Also depends on the wattage too, it seems the 175w ones last the longest. Ive seen vintage cleartops still in use in recessed cans in places like malls that are still fairly bright.
I see. I like a heavily blackened arc tube MV lamp VS a new one lol. Would lets say one of those cheap MV lamps that come with yardblaster fixtures, go black much quicker than a quality mercury lamp? My feeling would be yes.
Probably, but most often, those yardblaster lamps (and newer lamps in general) outright die before they get a chance to blacken that much. Vintage MV lamps are overall much better.
LOL I wish. That's just the title the website gives you after you make 1000 posts in the forum. Your's says "Newbie" because you have 6 posts. Joe has 989 posts, so the site calls him a "Lighting Expert". Darren has 27 posts so he's a "Fixture & Lamp Collector". Not sure all the ranges for what gets you what though.