receptacle wattage vs. sockets load. Lights on, please :)

Hi, Per socket. CFL will give better light with less Wattage.

Have normally understood it was a 'heat rating'.

For example a couple of days ago had to fix the computer desk lamp. The rotary switch which was part of the bulb socket had jammed. And the socket was your typical brown plastic type; not noted for being very heat resistant! The 'Anglepoise' style lamp cost around $6 at a big box store and is probably some 10 years old.

Was interested to find the little label, they often fall off due to the heat, that said "Maximum 100 watts". We had been using a 40 watt bulb and reflector was/is well vented so the switch problem was not, IMO due to excessive heat.

However a couple of inches of the two wires leading to the switched socket were a little brittle and dried out, but not melted.

Lamp was repaired using a spare ceramic encased socket on hand and a separate switch now located in the cord; it's now equipped with a 60 watt incandescent (25 cent) bulb. Cost of repairs, nil. Parts left over from some other project. Time about three quarters of an hour. Put the used 40 watt into one socket of the bathroom vanity fixture, replacing a 60 that had been put in there temporarily.

Notice in passing that the last bulb replacement in that six 40 watt light bathroom fixture was in August 2008 and the replacement before that, in October 2006. We mark it on the base of the bulbs with a marker. Same as when one replaces a hot water tank or any major fixture.

The desk calculator btw doesn't use batteries at all, but operates, in adequate light, below the desk lamp, on its photo cell. So that's back in business as well.

Also btw any wasted heat due to inefficient lighting, in this house and for most of the year merely offsets the electric heating. So using CFLs except outside in the cold Canadian climate seems rather pointless? We do use refurbished (and often free for the asking) 48 inch fluorescent tube fixtures in garage, workshop and kitchen etc.

Have fun and recycle/reuse whenever possible.

The safest plan is to always use the lowest rating in the chain as your maximum load. Anything else is wishful thinking.

I have a light bulb issue. Originally, the ceiling receptacle in my daughter?s room was rigged for a ceiling fan with an independent light, both on separate pull-strings. The light part of the fan circuit board died so I bought a new three-way 60 watt each light fixture. Now... my question is as follows.... The original light socket had a label that said no more than 60 watts in that socket. Can I use all three 60 watt bulbs on this one new fixture? I used to put

Thanks, guys!

Lloyd's eel Aaron

(Ehrin Lloyd)

The rating is for the lamp fixture. If you change the whole thing out, you go by the ratings of the new lamp socket. The wiring in the ceiling should be good for almost anything normally used in a room. Atleast up to 200 or more watts of light. As someone mentioned , the CF lighting may be the way to go. I have replaced many lights in the house that stay on for long periods of time with them.

CFL...? Sory. Don't understand industry terms...

Personally, the way you phrased it, I can't tell. I'd say each could have a 60W bulb, but what you bought I have no idea whether it's for one light or what. Whatever is labeled 60W is maxxed out at 60W is about all I can say.

snipped-for-privacy@k41g2000yqn.googlegroups.com...

Thanks for the straight answer, Ralph. I should have figured it out since the wiring coming out of the ceiling supported not only a light, but a 3 speed fan as well. It's just that when I inadvertently was using 100 watt bulbs in the hall and dining rooms, they were actually melting the wiring at the socket solder points. That really scared me. I didn't want to burn the house down by using these three.

Thanks for your help.

Aaron Eel (Ehrin)

"Is it 60 watts total per ceiling receptacle or 60 watts each socket off that receptacle?"

You do know what a receptacle is.. and a light bulb socket..? I don't know how I can make it much clearer than that.

Ehrin

Thanks for your help. Aaron Eel (Ehrin)

I think you have it now. The wiring to lights are usually # 14 which should be good for 15 amps and that would make it good for over 1500 watts. There are usually several places this wiring goes, so you can not use the total

Hi, Compact flourescent lamp. I use mixture of wamr lamp and daylight lamp.

But the screw-in receptacle uses metal salvaged from gum wrappers. Many can't handle the extra heat.

Go to Walmart. Get three 60-watt (equivalent) compact florescent light (CFL) bulbs. You're done.

A "60-watt" compact florescent bulb doesn't really USE sixty watts (it actually uses about 12 watts). The "watt" designation on a compact florescent bulb means it puts out light equivalent to a 60-watt incandescent (old style) bulb.

The manufacturers of CFLs use the "watt" equivalence rating because nobody knows what the heck a "lumen*" is.

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Light Bulb Depot sells a CFL that actually draws 80 watts. The freaking thing is the size of an American football. GEEZ! Does it ever put out some light!

TDD

I bought one once. I don't have a lamp in the house that will hold it. :)

Do you have a barn or outbuilding that has only a single overhead porcelain lampholder? That's where you use that monster.

TDD