Why do headlights always burn out in winter?

[elizilla]

The right headlight on the Subaru burned out. I tried to change it but it was buried under a bunch of vent tubing that was held in place with those single use trim panel clips and I was freezing my butt off out there trying to break the darn things loose. So yesterday at lunchtime I drove into one of those quicky oil change places. A replacement bulb was $19.99 installed. Done. Figure six bucks for a bulb and 50 cents for replacement plastic trim clips, and they spent a lot more than $13.49 worth of time fiddling with it, while I sat in the car where it's warm. In summer I'd have spent an hour doing it myself, but headlights never burn out in the summer.

I tried to persuade them to aim the headlights while they were at it, but they said they didn't know how, and if they don't know how I sure don't want to press them. So I still have a project to do myself, sometime.

Comments

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

My ex-recto theory: thermal cycling is more pronounced in winter because of the broader temperature range. Also, roads are worse, so physical damage to the filament from road shocks accrues at a higher rate.

Headlights shouldn't be so damned difficult to change.

My BMW may be a yuppiemobile but at least it's easier to work on than most of the Japanese stuff I've become familiar with over the years.

[elizilla]

I agree with your ex-recto theory. I'm thinking we also notice burned out headlights more in winter, because it is dark pretty much all the hours we're not at work, and therefore we need them for driving around.

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

That was my ex-recto theory, too.

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

My other ex-recto theory was that the world hates us, and it is colder, nastier or more expensive to change the headlight in the winter (as witness the above article), therefor they world conspires to make make them always fail in the winter.

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finagle's_law

[pi3832.livejournal.com]

I would guess that the redeposition cycle that prolongs the life of halogen bulbs is impeded by the cold weather.

[theobviousname.livejournal.com]

Interesting. I don't have many points of comparison, but it's relatively trivial to change the headlights/running lights of our CRV - it would help to have smaller hands, but there's no actual obstruction of the lamp assembly. (The high beams, on the other hand, might be tricky.)

I've used up 2 sets (4 bulbs) of replacements in 9 years of having it; I have no idea where that falls on a reliability spectrum, but so far only one has failed when it was cold enough that I needed to be wearing a coat in the garage to change it. (Which was a memorable pain, because my arm barely fits in there without the extra bulk of the coat sleeve.)

[schmi.livejournal.com]

but headlights never burn out in the summer.
Hehe... ain't that the truth. I've been dragging my feet on fixing the turn signals on the BMW just cos it's so damn cold out.