The lights in our church are incandescents on dimmers. 150W light bulbs
cost $3 apiece and only last 750 hours (weren't they $2 just a couple of
months ago?) and these lights are in enclosed fixtures and *really* hard
to reach. Little screw-in halogen capsule lights are slightly more
efficient, cost $6, and last 2000 hours. I also suspect traditional
150W lamps will get expensive and/or hard to find soon.

So I'm looking for bushings to screw into medium-base Edison light
sockets to adapt them to single-ended halogen lamps. I've seen
medium-base to candelabra adapters, but this is a "mini candelabra"
thread, not normal candelabra base -- also it needs to be temperature
rated for at least 150W lamps. Any idea?

-Bob

On 1/7/2012 4:38 PM, zxcvbob wrote:
The lights in our church are incandescents on dimmers. 150W light bulbs
cost $3 apiece and only last 750 hours (weren't they $2 just a couple of
months ago?) and these lights are in enclosed fixtures and *really* hard
to reach. Little screw-in halogen capsule lights are slightly more
efficient, cost $6, and last 2000 hours. I also suspect traditional 150W
lamps will get expensive and/or hard to find soon.

So I'm looking for bushings to screw into medium-base Edison light
sockets to adapt them to single-ended halogen lamps. I've seen
medium-base to candelabra adapters, but this is a "mini candelabra"
thread, not normal candelabra base -- also it needs to be temperature
rated for at least 150W lamps. Any idea?

-Bob

The only problem might be the heat produced by the halogen lamp. If you
have a Light Bulb Depot store in your area, the stores are usually
staffed by nice knowledgeable people and they can really help you out.
The adapters sold by LBD appear to be ceramic so heat may not be a
problem for the adapter but I would be concerned about the existing
socket and wiring. If the socket is ceramic, the wiring may also be of
the high temperature resistant type.

http://www.lightbulbdepot.com/subcategory.asp?sub=109

TDD

On Jan 7, 5:38*pm, zxcvbob wrote:
The lights in our church are incandescents on dimmers. *150W light bulbs
cost $3 apiece and only last 750 hours (weren't they $2 just a couple of
months ago?) and these lights are in enclosed fixtures and *really* hard
to reach. *Little screw-in halogen capsule lights are slightly more
efficient, cost $6, and last 2000 hours. *I also suspect traditional
150W lamps will get expensive and/or hard to find soon.

So I'm looking for bushings to screw into medium-base Edison light
sockets to adapt them to single-ended halogen lamps. *I've seen
medium-base to candelabra adapters, but this is a "mini candelabra"
thread, not normal candelabra base -- also it needs to be temperature
rated for at least 150W lamps. *Any idea?

-Bob

@Bob:

Those little halogen capsules aren't going to last you any longer
than the normal lamps if you dim them below 75% of full-on as
the Halogen cycle won't happen if the lamp temp is too low...

So you would be buying lamps twice as expensive boasting a
potential of lasting twice as long which won't perform to that
expectation...

Your problem sounds to me like one of control of why and how
long the lights remain on and budgeting for lamp replacements
on a more regular basis...

Standard method of lamp replacement is you wait until 25% of
the lamps are out and then you bring out the ladders or man-lifts
and re-lamp all fixtures...

Perhaps it is time to think about a capital replacement of the
fixtures to more modern ones...

Is dimming really that important to the operation of the lights ?
They will last longer if burned at full output and not cycled on
and off rapidly...

~~ Evan

Evan wrote:
On Jan 7, 5:38 pm, zxcvbob wrote:
The lights in our church are incandescents on dimmers. 150W light
bulbs cost $3 apiece and only last 750 hours (weren't they $2 just
a couple of months ago?) and these lights are in enclosed fixtures
and *really* hard to reach. Little screw-in halogen capsule lights
are slightly more efficient, cost $6, and last 2000 hours. I also
suspect traditional 150W lamps will get expensive and/or hard to
find soon.

So I'm looking for bushings to screw into medium-base Edison light
sockets to adapt them to single-ended halogen lamps. I've seen
medium-base to candelabra adapters, but this is a "mini candelabra"
thread, not normal candelabra base -- also it needs to be
temperature rated for at least 150W lamps. Any idea?

-Bob

@Bob:

Those little halogen capsules aren't going to last you any longer
than the normal lamps if you dim them below 75% of full-on as the
Halogen cycle won't happen if the lamp temp is too low... So you
would be buying lamps twice as expensive boasting a potential of
lasting twice as long which won't perform to that expectation...

Your problem sounds to me like one of control of why and how long the
lights remain on and budgeting for lamp replacements on a more
regular basis...

