Light bulbs contantly blowing

[what..the?]

I rent a house which is very big it has 5 bedrooms and otter large rooms all these have not 'one bulb bulb per room fittings' but those ceiling fittings which are decorative and hold 3-6 bulbs. Ever since I moved in the bulbs have blown, and it costs me alot to replace these candle bulbs and other expensive types.

As the property is rented we cannot change the lights or do our own works on the property. We have called and written to the letting agent expressing our concern that there may be a problem with the electrics as new bulbs can blow within a day. They sent someone round once who replaced some bulbs and took out a dimmer switch in the lounge that had a blown fuse. This fuse had gone weeks ago and they took ages to get electrican out. This delayed response ment we were without main lights over christmas.

Since then the bulbs are still going mainly in the lounge as last time, there are three lots of ceiling fittings in there which hold about 6 bulbs each - 18 bulbs in total and we only have a few working at the mo.

Can anyone suggest why this is happening?

[Jay70]

Hi What..the? I have a light fitting in my lounge that has recently started to blow bulbs on a regular basses. It has 3 candle bulbs fitted with the bayonet uppermost. We never used to have a problem. When looking at packaging on the newer candle bulbs it actually states not to be fitted in this orrientaion but the older bulbs never mentioned this. I havn't as yet found the correct bulb which can be fitted this way up so its a real pain. I'm certain this is the problem as we never had a problem before.

[spudqueen]

I live in a rural area which has overhead power lines and we quite often get flickering on our lights as the power goes off somewhere down the line. Apparently this is what causes our bulbs to blow a lot.

[what..the?]

Jay do you mean you bulb hang screw in and hang upside down?

Spud yes I live in a rual area too, maybe that is someting to do with it but, as happens all the time in lounge I tend to feel there might be a fault.

[woodchopper]

In my experience candle lamps never last any great length of time a few months if your lucky - in the opaque ones you can actually see which one is going to go next as it glows a bit dimmer than the one next to it - I as a general rule don't buy for example, a back of 6 candle lamps costing 60p froma local supermarket they never last any length of time.
Bulbs can and do blow fuses in your fuse box/dimmer switches.
In the good bulbs there is an internal fuse ( there is a special name for it and for life of me I cant remember it ) which is designed to blow when the filament breaks to prevent the main fuse blowing.

[gasman]

I agree with woodchopper. Dont buy them from the supermarket or the DIY outlet. Buy the dearest ones you can from the electrical shops, or even better if you live near a manufactures outlet such as ''RING'

[bluevern]

electrian here,,,,,,,either,,,if yr switchs hold there own fuses,,they might be wrong,,,,should be about a 3amp or even a 5 amp fuse,,,,or ya switch is wired up wrong,causing to much current going through and blowing ya bulbs, or if they are spots,,some spots will not work with dimmer switch,,,,bulbs keep blowing then eventully,,,the whole spot curcuit will blow,,,,,,

[bluevern]

well said eddie,,i should have said get a sparks in ,and now usually,,its 230v,,,,

[what..the?]

Thank you for all your assistance Im very interested to hear the high end bulbs have inbuilt fuses as that would save me alot pf trouble. But due to the fact the house is full of hanging light fittings which hold numerous bulbs, over 50 in the house in total, to buy new expensive ones for each one that goes would empty my piggy bank.

So I think I may just bung in standard as apposed to candle bulbs and then replace them when I leave. I will definately think about buying those fuse ones when I buy my first house though I think it will be worth it.

I will tell the letting agent about the problem again. I have warned then before that there maybe a problem and that for safety reasons they should really send someone round, but they do not seem bothered. I worry about it because when I am out at work my pets which mean the world to me are left home alone and if a fire was to break out due to an electrical fault, well I would never get over it.

Many thanks for your assistance

[woodchopper]

Ther are energy saving candle bulbs now - might be a bit bigger in size but can't see them blowing all the time.

[romko]

The main casue for bulbs blowing is bad bulbholders or switches.

Over time, the surfaces of the electrical contacts in the bulbholder oxidise with contact with the air, or lose springyness through wear and tear. Contact between them and the bulb itself suffers, and this slightly intermittent connection stresses the bulb which shortens it's lifespan.
light switches also suffer from wear, get them changed if they're old. or well used.

[Eddiecurrent]

AS you've mentioned that you live in a rural area, it may be prudent to check the voltage that is being supplied to your premises. There are occasions where the distribution voltage can be far higher than the specified voltage.
As an electrical engineer working within the industry this can happen when the 'last' consumer on the circuit complains that his voltage is low. The answer to this is to re cable the route (expensive) or change the tap on the transformer (cheap). If this happens then the consumers furthest from the transformer get 230v (OK 240V) and you get 280V! (just a guess). Thus blown lamps. Contact your local DNO (Distribution Network Operator) for advice, they can come and measure the voltage at the terminals of your house over a time period and see whether the voltage is too high.