what hrodgmc said ... buy 130v bulbs instead of 120v bulbs ... the power company now puts 123-126 volts in to the house where it used to be 116-118 volts ... when you put more voltage-123-126 through a lower voltage bulb it is too much load on it and shortens the life if you put a 130 volt bulb in it will lengenthen the life cuz u have less load than the bulb is rated for ... in the end DONT BUY CHEAP BULBS

 

Another good bulb to buy is a "traffic light" bulb. They are made specifically for harsh use. We use them in our plant. zi use them at home..hell they are free for me...LOL

Now what was posted earlier about the ground in the meter socket is something to look for. That is not a bad suggestion. If you don'y know what you are doing, please, get someone qualified to look at your system. This house is not that old (2004), but a loose connection in the meter socket can cause problems. An ampclamp is also a good suggestion, this can tell you where you are drawing the most amps. If your can lights are doing OK, but the "cheap" bulbs are going out, I would lean toward buying the better bulbs. If you continue to have problems with the better bulbs, I would suggest you get an electrician in there to take a look at your system.

Mike

 

give the load center a look to see if maybe one leg is loaded alot more than the other. also you can get a meter and check each leg, loaded and unloaded, to make sure they are balanced as well. an undersized/improperly bonded common can wreak havoc sometimes. power should normally be in the 120-123vac 59.5-60.5hz range. if you have access to a meter such as a fluke 189 which has recording capabilities, you can check to see if you are experiencing sags or swells on one or both legs by probing an outlet, starting the recorder and letting it run for a few hours and then checking the max/min voltages for any issues.

 

Us electricians are such nice people....LOL

 

we are! dammitt! Take a look around...building is out of control, people are screwing like bunnies, demand for electricity is beyond the normal. Utilities short answer...bump up voltage a few ticks. Yep that means those walmart bulbs aren't gonna cut it. If ya test it you'll probably see a few ticks above 118, like 124 or so. Maybe less. Just like alot of people are already pointing out. The utilities are allowed by government standards to be off on the advertised voltage by something like 10%.

By the way...traffic light lamp...unbelievable fix. Believe it or not, if you have a real high voltage issue...they do sell 277volt incadescent lamps...you'll have to goto an electrical supplier though.

By the way flourescent ballasts are a little more resitant to voltage flucuation...if you care.

 

nothing like grabbing one leg of 480v 3 phase to get ya going in the morning..

 

Thanks again for the help guys.

 

sure there is...grabbing two legs.

 

as long as you dont think you are as good as a bird or squirrell and try to grab the power lines with 14,400 volts runnin through em u will be fine

 

480 will wake u up, im know for sure. i had that expererience checkin rotation on a vacum pump. feels like sledgehammer hittin u in shoulder.