fridge 15W SES blulb

[Stephen]

Hello,

Perhaps a daft question but can you use any old 15W SES bulb in a fridge or does it have to be a special one?

I know that ovens use a special bulb that will withstand 300 degrees C, presumably to stop something melting. Is there a similar "low temperature" bulb for fridges? After all, I would think that going from hot when illuminated to cold in the fridge would place additional strain on the bulb.

I ask because I saw a pair of 15W pygmy bulbs for £2 in a supermarket today and next to it one fridge bulb, which looked identical, for £2. Both made by GE. It seems silly to buy the fridge one at twice the price if it's the same as the "ordinary" bulbs.

Thanks.

[Andrew Gabriel]

I think you can use any one providing it's not too physically large. You might find the fridge one is a bit more shock resistant. Don't know of it might have hardened glass too perhaps, although

15W pigmy lamps are normally OK exposed in the rain anyway.

[Kevin]

they might have a different coil to cope with thermal shock

[gazz]

so you can buy a twin pack of normal bulbs, use one of them in the fridge, if it dosent last long you can use the 'spare' untill that goes too and you go out and buy the fridge bulb.

or the normal bulb does work, and when it finaly blows in 3 or 4 years time, you cant find the 'spare' one so have to buy 2 more anyway.

personaly i'd just buy the fridge bulb and be done with it for the ammount of times you have to change a fridge bulb.

[meow2222]

Appliance lamps tend to run at lower filament temp, producing less light and lasting much longer. But yes, cheaper ones do work ok, they just dont last as well..

NT

[Toby]

Surely a 15W lamp is going to be running at the same temperature as any other filament lamp at the same voltage?

If the "special appliance" lamp is also 15w, but produces less light, it would throw out even more heat!?

Toby...

[Andrew Gabriel]

No, there's a range of temperatures filament lamps operate over.

A 15W mains filament lamp is so inefficient, that you can regard it as generating 100% heat to a first approximation.

I've often thought that microwave ovens should simply have an electrodeless fluorescent lamp inside for lighting, powered by the microwaves. I expect the field intensity varies too much depending on how much food is in there, and as it goes around on the turn table, so it would just go up and down in intensity.

[tinnews]

Surely, regardless of how efficient or otherwise it is at producing light, the light ends up as heat anyway. So given a 15 watt lamp

*all* of the 15 watts ends up heating the room that the lamp is in except for any light that escapes the room.

[The Crimson King]

Light energy spontaneously transforms to heat energy!!!!....

Ummmm, interesting concept!!!!

[The Crimson King]

So... a 11W low energy bulb which gives equivalent light to a 60W filament bulb generates the same heat?????

Ummmm... right.... you switch on your 60W filament for an hour and I'll do the same with my 11W low-energy... then we'll both grasp our bulbs... and see who gets the worse burns shall we???

(Me, ummmm... a bit warm...you, call the ambulance!)

[Bob Mannix]

-So... a 11W low energy bulb which gives equivalent light to a 60W

-filament bulb generates the same heat?????

Who said that? any 11W bulb in a closed environment (heat and light can't escape) will generate 11W of heating in the environment. The fact that it's a bulb is irrelevant - it could be a radio - if 11W of power id going in and nothing can come out, then ithe inside will heat up according to the power going in.

[The Crimson King]

OK... can an inconsistency here....

So put your 60W bulb in a 100% insulated container for 1 hour.... And I'll put my 11W in an identical container for 6 hours......

And at the end of each span measure temp. rises....

Yours easily 60+ degree rise... Mine... probably less than 10 degrees...

[The Crimson King]

[The Crimson King]

messagenews: [e-mail]...

LIGHT comes out... NOT heat!!!

[Bob Mannix]

messagenews: [e-mail]...

It's all energy and energy is, in the end, heat. You will note I referred to a closed environment where nothing comes out. If the light were to come out it would get converted to heat (or, occasionally, chemical energy) elsewhere. As it can't get out, it will all end up as heat inside. That be physics, I'm afraid, don't blame me, read a text book!

Catfood, catfood, catfood, again! (sorry your nom de plume set me off)

[Bob Mannix]

-OK... can an inconsistency here....

-So put your 60W bulb in a 100% insulated container for 1 hour....

-And I'll put my 11W in an identical container for 6 hours......

-And at the end of each span measure temp. rises....

-Yours easily 60+ degree rise...

-Mine... probably less than 10 degrees...

You are entirely correct but what's your point? No-one said otherwise!

[tinnews]

Where else do you think it goes??? Just about all energy 'degrades' into heat eventually.

[dennis]

You don't understand physics do you? I suggest you read some books as all your assumptions appear to be in error.

[dennis]

He is entirely incorrect. With 100% insulation there would be nothing to stop either getting hotter and hotter. Then it just depends on the thermal mass.