In article , Night Angel wrote:
"Dave" wrotenews:9ePDe.170578$_o.144238@attbi_s71:

check your fixture its probably stamped on it and painted over. Most
fixtures say 60 watt bulbs is the limit. there'd no reason why you can't
mix bulbs that are 60 or under.

And that 60 number is the politically correct, cover my ass number anyway to
hopefully keep the company from being sued when some moron puts a 5,000 watt
bulb in there, burns down the house and then sues.

The number is really a base upon heat, not watts, put out.

You could put a 150 watt flourescent bulb in there and it would be fine,
because it throws out about 30% of the heat.

A 42 watt compact fluorescent heats a fixture very slightly more than a
60 watt incandescent does. I have a "Raytek" non-contact thermometer and
operated various lamps in an 8 inch glass globe and wrote down
temperatures.

Although a 42 watt compact fluorescent puts out more light than a 60
watt incandescent, it also puts out slightly more convected and conducted
heat. What the compact fluorescent produces a lot less of is infrared -
which will mostly produce heat matwerializing in the room but mostly not
in the fixture (at least for most fixtures).

You could put all 100 watt bulbs in there, but your bathroom would be a steam
room.

I did once see a fixture rated for a 60 watt bulb have wire insulation
start turning brown and producing a burning odor with a 60 watt bulb.
This was a desk lamp of the "banker's lamp" style. It used tubular
"refrigerator" style showcase bulbs. My guess is, where the fixture was
designed the 60 watt bulb that shape and size that the fixture was tested
with had a vacuum, while in the USA many such shape, size and wattage
bulbs are gas-filled - and produce more convected/conducted heat and less
infrared. However, the fixture ran nice and cool with a 40 watt tubular
bulb - 40 and 25 watt 120V tubular "refrigerator" bulbs used in the USA
have a vacuum unlike the 60 watt version.

I would not consider all fixtures safe somewhat exceeding their rated
limits, since I saw one with a design/testing flaw that made it unsafe
with the bulb it came with and was rated for.

- Don Klipstein )