Abstract: A long-life incandescent lamp and a socket insert for use with conventional lamps to provide long life. The lamp includes a sealed glass envelope, a base fixedly attached to the glass envelope, a center contact fixedly attached to the base and electrically insulated therefrom, a pair of lead wires extending within the envelope, an illuminable filament disposed within the envelope and electrically connected between the lead wires, a diode electrically connected between the center contact and the one lead wire for half-wave rectifying current to the filament, and a resistor for providing a resistive bridge between the base and center contact. The resistor has a resistance substantially in excess of the resistance of the filament, preferably no greater than 27K ohms. In one embodiment, the resistor is electrically connected between the center contact and the base in parallel with the in-series combination of the filament and the diode.