lightbulbs keep going ridiculously quickly.

[TinyDiamond]

Is this an electrical issue that could be fixed or not? Moved into this flat in October (it's rented) and since then I keep having to replace lightbulbs every few weeks. these are not the cheap bulbs but the energy saving ones that cost between £3-7 EACH!

They all say on box they last for years. Do you think this is an issue with the flat?

I often hear about decent landlords.

Sometimes I think they mostly live inside landlords' heads.

We had this at our last rented house, the electrics appeared to be in good nick but the bulbs went regularly no matter how "long life" they were. We resorted to cheap bulbs in the end as it made no difference, and mentioned it to the agents when we left but they just shrugged.

Not their problem was the message, (not what they said, just what they implied) - but they were crap and so was the landlord so no surprise there. We have been in our current rental for the last 5 months and changed 3 bulbs in total.....

when i moved in all celing lights had been fitted with GU10 style fittings spot light things. first, the circuits kept overloading and blowing the fuse which turned out to the the nightmare old style - pull out the thing and with a fuse wire to replace each time.

replaced most bulbs with lower wattage so wouldnt overload. still, every week or so a bulb would blow.
finally half the bulbs just wouldnt come out - or ahlf the bulb woudl come out - so i gave up...

I bought some floor lamp uplighters

www.habitat.co.uk/duke-gunmetal-steel-floor-lamp/floor-lampsfcp-product/28351 and largely used those.

now moving out (floors collapsing - now been diagnosed as extensive dry rot thru out property, when they finally lifted laminate floor to see why floor was sinking the builder fell thru the board underneath...it dissolved to dust. ) and i sympathise tiny - renting maybe the only option and moving costs are hellish. even when its half a mile down the road..

I am a decent landlord. That means (among many other things) that the property is newly renovated and painted, right down to a full set of low energy lightbulbs in every single fitting. Did find a fitting where someone had put in too-big lightbulbs causing burning, replaced the fitting and all the wiring. That's why every single lightbulb has been checked and replaced.

It does have the old style fuses, same as the house I live in. The electrics have been checked by various people in the course of other renovations. Fuseboxes are not illegal.

I've also rented from decent landlords.

oh, but of course it is all fantasy, all landlords are rich bastards who've never worked a day in their lives, all tenants are ultra-nice people with total sense, no landlord ever got screwed by a tenants. And of course all bankers are lovely.

I despair. Who's got the mumsnet braincell today? Would you mind passing it on because some people need it?

to be fair i think my landlady was ripped off by some v dodgy bulders who were refitting with money from an insurance claim... (and of course there are decent bulders too) ...

no, old style fuse bozes are not illegal but they are a right fiddly pain if they blown every few months!

Special,you exaggerate.

Pigletjohn you sound like an electrician. Can I ask a question? Please

Special you are absolutely in the minority. But congratulations for being a conscientious LL. If only there were more like you around.

wot?

Special - as with everything there are good and bad landlords. Ditto tenants. Our last rental had the meanest, most awkward landlord out, which in conjunction with the crappiest letting agent made for a really unpleasant experience. Among many things, since we are on about lightbulbs, on check-in it didn't seem to matter to them that a good dozen (lots of chandelier and wall lights) bulbs were dead, but on check out each one was noted as not working and they attempted to deduct the cost from the deposit - I kid you not. We had been instructed to switch off/disconnect all appliances, which we did, and then when they tried the extractor fan on the hob oven were about to mark it down as not working when in fact they just needed to switch it on at the wall. We left the house immaculate (and cleaner than when we got it), there was a complaint about the smell of "cleaning products".......

The property we are in is fantastic and the landlord can not do enough for us - any problem we report is investigated within 48 hours and fixed as quickly as possible, we are regularly asked if everything is ok and they are great people.

So no, I don't think all landlords are rich bastards - nothing of the sort - it is just that there are some who treat tenants as adults and "customers" and others who treat them as lowlife people who can be fleeced and bullied. You are obviously the former not the latter and your tenants are lucky to have you - the difficulty is trying to work out which you've got at first viewing, and since often you don't meet the landlord, just the agent, it's well nigh impossible.

I appreciate there are the same problems as landlords, trying to sort good tenants from bad - just don't assume that all tenants think all landlords are vile, and I won't (and don't) assume that all tenants are wonderful.