EZSMART Corporation, ESA/ECRA #7012690 , North York , Ontario
Mon-Fri 08:00 AM - 05:00 PM
Ontario weather is brutal on outdoor lighting. Between winter freeze-thaw cycles, summer humidity, GTA hydro voltage sags, and the general vibration of a house that has been there since the 1960s, a porch or garage light that keeps burning out is usually telling you something specific — not just having bad luck. This guide walks you through why outdoor lights keep burning out in Ontario homes, how to diagnose which cause is yours, and when the safest move is to book a licensed electrician.
Direct answer: five causes cover almost every repeat-burnout complaint we see — (1) the wrong bulb type for an enclosed or wet-location fixture, (2) voltage that is chronically high on that circuit, (3) vibration from a door slamming or a garage door opener, (4) moisture inside the fixture from a bad seal, and (5) a loose connection at the socket. The bulb is almost never the actual problem — something in the fixture, the wiring, or the environment is killing bulbs faster than normal.
Direct answer: enclosed globes, jars, and sealed exterior fixtures trap heat around the bulb, which slowly cooks the LED driver or the incandescent filament. Standard LED bulbs rated for open fixtures fail in a fraction of their rated life inside an enclosed exterior housing.
The fix is a bulb specifically marked “enclosed fixture” and “wet-location rated” on the package. Look at the bulb box — if it does not explicitly say both, it is not the right bulb for an exterior enclosed fixture. Our post on LED fixture compatibility covers the enclosure question in detail. For deeper burnout diagnostics, see why light bulbs burn out quickly.
Direct answer: standard residential voltage in Ontario is nominal 120 V, but the utility tolerance under Ontario Energy Board rules allows a range from about 110 to 125 V. If your service is chronically running at 125 V or more, every incandescent bulb on the property will burn out prematurely and LEDs will fail early too.
Test with a plug-in voltmeter at an outlet on the same circuit as the outdoor light. If you see readings above 125 V for extended periods, contact Alectra or Toronto Hydro (or your local LDC) to have the service voltage checked. A worn service transformer or a mistuned regulator upstream can push voltage into a range that shortens every bulb life in the neighbourhood.
Direct answer: incandescent and older LED bulbs have delicate internal filaments and solder joints. A porch light next to a slamming door, a garage light beside a chain-drive opener, or a fixture on a wall shared with a rumbling refrigerator gets more vibration in a week than most bulbs are engineered for.
The fix is a vibration-rated bulb (sold as “rough service” or “garage door” bulbs) or, better, a modern LED specifically rated for high-vibration applications. Rough-service bulbs have a thicker filament and internal supports designed to survive shock. If the outdoor fixture is on a house wall that shares framing with a chain-drive garage opener, swap the bulb first — it is the cheapest test.
Direct answer: water that gets past a cracked gasket or a failed sealant on an exterior fixture drips onto the hot bulb every time it turns on. Thermal shock cracks the glass envelope, and residual moisture corrodes the socket contacts — both of which shorten bulb life dramatically.
Inspect the fixture for water lines, rust, or a crumbling gasket. If the fixture is older than about 15 years and shows any corrosion around the socket, replace the whole fixture with a modern wet-location-rated luminaire and reseal the mounting flange with exterior-grade silicone. Section 30 of the Ontario Electrical Safety Code requires luminaires in wet locations to be marked “suitable for wet locations” — a badge that is molded into the fixture housing.
Direct answer: any loose connection in the socket or in the box behind the fixture creates resistive heating, and resistive heating cooks the bulb from behind. If the fixture housing is warm to the touch after only a few minutes of running, or if the bulb base is discoloured when you unscrew it, the connection needs to be tightened or replaced.
The Electrical Safety Authority tracks socket and terminal-related fixture failures under the residential luminaire category in its Ontario Electrical Safety Report, and repeat bulb failures are one of the most common early symptoms of a bad connection. Do not just replace bulbs indefinitely — have a licensed electrician open the fixture and inspect the box before a small resistive fault becomes an arc fault.
In our experience troubleshooting repeat-burnout outdoor lights across the GTA, the fastest fix is almost always replacing the whole fixture with a new wet-location-rated LED-integrated unit. Modern outdoor LED fixtures no longer have removable bulbs — the driver, the LED array, and the housing are engineered as one sealed unit, rated for 25,000 to 50,000 hours. Homeowners who chase a burnout mystery by swapping bulbs three or four times almost always call us for the same fixture within a year. The upgrade cost is often less than the sum of the bulbs they will replace, and the light itself is brighter and more efficient than the old halogen or incandescent it replaces.
Outdoor lights still burning out after you have tried the bulb and gasket fixes? Book an ESA-certified electrician to inspect the fixture, the circuit, and the service voltage. Call us at 416-838-9006 or visit our contact page — we will get back to you the same day.
Electrician Since 2008 Journeyman Electrician Designated Master Electrician at EZSMART Corp
