The "appliance" light bulb in the frig has been out for about a week ... and ... well ... umm ... er ... the wife got a bit upset with me ... for ... working on other things instead ...
So she surreptitiously replaced the bulb with this:
Having never thought about it before, I've never seen that kind of bulb in a refrigerator. Have you?
Does it matter?
I would not use one, but if it's bright enough, go for it, but DON'T break it.
Greg
It may be dimmer than the bulb it replaced, but actually will use less electricity so that is ok. Even a brighter bulb will probably use less electricity. Biggest POSSIBLE drawback is the number of on-off cycles it will get compared to if it was to be used as a regular room light in a regular light fixture of some kind. But it is in a cooler environment so that is a plus that probably balances the number of on- offs.
However, if it were me, the thing that I would be most concerned about is the possibility of hitting the bulb and breaking it. It is relatively much weaker than the glass in an incandescent bulb, and I wouldn't want to have to clean up glass in my refrigerator, or worry about the small amount of mercury that would be released getting into something in the fridge. It depends on how protected the bulb is.
My suggestion: purchase the proper fridge/oven bulb. Most of them are 40 watt and clear or frosted. My fridge has two and both are clear glass. Next time listen to your wife and do what she wants when she wants it done. No exception now or comes zee trouble.
Don't really know, but I thought appliance bulbs were coated in plastic, so when they were broken the pieces wouldn't fall into the fridge or the stove, or on the food. Wait a sec. Do t hey really sell the same bulb for the fridge and the stove? That seems wrong.
I would not use a CFL in a fridge for two reasons. One is it's easier to break and they contain some mercury. The other is CFLs take longer to put out decent amounts of light the colder they are. A fridge is one of the worst places to use one. Before it even starts to warm up, you're closing the door already.
My suggestion: purchase the proper fridge/oven bulb. Most of them are 40 watt and clear or frosted. My fridge has two and both are clear glass. Next time listen to your wife and do what she wants when she wants it done. No exception now or comes zee trouble.
Wait a sec. Do t hey really sell the same bulb for the fridge and the stove? That seems wrong.
I agree with other respondents: Toxicity of mercury if it breaks. Not coming to full light power in brief time refrigerator is opened. Reduced life cycle with short use periods stressing cfl.
Its a misapplication. CFLs are easier to break and take longer to start at cold temps.
Either replace it with a 25w appliance bulb or if you want to throw a few dollars more at it get a LED version.
Eventually the LED lighting used in higher end refrigerators such as below will be common in all:
Wait a sec. Do t hey really sell the same bulb for the fridge and the stove? That seems wrong.
It's OK. The so-called "appliance bulbs" can be used for either stoves or fridges. They have several features which makes them suitable for either.
- smaller bulb size
- high-temperature basing cement (or clamped base with no cement)
- more filament supports (to protect against shock or vibration like slamming doors)
- longer-life filament (depends upon the manufacturer)
- coated bulb (depends upon manufacturer - protects against moisture and minimizes pieces of glass if bulb should break).
Tomsic
Maybe he'd like it better if there were two bulbs, one for frigde, one for oven and they cost 25% more....
Then this what the OP should buy. It's what I've always bought. I think I've only replaced one bulb in 40 years in the fridge and stove combined, so the cost of bulbs is insignificant, and the cost of electricity is too.
If one could't be made that worked for both, sure, but Tomsic's convinced me that they can and do.
I know it's great that your wife thinks it's your job to do the macho things, but changing a light bulb? Really? Doesn't she go to the grocery, at least once a week? They sell them there. They don't weigh much. She should be able to lift one.
Makes sense. I'll pick up a bona-fide "appliance bulb" at the hardware store on my next visit (which will be soon).
I picked up a $2 A15 bulb (40 watt frosted) at Ace Hardware today.
They actually had cheaper A15 bulbs that were for 130 volts, which is an odd voltage, but I opted for the 'standard' 120 volt size.
Thanks for the advice. It's my first 'appliance bulb' ever.
130V bulbs will be dimmer when operated on 120V but they'll last almost forever, which is the whole point. They'd be good for a 'fridge but you really should buy a bulb designed for the purpose.
Get one of these:
"Danny D." wrote in news:kmuv02$k33$4 @news.albasani.net:
No, if you dont mind a bit of mercury in your foodsupply......
IT's probably not going to work very well and take a long time to start, but it's not going to hurt anything other than the CFL.
A LED bulb would be perfect in a fridge actually...
nate
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