A few months ago when we put our house up for sale, I climbed a big ladder to paint our entryway and clean this light fixture. We had also recently had our first bulb go out after seven years of good luck with the bulbs. Since I was up there anyway, I went ahead and swapped out all the old bulbs for new ones, hoping to leave a nice seven-year bulb legacy for the next home owner. A month or so later, the first of the brand new bulbs went out. Now about three months later, six of the nine are out. Ah, the joys of owning a home.