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twice in the last week all of the light bulbs in my house (those that were turned on) burned out at the same time. What would cause this and is my house safe to stay in.

Terry Scott
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  • did they burnout when you hit a heavy load, like a disposal, dryer, hair dryer, etc? are you sure that all and not just about half of the lighting circuits were affected? – dandavis Jan 07 '18 at 21:10
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    I've seen posts of this nature in the past. It could be an indication of a failing ground on one half of the main feed to the house, turning the other half into a 220v circuit. This is one of those "call an electrician" moments. – fred_dot_u Jan 07 '18 at 21:48
  • Can you map out where the lightbulbs are burning out to which circuits from the panel the blown bulbs are on? – ThreePhaseEel Jan 07 '18 at 23:18
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    @fred_dot_u is right: call an electrician NOW. There's no guarantee that the next time those bulbs go, something else won't catch fire. – Daniel Griscom Jan 07 '18 at 23:59
  • You could diagnose this further, locating exactly which circuit is failing and which neutral is floating, using DIY methods. But you'll need a professional electrician and possibly the utility company to fix it anyway so why not let them do the detailed diagnosis too. - Until it is fixed, your house is safe to stay in if you don't mind living by candle light. – A. I. Breveleri Jan 08 '18 at 00:06
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    I will call an electrician first thing in the morning. Thank you for all your help. – Terry Scott Jan 08 '18 at 02:52
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    Yes, this has "lost neutral" written all over it. – Harper - Reinstate Monica Jan 08 '18 at 21:26
  • Though a bad neutral is likely, another possibility is that there are surges from outside the house, e.g. a pole transformer. That is another reason to contact an electrician, who might need to monitor for surges. – DrMoishe Pippik Jan 11 '18 at 05:50

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One thing to think about though... If you install all of the bulbs at the same time, they are all the same age.

JRaef
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    Bulbs the same age still don't repeatedly burn out simultaneously. – fixer1234 Jan 08 '18 at 22:28
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    A bulb's lifetime is usually measured as MTBF - mean time between failures - or something similar. That is, the expected run time of the bulb is expressed as a probability curve, with early failures being less likely and failure becoming more likely as the bulb ages. This means that it is unlikely that a large number of bulbs would stop working at the same exact moment due to age. – mmathis Jan 08 '18 at 22:31
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    Even if the bulbs lasted the EXACT same amount of time, some bulbs get used more than others (e.g., bathroom vs. bedroom vs. kitchen etc.). But more importantly, the original question says "twice in the last week". The first time could be "wacky coincidence" after 10,000 hours, and could also indicate a whole house surge (e.g., nearby lightning strike). The second time indicates a serious problem. – manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact Mar 14 '18 at 00:21