Standard method of lamp replacement is you wait until 25% of the
lamps are out and then you bring out the ladders or man-lifts and
re-lamp all fixtures. Perhaps it is time to think about a capital
replacement of the fixtures to more modern ones...

Is dimming really that important to the operation of the lights ?
They will last longer if burned at full output and not cycled on and
off rapidly...

~~ Evan


Those are good points. The lamps are used at full brightness 99% of the
time, but that 1% that they are dimmed way down is important too. And
the soft start the dimmers provide is kind of nice.

The biggest problem here is the E26 lamp base that the .gov hates so much.

I have found porcelain E26 to E11 adapter bushings online, but they come
in large lots (minimum order 50), and I don't know if they are UL
approved... It's still a start. I also don't know if the mini-can
quartz lamps are position sensitive, like some HID lamps. (horizontal
vs base-up vs base-down)

-Bob

"zxcvbob" wrote in message
...
The lights in our church are incandescents on dimmers. 150W light bulbs
cost $3 apiece and only last 750 hours (weren't they $2 just a couple of
months ago?) and these lights are in enclosed fixtures and *really* hard
to reach. Little screw-in halogen capsule lights are slightly more
efficient, cost $6, and last 2000 hours. I also suspect traditional 150W
lamps will get expensive and/or hard to find soon.

So I'm looking for bushings to screw into medium-base Edison light sockets
to adapt them to single-ended halogen lamps. I've seen medium-base to
candelabra adapters, but this is a "mini candelabra" thread, not normal
candelabra base -- also it needs to be temperature rated for at least 150W
lamps. Any idea?

-Bob

The reason that the halogen lamps have that "mini" base is so they can't be
put into the standard candelabra base. The critical part of a halogen lamp
is the seal where the wires come out of the filament tube and into the base.
The seal is temperature sensitive. With single-ended halogen screw lamps,
the base metal acts as a heat sink to keep the seals from cracking.

Additionally, your lighting fixture is not rated for a socket adapter or
halogen lamp of the type you want to use. That would be very bad news in
case a fire resulted.

It's strange that the chandelier bulbs are not lasting longer than their
rated life if the lamps are indeed operating dimmed most of the time. It
doesn't take much dimming to substantially lengthen life. 150 watt bulbs
are available in 130 volt ratings. Give some of those a try.

Tomsic

On Sat, 07 Jan 2012 16:38:25 -0600, zxcvbob
wrote:

The lights in our church are incandescents on dimmers. 150W light bulbs
cost $3 apiece and only last 750 hours (weren't they $2 just a couple of
months ago?) and these lights are in enclosed fixtures and *really* hard
to reach. Little screw-in halogen capsule lights are slightly more
efficient, cost $6, and last 2000 hours. I also suspect traditional
150W lamps will get expensive and/or hard to find soon.

So I'm looking for bushings to screw into medium-base Edison light
sockets to adapt them to single-ended halogen lamps. I've seen
medium-base to candelabra adapters, but this is a "mini candelabra"
thread, not normal candelabra base -- also it needs to be temperature
rated for at least 150W lamps. Any idea?

-Bob
Better yet, convert to GU10 and install either 85 watt halogen or 9
watt LED dimmable reflector floods.

The 30 watt LEDS are roughly equivalent in light output to 80 watt
halogens. And they are available dimmable (they don't dim much before
they go out, but won't burn up if dimmed) and they are available for
about ht cost of the 150 watt bulb. All the light goes down - so more
effective than a globe too. The ones I bought are "universal" - good
from 85 to 260 volts.

On Jan 7, 7:53*pm, zxcvbob wrote:
Evan wrote:
On Jan 7, 5:38 pm, zxcvbob wrote:
The lights in our church are incandescents on dimmers. *150W light
bulbs cost $3 apiece and only last 750 hours (weren't they $2 just
a couple of months ago?) and these lights are in enclosed fixtures
and *really* hard to reach. *Little screw-in halogen capsule lights
are slightly more efficient, cost $6, and last 2000 hours. *I also
suspect traditional 150W lamps will get expensive and/or hard to
find soon.

So I'm looking for bushings to screw into medium-base Edison light
sockets to adapt them to single-ended halogen lamps. *I've seen
medium-base to candelabra adapters, but this is a "mini candelabra"
*thread, not normal candelabra base -- also it needs to be
temperature rated for at least 150W lamps. *Any idea?

-Bob

@Bob:

Those little halogen capsules aren't going to last you any longer
than the normal lamps if you dim them below 75% of full-on as the
Halogen cycle won't happen if the lamp temp is too low... So you
would be buying lamps twice as expensive boasting a potential of
lasting twice as long which won't perform to that expectation...

