In article , Nate Nagel wrote:
ropeyarn wrote:
Nate Nagel wrote:
wrote:
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...
of course it is. Do you think the actual light causes the fixture
to catch
fire?
Although heat may and probably is the issue, over wattage through
current draw certainly could become a problem.
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.
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.
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.
A 15 watt CFL will heat the fixture much more than a 15 watt
incandescent despite the CFL producing more light.
I see plenty of 26 watt CFLs and a few 30 watt ones - should not
overheat a fixture rated for 60 watt incandescents, but could overheat
themselves if the fixture is a small enclosed fixture or a downlight.
I see a few 42 watt ones (roughly / almost 150 watt incandescent
equivalence) - and I have one test result of one of those heating a
fixture a little more than a 60 watt incandescent does (due to a higher
percentage of its output being non-radiant heat as opposed to infrared).
23 watt ones will not overheat the fixture and will usually not overheat
themselves. Some fixtures may cause some but not all CFLs of wattages as
low as 14 watts to overheat.
- Don Klipstein )