Electrical advice?

I'm looking to see if there is a fix for a longstanding problem in our home.

We live in Springhurst in a 10 year old home; we blow out lightbulbs an average of one every couple of days (I'm not exagerating). We thought it might be a problem with our house/wiring but in talking to folks at the local Home Depot 1/2 mile away, it turns out their store outsells by twice the other Home Depots in lightbulbs. According to them, there is a known problem in Springhurst with us being too close to a grid switch- over or something, which spikes the electrical and blows bulbs.

This has been going on for years and seems to be getting worse (just replaced 4 recessed bulbs that were put in a month ago). The only recommendation we've gotten so far is to buy 130V or above bulbs (rather than 120) as this helps with the spikes. We do and still blow bulbs.

Anybody out there have any suggestions? Can we do something with LG&E? Can we install somekind of surge protector on our main line to buffer the spikes? This is getting really expensive....

I think LG&E should give every homeowner in this area an annual stipend to replace blown bulbs. Corporate responsibility.

Deb, We live in Oldham County and moved into our house in 1999. We had the same problem but on a larger scale. Long story short, after a month of investigation (including LGE putting a spike monitor on our circuit breaker panel) it came down to a bad ground neutral in the transformer that served our house. While this may not be your problem you can ask LG&E to do the same at your house and see if it is an internal or external problem.

I'm looking to see if there is a fix for a longstanding problem in our home.

We live in Springhurst in a 10 year old home; we blow out lightbulbs an average of one every couple of days (I'm not exagerating). We thought it might be a problem with our house/wiring but in talking to folks at the local Home Depot 1/2 mile away, it turns out their store outsells by twice the other Home Depots in lightbulbs. According to them, there is a known problem in Springhurst with us being too close to a grid switch- over or something, which spikes the electrical and blows bulbs.

This has been going on for years and seems to be getting worse (just replaced 4 recessed bulbs that were put in a month ago). The only recommendation we've gotten so far is to buy 130V or above bulbs (rather than 120) as this helps with the spikes. We do and still blow bulbs.

Anybody out there have any suggestions? Can we do something with LG&E? Can we install somekind of surge protector on our main line to buffer the spikes? This is getting really expensive....

My mom has lived in Springhurst since 2000 and has had none of these issues. I am by far and away NO expert on electrical issues, but may I suggest you have your ground fault protection circuit checked out.

Thanks guys!

Ed,

How do you go about getting LG&E to put a spike monitor on the circuit breaker? Do you remember who/what department you called?

Doogy,

Thanks for the input about your Mom's house. Several of our neighbors have no problems but numbers of them have had them. So far I haven't had the time or the patience to determine if there's a pattern.....

All,
Don't know if it's relevant, but to Ed's comment: the transformer for our section of the neighborhood sits right next to my driveway. And the light bulbs blow when you flip the lights on (so much so that we've become a little hesitant to turn light off sometimes...)

Any additional input would be very welcome- I know food but I'm clueless when it comes to electrical. Deb

Deb,

My next duty day is Friday and all of those numbers are in the computer at work. Our transformer is on the pole in our yard about 75 feet from the house. We have underground utilities from the pole into the house.

Keith McBride is the safety guru for all of LG&E and is very customer oriented and friendly. He doesn't schedule that service, but he may be able to point you in the right direction and give you a contact name and number.

Deb, you have a PM. Check your inbox.

Ed

Deb
My post is a bit late but Ed seems to be right on. My previous career was a maintenance manager at a large mining operation. Before I made foreman I was an electrician for 8 years. Handled every thing from 110v up to 69,000 volt service. A bad or loose neutral/ground will cause all sorts of ghost problems.