Your problem sounds to me like one of control of why and how long the
lights remain on and budgeting for lamp replacements on a more
regular basis...

Standard method of lamp replacement is you wait until 25% of the
lamps are out and then you bring out the ladders or man-lifts and
re-lamp all fixtures. Perhaps it is time to think about a capital
replacement of the fixtures to more modern ones...

Is dimming really that important to the operation of the lights ?
They will last longer if burned at full output and not cycled on and
off rapidly...

~~ Evan

Those are good points. *The lamps are used at full brightness 99% of the
time, but that 1% that they are dimmed way down is important too. *And
the soft start the dimmers provide is kind of nice.

The biggest problem here is the E26 lamp base that the .gov hates so much..

I have found porcelain E26 to E11 adapter bushings online, but they come
in large lots (minimum *order 50), and I don't know if they are UL
approved... *It's still a start. *I also don't know if the mini-can
quartz lamps are position sensitive, like some HID lamps. *(horizontal
vs base-up vs base-down)

-Bob

@Bob:

Pictures are worth thousands of words...

Show us a picture of one of the lamps currently in use from your
supply storeroom... Show us a picture of one of the fixtures...

Post the pictures on a photohosting site and reply with the links
here...

~~ Evan

Evan wrote:

Pictures are worth thousands of words...

Show us a picture of one of the lamps currently in use from your
supply storeroom... Show us a picture of one of the fixtures...

Post the pictures on a photohosting site and reply with the links
here...

~~ Evan


I'll see what I can do pictures. There are no lamps in the store
room. Last time I climbed up there, the fixture had a cheap 200W bulb
in it. (there are 4 fixtures on one dimmer, and the dimmer is rated
600W or maybe 660W) Then there are 2 more on a different dimmer.

The fixtures are probably 60 years old. Pendants with a large flattened
round glass globes. It's a small country church built over 120 years
ago, so even as we modernize, I am trying to keep the original glass and
fixtures and pews and stuff.

I bought four 150W clear lamps today, that should keep us going for a
while. I don't like the 750 hour lamp life, but I've been going to this
church for over 5 years and we haven't replaced all the lamps in that
time; we've probably replaced less then half. I did find some sockets
if I ever have to retrofit to a different type of bulb. Replace the
existing sockets rather than adapt them, and a 1/8 IP nipple will mount
the new sockets:
http://www.harringtonlights.com/images/e11c12.jpg

....but I still haven't found whether minican lamps can be mounted base-up.

-Bob

On Jan 7, 11:57*pm, zxcvbob wrote:
Evan wrote:
Pictures are worth thousands of words...

Show us a picture of one of the lamps currently in use from your
supply storeroom... *Show us a picture of one of the fixtures...

Post the pictures on a photohosting site and reply with the links
here...

~~ Evan

I'll see what I can do pictures. *There are no lamps in the store
room. *Last time I climbed up there, the fixture had a cheap 200W bulb
in it. *(there are 4 fixtures on one dimmer, and the dimmer is rated
600W or maybe 660W) *Then there are 2 more on a different dimmer.

The fixtures are probably 60 years old. *Pendants with a large flattened
round glass globes. *It's a small country church built over 120 years
ago, so even as we modernize, I am trying to keep the original glass and
fixtures and pews and stuff.

I bought four 150W clear lamps today, that should keep us going for a
while. *I don't like the 750 hour lamp life, but I've been going to this
church for over 5 years and we haven't replaced all the lamps in that
time; we've probably replaced less then half. *I did find some sockets
if I ever have to retrofit to a different type of bulb. *Replace the
existing sockets rather than adapt them, and a 1/8 IP nipple will mount
the new sockets:http://www.harringtonlights.com/images/e11c12.jpg

...but I still haven't found whether minican lamps can be mounted base-up..

-Bob

@Bob:

If you are spot re-lamping you are going about things wrong,
especially
with fixtures that are high up and difficult to reach...

It doesn't sound like you have all that many fixtures to deal with...

Why don't you have replacement lamps on hand ? There are a variety
of sources for case quantities of lamps of all types and kinds...

Buying them one at a time for $2 or $3 each is ridiculous when a case
of 12 or 24 would last you several years...

Holding onto older lighting fixtures just for the sake of holding onto
them
is a silly idea, not only is it all but impossible to have a UL rated
fixture
when you cobble together an older enclosure with a new lamp holder you
have no idea of the actual rating of the lamp which the fixture was
designed
to handle...

~~ Evan