Compact Flourescent Bulb and Ballast Life?

[JoAnn VanDersarl <jmarella at attbi_com>]

It's lights out in my neck of the woods...

One of the ballasts in one of my compact flourescent fixtures has 
gone out. The fixture is 13 months old. Am I being reasonable to 
assume that ballasts should last at least twice that long before 
failing?

I'm very curious about the average life of the ballasts. I had both 
bulbs in one jbj fixture fail, along with the ballast and all four 
bulbs in another fixture failed too (I'm wondering about the ballasts 
in that one now). I have to admit that when I add up the cost of the 
bulbs, ballast and wonder when the next ballast will fail, I'm not so 
sure the yearly cost of this particular brand is worth it. At this 
point I'm thinking that it might be smarter to invest in another 
brand fixture rather than replace bulbs and ballasts.

Can anyone comment on ballasts and/or your experience with JBJ 
lights? I've tried to contact JBJ about various problems with my 
lights several times lately and they don't seem to answer email 
anymore.

I understand and expect bulb failure, but while I'm asking here I 
also wonder how long bulbs should last (?). Very frustrating.

These lights see average use and are on about 10 hours a day. I added 
it up the other day and that amounts to about 3900 hours of bulb 
life. Are the bulb life ratings all smoke and mirrors anyway?

Thanks in advance.

JoAnn