Poultry Talk Ontario (pto.ca)

I have lights in the coops - not on all the time but just for going to bed and gives them time to get sorted. They come on at 5pm and go off @ 7 .. Or on dark snowy fabulous days like yesterday they're on all day ... Ok, so anyways .. My bulbs keep dying. Is it the cold? I use the swirly effieicent ones and put them in the heat lamp models.

Any idea why, pls let me know. Thanks

I don't trust the flourescents outdoors. They could light on fire and burn when they die, if they break you have poison mercury dust. It takes them a lot to light up in the cold. (The swirly efficient ones: i think you are reffering to compact flourescents). We've discused it here and is worth repeating: use LED efficient bulbs, or heavy duty (bulbs that can be knocked around without breaking) regular bulbs but (WARNING) they could be teflon coated (teflon; as in Teflon non-stick frying pans; gives of gas when warm and it kills birds and is suspected to cause cancer in people) so get the bulbs from Princess Auto: if I remember correctly the "globe brand "they sell is not teflon coated

these bulbs cfls are really not made for outdoor use but with that said I have 4 straight up outside under the soffit in flood lights and none have blown. it could be many reasons though...

cheap bulbs which are known to be dangerous and even burning houses and buildings down.

bad wiring, have Lou or an electrician check it out properly with a meter.

now what I suspect it is is humidity getting into the bulbs ballast causing it to short out and burst.

I have about 40 of these bulbs everywhere, house, garage, shop and exterior lights. none in coop though. I use 4foot fluorescents in the coop.

Sylvania 13 watt

your right Bert, Teflon is a known carcinogen and globes rough use bulbs are not coated in teflon.

Hey Al, I gotta say ignorance is bliss.. Starting a new thread

Thanks guys!! I'll get lou to stop in @ princess auto today or tomorrow. They aren't shattering or breaking, they just stop working.

Bert... haha Yup but truth be told Iv been using CFLS for a very long time, way before they were cool, when they first came out, I used them on my reptiles back when I was still breeding Chameleons and a handfull of other species that require vit D3 to break down calcium... 1 in each cage alongside a heat lamp. and Iv never ever had one catch on fire. now I must knock on wood...

We have 4 foot Fluorescent tubes in the barn and I find if it gets really cold they either flicker or refuse to turn on altogether.
I have not and will not use the cfls, there is simply too much wrong with that technology and will be slowly changing to LED as needed.
Now I am wondering if it's also the way to go for the barn. Hate to throw out something that works most of the time, but really irritating some of the time?

I have used the curly bulbs inside & out for years because of less cost to run . Never a problem in barn . Only place I can't use um is on my night lights where try come on by dusk to type switch . Luck
Sandy I would think maybe some moisture gets in the socket or power surge on that line. Just guessing .

thegawd wrote:these bulbs cfls are really not made for outdoor use but with that said I have 4 straight up outside under the soffit in flood lights and none have blown. it could be many reasons though...

cheap bulbs which are known to be dangerous and even burning houses and buildings down.

bad wiring, have Lou or an electrician check it out properly with a meter.

now what I suspect it is is humidity getting into the bulbs ballast causing it to short out and burst.

Sylvania 13 watt

I think thegawd and Ross may be right: sounds like humidity could be the reason why they are shorting out. Insufficient ventilation may be the cause ... chickens generate a fair bit of humidity through breathing and through their ... um ... "production of excrement" (tired of seeing the icon sprinkled all through my posts that talk about chicken waste management). Hot humid air rises and that's where your lights probably are. You may want to think about adding some vents along your coop eaves or on the ends of your coop at the peak.