The ceiling fixtures in our house all have labels indicating the maximum wattage (incandescent) bulb to place in the fixture.
I assume this is a heat-based limit...
If I'm replacing the incandescents in one of these fixutures with CFL's...which stay cool to the touch....are there any issues with going to a higher light output in (say a CFL packaged with "75 watt" incandescent output indicated on the package ?)
of course it is. Do you think the actual light causes the fixture to catch fire?
That's what I do. They sell cfl's based on light output but wattages and heat output are much lower. I've been replacing 60 watt incandescents with 75 watt cfl's in ceiling fixtures which call for 60 watt bulbs for several years with no problem.
No. You are not exceeding the limits of either current draw or heat generally speaking. Now a CFL will produce some heat, but not nearly as much as a comparable output incandescent.
nate
Although heat may and probably is the issue, over wattage through current draw certainly could become a problem.
OK: and your helpful contribution to the discussion is ????
It *could...* if CFLs were made that drew over 60W. I haven't seen one yet... heck, even a 48" T12 only draws 40W a tube.
nate
Indeed...I figure as long as I compare apples to apples (watts to watts), the issue if illumination values doesn't matter..
Thanks for the responses.
I like to buy on a high ratio of lumens to watts. Even pre cfl, I observed that some long life incandescents gave less light for the same wattage.
Well... I don't know whether a 15W CFL produces more or less heat than a
15W incandescent. I ASSume less, but I don't know how much less. That said, the largest CFL I've seen is 23W and we're talking about 60W light fixtures, so I don't know that it matters all that much.nate
You don't say if these are recessed fixtures.
If they are be aware that CFL life when operated base up in recessed fixtures can be shortened. Most of the cheap CFLs are designed to be base down (or sideways) and in open fixtures. The higher you go in wattage the greater the problem is likely to be. The issue is that the electronics, which are in the base of the CFL, are affected by the higher temperature when operated base up in enclosed fixtures. Even though the overall temperature is much lower than when a regular bulb is used, the electronics are more sensitive to it.
The Osram Dura One bulbs are specifically rated for base up use in recessed fixtures but are quite pricey compared to bargain CFL's.
Paul F.
The discussion is about fixtures, and their heat rating, not necessarily CFL's.
Not recessed.......base horizontal...
A bulb that draws 25W to produce the light of a 75W incadescent bulb isn't going to overtax a fixture designed for 75W.
Correct you are, but what happens to a fixture that is rated for a 100 watt incandescent bulb when you use it for something other than lighting? Are you saying that as long as you don't develop
100 watts of heat then the fixture will be just fine?
That a 30W bulb puts out the light of a 75 bulb doesn't matter. It's a 30W bulb. If it put out the light of a 7500W bulb, it still wouldn't harm the fixture.
I'm sorry you find this so hard to follow.
Yes, so long as you aren't actually drawing more than 100W.
nate
A 7500 watt CFL, if there was such a thing would draw over 13 amps. So you feel a light fixture rated for a 100 watt incandescent will be just fine?
On Mon, 19 Jan 2009 20:40:19 -0500, Nate Nagel
So a fixture that is rated for a 100 watt incandescent that would normally draw less than 1 amp can draw 20 amps as long as there is no heat involved?
I think perhaps his point is how the power factor can affect the current vs watt relationship.
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