Problem with Bulbs

[kthleenus]

Hey guys, it has been a while! Apollo is doing great and is getting fairly big. Eating well and loving life. Just got back from a two-week vacation and my boyfriend's mom snake sat him (she calls him her grand-snake) but I think he missed us quite a bit!

Unfortunately, that's not why I'm here. We have had a real problem with our bulbs burning out really quickly. We got Apollo in February and since then we have had three different daytime bulbs burn out and one nighttime bulb. We have just been replacing them but at this point, it is becoming annoying and expensive. I feel like these bulbs are supposed to last longer than a month. For the setup, we have a dual dome lamp with a daytime and nighttime bulb in it, both of them 100 watts. We are pretty sure the wattage isn't the problem because the lamp says each side can handle 100 watts so 200 watts total. We also have the lamp plugged into a timer so it will switch over from day to night on its own. Everything is also ZooMed brand. I have kinda come to the conclusion that it is not the bulbs themselves because what is the chance that all of these bulbs that I have bought were bad?
Does any one have any idea what the problem might be? Any suggestions on what to do? I have already contacted ZooMed but I haven't heard back from them yet. Any help is appreciated!

[Sonny1318]

Hey guys, it has been a while! Apollo is doing great and is getting fairly big. Eating well and loving life. Just got back from a two-week vacation and my boyfriend's mom snake sat him (she calls him her grand-snake) but I think he missed us quite a bit!

Unfortunately, that's not why I'm here. We have had a real problem with our bulbs burning out really quickly. We got Apollo in February and since then we have had three different daytime bulbs burn out and one nighttime bulb. We have just been replacing them but at this point, it is becoming annoying and expensive. I feel like these bulbs are supposed to last longer than a month. For the setup, we have a dual dome lamp with a daytime and nighttime bulb in it, both of them 100 watts. We are pretty sure the wattage isn't the problem because the lamp says each side can handle 100 watts so 200 watts total. We also have the lamp plugged into a timer so it will switch over from day to night on its own. Everything is also ZooMed brand. I have kinda come to the conclusion that it is not the bulbs themselves because what is the chance that all of these bulbs that I have bought were bad?
Does any one have any idea what the problem might be? Any suggestions on what to do? I have already contacted ZooMed but I haven't heard back from them yet. Any help is appreciated!

I know a lot of people have experienced similar problems to yours with bulbs burning out prematurely. I have used bulbs for years, I know so have other people on here have too without much issue. It’s seems that turning them on and off to much seems to drastically shorten their lifespan. I probably only turn my off a couple times a week maximum. I think I can only remember one or two that expired quicker than I had hoped, but I do know it happens. Like I said the less you turn them on and off the better, and I use dimmers on mine. Which really increases their longevity. And I’m sort of familiar with the fixture your using and can’t help but wonder if excess heat build up is shorting their lifespans (doublebase).

[Reinz]

I agree with Sonny 100%!

I also discovered an added bonus. I was using mainly 75 watt heating bulbs in the summer and only getting 1-3 months life with 24/7 usage. In the winter I was using 150 watt with similar results. When some of my 75s burnt out in the summer I replaced them with 150s that I had on hand and plugged them into a dimmer. I never had the 150s burn out at all when dialed down!

This lasted 2 years before I switched to PVC cages with alternative heating. I’ll never know how long those bulbs would have lasted.

[Godzilla78]

Using dimmer switches is critical to dialing back the bulb and extending its life.

[Cheesenugget]

I use a 100watts and 75 watts bulbs for my lizards. I also use that same dual dome that you mentioned. Let me tell you: Zoomed bulbs are terrible! They don't last. Before switching to Exoterra, my bulbs were burning out almost 3-6 months and they are on a timer, so only on for about 10-12 hours a day (Depending on season). I was so frustrated having to come home after a 10 hour shift, find that my BTS has no heat, then go back out (Usually raining weather) to pick up another bulb. And that dual dome is not good either. One side already stopped working shortly after purchase. The remaining socket is barely holding on as it is starting to pop off from the dome. I have the dome over a year now.

Exoterra bulbs last longer compared to Zoomed. That is the only brand I pick up and so far so good. The price difference was not that big.

On a side note, I am using a 50 watts daytime bulb (Exoterra) in my kingsnake's tank. It is not on all day but it has been working out well. So perhaps a combination of bad bulbs, being on all day, high wattage, etc is causing your bulbs to go out faster than expected. I still think Zoo med makes bulbs that don't last but that has been my experience.