location under a stairway or below a heavily-traveled upstairs hallway or near a ventilation fan will suffer from vibration.
Bulbs radiate heat best from the screw base, so having that on top (bulb down) is best, nearly as good is radiating heat from the whole glass shell (bulb up), worst is bulbs oriented sideways. Fixtures with poor ventilation will also cause bulbs to overheat. So floor lamps or table lamps are often better than enclosed ceiling fixtures. You might also check that these fixtures are securely fastened to the ceiling or wall – screws/nails holding them in can become loose over the years.
Heating can also be caused by poor electrical connections. In old fixtures, the contact in the center of the fixture may get bent down and make poor contact, use a pliers to pry up that contact a bit. And fixtures in humid locations (like bathrooms & kitchens) can get corroded, use sandpaper to clean the inside of the socket. (Always power OFF when doing these fixes!)
Also, the power surge when a light bulb is turned on is stressful to it; it’s not surprising that the bulb you have on 24/7 lasts longer.