What is a type B light bulb? I have a light fixture that says to use only type B bulbs and has a pic of what looked to me to be a candelabra shaped bulb. I bought some but nowhere on the package does it say what TYPE the bulbs are.
A B type light bulb is a candelabra shaped bulb.
hvacrmedic
One site I looked at said it was a torpedo shaped bulb and one site said that there were two types of incandescent light bulbs. Both were wire filaments inside a glass bulb, but type B was in a vacuum and type A was not. I'm confused! I just wanted to replace one of the burned out bulbs in my bathroom ceiling fixture.
Gloria wrote:
A B type light bulb is a candelabra shaped bulb.
hvacrmedic
Just find one that fits and call it a day. It doesn't matter what physics are used to make the light, it only matters what the wattage rating of the fixture is, the size of its base, and what shape that the fixture will accommodate. Just forget that you ever read type-B :)
hvacrmedic
What was it in? :)
I agree with RP's second answer, and further I'd like to suggest that we're looking at this backwards. The goal is not to find a type B bulb, I suspect. I suspect it says Type B to make it easier for the owner to find the right bulb. You don't say how old this fixture is, but I'll bet there was a time when at least some places knew exactly what a type B bulb was** and it would save the owner from knowing the exact base dimensions, or base type, or bulb shape, something like that.
But if knowing it is type-B no longer makes one's life easier, then look for a bulb that matches the shape of your other bulbs and use that, liike RP says.
**have you looked in google for old references)Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let me know if you have posted also.
That refers to the shape of the bulb. Check out the GE lamp catalog on the top of page 3 to see the "B" shaped bulbs:
Incorrect. B followed by a number (for example: B-10) indicates a candelabra of ten eighths inch diameter. Suggest you read the link you posted again.
hvacrmedic
What was it in? :)
I agree with RP's second answer, and further I'd like to suggest that we're looking at this backwards. The goal is not to find a type B bulb, I suspect. I suspect it says Type B to make it easier for the owner to find the right bulb. You don't say how old this fixture is, but I'll bet there was a time when at least some places knew exactly what a type B bulb was** and it would save the owner from knowing the exact base dimensions, or base type, or bulb shape, something like that.
But if knowing it is type-B no longer makes one's life easier, then look for a bulb that matches the shape of your other bulbs and use that, liike RP says.
**have you looked in google for old references)Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let me know if you have posted also.
This isn't rocket science. Loot at the bulb you took out and replace it with one that looks like it--base size and bulb shape..
Watch the sites that you go to. Incandescent light bulbs for house use are basically all the same with different size bases and different shape and size glass. The site that mentioned two types of incandescent bulbs is incorrect. There are in fact lots of different types based on filament, the gas, the coating of the bulbs, etc. None of which is important to the homeowner other than for looks and color of the light.
Gloria wrote:
I received this answer from GE
Thank you for contacting GE Lighting. I am happy to assist you.
Type B refers to the shape of the bulb. This is the most common decorative shape. The "B" stands for "blunt tip". To view an example of this shape, please go to the following link and click on "chandelier" (not sure whether you need a small base or medium base, so just choose accordingly) in the "decorative" section. You will see "bent tip" and "blunt tip" categories. You want to look at the blunt tip bulbs.
In the "lamp" (lightbulb) catalogs, next to filament designation you see "class", which I always saw being B or C. B is vacuum, C is gas-filled (typically a mixture of argon and nitrogen).
The other B is bulb shape. B is roughly ellipsoidal, but generally pointier at the tip than E (ellipsoidal).
Some other bulb shapes:
A - "regular lightbulb shape" - (one explanation I have hears is "average" between S and PS that works well for hydrogen fluoride frosting).
BR - bulge reflector
C - candelabra or candle flame shape
F - flame shape, similar to C or between C and B
G - globular
K - one of the reflectorized shapes
PS - pearshape - an S on a tubular neck
R - reflectorized and suitably shaped
S - "straight-sided" - roughly a hemisphere on a cone
T - tubular
Size numbers with these are overall diameter in eighths of an inch in the USA, millimeters in some other locations.
- Don Klipstein ( snipped-for-privacy@misty.com)
Most incandescent lamp catalogs do actually explain "candelabra" as a base size. That is the base that most C7 holiday and nightlight bulbs, most S6 industrial indicator lamps and some chandalier bulbs have. I should have been thinking of that when I wrote the "C" entry in my post on bulb shapes. In fact, the C9 Christmas bulbs normally don't even have a candelabra screw base, but an intermediate screw base.
- Don Klipstein ( snipped-for-privacy@misty.com)
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