Durn, I've been using them for about 10 years now - don't
have a single incandescent left in the place - but never yet
had one fail. Mostly Sylania; but a few Globe badged.
Did throw one away because the light output had dropped too
much.

Waiting to fix one Downside is that looking at them, I
can't imagine how I'd getting one apart without destroying
it. Is there a trick I can't see?



The name brand ones do tend to be more reliable, as you say the lumen
depreciation will nessessitate replacement before a really well made one
completely fails. The problem is the name brands are rather expensive so the
cheap Chinese junk sells, admittedly my house is full of them.

Some are easy to open, some aren't. Most of the ones I have will pop apart
with a scredriver at the seam between the upper and lower section of the
ballast housing.