Kitchen Spotlights

[JIMLOONEY]

We have 12 non halogen spotlights in the kitchen, fitted with 240v 40 watt bulbs which constantly blow. In fact we have never had them all working!
They are all on one dimmer switch. can you please let me know what you think the problem may be. Thanks.

 

[davy_owen_88]

Cheap lamps, high supply voltage and dodgy contacts causing overheating are just a few reasons.

 

[bernardgreen]

Vibration from the people in the room above ?

Handling the lamps with bare hands can leave deposits which react with the hot glass to seed crystal growth in the glass. This weakens the glass leading to failure.

 

[Steve]

insulation?

 

[JohnD]

If you have 12 lamps, and if they are rated at 1000 hours and you use them 10 hours a day, the MTBF per lamp will be 100 days so you can expect a lamp to fail on average every 8.3 days.

Look out for some CFLs which last longer and are tolerant of voltage fluctuations and vibration.

Kitchen spots are a constant problem, but downlighters are worse.

Average life for small spots seems to me to be quite short and probably less than 1000 hours in which case you can expect more frequent failures.