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How many BYOACers does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
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DaOld Man:
Sharing neutrals with common stuff (lights, garbage disposals, electric chairs, etc) and computers is bad. Harmonics.
Back to OT, have you tried bulbs rated for higher voltage? Bulbs rated for 125 or 130 VOLTS instead of 115 or 120 can last a lot longer, because they draw less current, less current means less heat, which means longer bulb life.
The higher voltage bulbs probably put out less light, but you wont notice it.
RayB:
Do the bulbs flicker too sometimes? Or they just don't last long. If its both, then it could be a failing breaker. I had a mains breaker fail on me after a few months of dipping/flickering lights, and even a couple killed things, like a lamp that stopped working and a computer got fried. One day half the house lost all power. It was one of the two main breakers. Had it replaced and the bulb flickering/burning out went away.
javeryh:
Wow thanks for all the responses!  Good info here - I guess my wife was right when she was insisting that the wattage in the fixtures was a maximum and not what you had to use (of course I was insisting otherwise with no real knowledge).  The bulbs definitely flicker too but not all the time - sometimes completely on their own.  The room will dim and then get bright again for no apparent reason.  The lights in the TV room are on a dimmer too - sometimes I can dim them to almost off but other times the dimmer barely reduces the light in the room.  It is weird for sure.  I'll have to pay attention if it has something to do with another appliance or something else that uses electricity coming on.  We are slowly replacing the bulbs in the house with the pigtail ones (even though I don't like the light they give off but maybe I'm not used to them).
polaris:
id get it checked out mate  :cheers:
DaOld Man:
Definitely get it checked out, Im not trying to scare you, but if it is a loose connection, it is generating heat.
Many many houses have burned because of loose connections.
A short circuit will most often trip a breaker, but a loose connection most often just generates heat, but it does give off warning signs, lights dimming, TV's turning off, computers re-booting.
Loose connections can also damage motor devices, (refrigerators, AC's, etc), and TV's and computers, because they dont like the voltage drop that a loose connection causes.
If your lights momentarily go  brighter when your refrigerator kicks on, that is a sure sign of a loose neutral in your breaker panel, or between your breaker panel and the light pole.
This causes an imbalance between the two 120 volt "legs", which can cause dangerously high voltages on 120 volt circuits. Voltages can swing from 120 to 240 volts when the neutral "breaks".
Call an electrician!
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