Halogen bulbs blowing...

[My Angel Pie]

we have had a few halogen group lights added around the house by our electrician. One of the bulbs went within about 2 days and we put that down to the handling of the bulb etc, now less than 3 weeks another one has gone on the same quad. Bearing in mind i'm concious of always switching lights off, this unit is probably only on for 3-4 hours a night - is this an electrical wiring in problem - how long do these bulbs last?

[woodchopper]

Generally at least a thousand hours - maybe just bad luck you are having - if they continue to blow try another manufacturer eg.Osarm/GEC - in my experience cheap bulbs never last long, thats why they are sold at a discounted price and, if the new lamps still blow after a short period get the mains voltage checked.
When mine blow they always take out the fuse for that circuit in the fusebox - they were the bulbs supplied with the fitting from B&Q -needless to say I change them to Osram lamps when they go.

[My Angel Pie]

Fun that mine are B&Q fittings also, so i will replace them with 'branded' bulbs and we'll see. Thanks for the advice.

[Figi]

I would take them back to B and Q, especially as they've just been fitted by a competent(I assume!) electrician.

[xanderma]

We've had about 16 halogen lights installed in our kitchen, and about 2/3 of them blew within the first month. Our electrician said that he'd had the same experience with new fittings (yes, they were from B&Q!) and sure enough, they've settled down just fine now, 9 months and counting - I use Morrisons 'own' bulbs and no problems at all. I just put it down to either cheap bulbs in the first place, or maybe they'd been handled less than carefully in their lives in the store?

[clever trev]

Would just like to add my bit, i'm in BQ most days for paint anything else i leave well alone, they are buying a lot of rubbish from China,

[BillyNoMates]

100% agree - buy branded bulbs - Phillips, Osram or GEC.

The extra money is well worth it.