In article , Chris Lewis wrote:
Yeah, I know, not this topic again... But this is getting ridiculous.

I have a string of about 6 pot fixtures in the basement with BR30
bulbs. The fixtures are switched by a pair of 3 way switches.
The fixtures are open to the air - the ceiling hasn't been
drywalled (yet).

The bulbs are burning out at a very high rate. Within a week
of getting them all working again, at least one goes out, within
another month, usually all of them are dead.

As far as I can remember, these have all been Sylvanias, some
"extended lifetime" (hah!).

I would suspect, as others have mentioned, vibration beating up the
filaments while they are hot. In bad cases foot traffic could do this.
Also, do people slam doors nearby or dance on the floor above or do
children dribble basketballs on the floor above? That can do this!

As for a possible solution: Get Philips SLS20 compact fluorescents with
the R30 snap-on reflectors. Find an electrical/lighting supply shop that
has these. Or find an online place that has these - I believe bulbs.com
does. As far as I know, the reflectors can be removed and reattached
to other SLS bulbs, so when they wear out you can get just replacement
bulbs, which Home Depot has.

Philips SLS compact fluorescents are well suited for recessed ceiling
fixtures for the 15 and 20 watt versions (not dimmable), and rated as
acceptable for such use in the non-dimmable 23 watt version. Most other
integral-ballast compact fluorescents, especially of similar and higher
wattages, do not fare as well in recessed ceiling fixtures. You may want
to try the 19 watt or whatever Feit Electric compact fluorescent
floodlight bulb supposedly equal to 85 watt incandescent, (see if it will
fit), available at Home Depot.
19-20 watt compact fluorescent with smaller reflector has performance
compromised by compact reflector size, so expect equivalence to about 60
watts incandescent wide beam flood, and expect some dependence on using
several of these so that their less-well-defined beams merge into each
other.

- Don Klipstein )