Other than heat I can't understand what would shorten their life so much. I
have small under the counter fluorescent lamps that only last 6 months or
so. While buying more at HD somebody else was buying the same bulb, I asked
him if he had the same problem. Yep. I replaced two small fixtures under
one cabinet with a longer one (takes a 34" long bulb). On the box GE claims
will last 15,000 hours. Time will tell.



"Brian" wrote in message
ps.com...
Hello all,
I replaced my kitchen "cheapo" fluorescent light last year with a nicer
model that uses F32T8 style bulbs.

After about 4 months, one of the bulbs went bad. These are supposed to
last 5 years. I replaced it. Then the other went bad 3-4 months later.
I went through this a few times.

I tried different bulbs from different brands and stores. No luck. I
thought maybe the ballast went bad so I bought new, good quality, and
replaced that. I did that this past September and now one of the bulbs
is going bad again!

The wiring is fine, all the connections are tight and in correct order.
No signs of burning or charring.

What is going on? How can I fix this? Now I don't even care about the
light...as much as solving my curiosity!!! lol