DIYbanter - View Single Post - CFLs vs incandescent "max wattage" cautions in overhead fixtures....

David Nebenzahl

On 1/19/2009 5:40 PM Nate Nagel spake thus:

wrote:

On Mon, 19 Jan 2009 19:23:56 -0600, AZ Nomad
wrote:

On Mon, 19 Jan 2009 15:59:38 -0500, 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.

A bulb that draws 25W to produce the light of a 75W incadescent bulb
isn't going to overtax a fixture designed for 75W.

Correct you are, but what happens to a fixture that is rated for
a 100 watt incandescent bulb when you use it for something other
than lighting? Are you saying that as long as you don't develop
100 watts of heat then the fixture will be just fine?

Yes, so long as you aren't actually drawing more than 100W.

I wouldn't sweat the "drawing more than 100 watts" part. Really.

Think about it: I'd feel safe betting that *almost all* light fixtures
(sockets) are electrically capable of handling far more than their rated
values in watts. Many standard Edison-base light sockets are rated at
660 watts.

The issue isn't too much current flowing through the contacts and wires:
it's too much heat being generated by the bulb.

--
"I know I will go to hell, because I pardoned Richard Nixon."

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