I have a ceiling lampshade that says "40W max". But a 40W conventional bulb
is too weedy.
Is it OK to put in a 20W flourescent, supposedly = 100w, based on the
assumption that the 40W refers to 40W of heat from an old type bulb, with
flourecents running cooler?

Or are there other things I should watch out for?

keith wrote:
I have a ceiling lampshade that says "40W max". But a 40W conventional bulb
is too weedy.
Is it OK to put in a 20W flourescent, supposedly = 100w, based on the
assumption that the 40W refers to 40W of heat from an old type bulb, with
flourecents running cooler?

Basically, yes.
The one problem is that if the lampshade is too enclosed, it may
overheat, and fail.
This won't cause fires, just the light to stop working.
IOW, it's safe to try.

keith wrote:

I have a ceiling lampshade that says "40W max". But a 40W conventional
bulb is too weedy.
Is it OK to put in a 20W flourescent, supposedly = 100w, based on the
assumption that the 40W refers to 40W of heat from an old type bulb, with
flourecents running cooler?

It's fine. The rating of the lampshade is to do with how much heat it can
stand, where heat is any form of radiation that helps the shade get hot.

Go by real Watts, not incandescent-lamp-equivalent-Watts.

You can put in a 40W fluorescent if you can find one.


Or are there other things I should watch out for?

Only whether it will fit, the new lamp being larger and oddly shaped.

Tim

On Sun, 5 Mar 2006 19:47:37 +0000 (UTC), "keith" wrote:

|I have a ceiling lampshade that says "40W max". But a 40W conventional bulb
|is too weedy.
|Is it OK to put in a 20W flourescent, supposedly = 100w, based on the
|assumption that the 40W refers to 40W of heat from an old type bulb, with
|flourecents running cooler?

As you say the rating of a lampshade is about the "heat" given out by the
bulb. So you can get more light safely by using compact fluorescent.

|Or are there other things I should watch out for?

No
--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk
Freedom of Speech, Expression, Religion, and Democracy are
the keys to Civilization, together with legal acceptance of
Fundamental Human rights.

On Sun, 5 Mar 2006 20:14:37 UTC, Dave Fawthrop
wrote:

On Sun, 5 Mar 2006 19:47:37 +0000 (UTC), "keith" wrote:

|I have a ceiling lampshade that says "40W max". But a 40W conventional bulb
|is too weedy.
|Is it OK to put in a 20W flourescent, supposedly = 100w, based on the
|assumption that the 40W refers to 40W of heat from an old type bulb, with
|flourecents running cooler?

As you say the rating of a lampshade is about the "heat" given out by the
bulb. So you can get more light safely by using compact fluorescent.

|Or are there other things I should watch out for?

No

Apart from the flour all over the floor!
--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
Avenue Supplies, http://avenuesupplies.co.uk

Cheers, sounds like I'm OK.

keith wrote:
I have a ceiling lampshade that says "40W max". But a 40W conventional bulb
is too weedy.
Is it OK to put in a 20W flourescent, supposedly = 100w, based on the
assumption that the 40W refers to 40W of heat from an old type bulb, with
flourecents running cooler?

Or are there other things I should watch out for?

You can put 40w of CFL in there, except if its an enclosed shade, eg a
glass bowl. With those the CFLs would get too hot and fail.

To be nitpicky your equivalent cfl rating would be 40w since they dont
radiate as much IR away as filaments do... but its a minor point,
20w/25w is fine.


NT

"keith" wrote in message
...
I have a ceiling lampshade that says "40W max". But a 40W conventional bulb
is too weedy.
Is it OK to put in a 20W flourescent, supposedly = 100w, based on the
assumption that the 40W refers to 40W of heat from an old type bulb, with
flourecents running cooler?

Or are there other things I should watch out for?

Should work OK, but in my experience the bulb I used poked out the top of
the shade and shone directly in peoples eyes, rather than being diffused by
the shade. Solution was new light fitting, that allowed upto 100W bulbs.