Ceiling fan lights??

[wyo george]

I've tried a dozen different brands of ceiling fan lights and with a total of nine lights between the three fans it seems like I'm changing a light every week or two. Then if I bought the wrong one from the previous time it's a different color and drives me nuts. I've even tried the ones branded as being for fans, but they didn't last any longer.

As simple as this sounds, does anyone have a good suggestion for long lasting lights in a ceiling fan?

 

[aandpdan]

Have you tried an LED bulb?

 

[tshetter]

I've just recently replaced two bulbs in fan fixtures. All lights were replaced with CFL when we moved in six years ago.

Do your fans wobble a lot?

Do you have power spikes and dips?

LED might be a good option.

 

[wyo george]

No power spikes that I know of, I haven't actually measured it. My fans may wobble a tiny bit, but not much at all and I never run them on high, just one on low and the other two on medium.

I have not tried LED lights, I'm sure they will last good at a significant increase in cost. Then again it might be cheaper to not buy a dozen bulbs every few months.

I've been running CFLs and they are the ones burning out so quickly. I actually get longer life from incandescent bulbs, but since these are on for about 6 hours a day I figured the lower power draw of the CFL might be a good thing.

I'll try some LEDs in one fan and start from there.

Thanks

 

[cybrdyke]

Get LED lamps at Home Depot. At least if they dont last, you can return them.
CD

 

[nine4gmc]

The fan in our dining area burns bulbs like crazy. It takes these type bulbs, newer fan and does not wobble. All the other fans in the house have standard bulbs and have not changed a bulb in a year but these seem to last anywhere from a couple days to a couple months at most. IDK if there are surges, there are four bulbs and only one will go at a time, irritates me to no end.

 

[Shiftless]

Have you tried an LED bulb?

The fan in our dining area burns bulbs like crazy. It takes these type bulbs, newer fan and does not wobble. All the other fans in the house have standard bulbs and have not changed a bulb in a year but these seem to last anywhere from a couple days to a couple months at most. IDK if there are surges, there are four bulbs and only one will go at a time, irritates me to no end.

I had the same problem with a kitchen light fixture that routinely ate expensive little halogen specialty spotlight bulbs. I changed the wall switch to a toggle that was really a dimmer. Most of the time when it got clicked on, it did not go to full brightness. After 3 years of daily use in the kitchen, only one light out of 6 has burned out. Incandescent bulbs operating at less than full voltage last WAY longer.
If you have a separate wall switch to control your fan lights, give this a try. Bulb savings will pay for the new switch. As an added bonus, the incandescent bulbs have a **** warm glow when dimmed way down. Led's do not.

 

[nine4gmc]

In my case, one flip switch controls the fan/light, no dimmer.

 

[cybrdyke]

It's the vibration in fans that kills lamps. It doesn't have to be a noticeable wobble. It's just always vibrating and that is damaging to the delicate filament in the lamp. Put an LED lamp in there....no filament.
CD

 

[Shiftless]

It's the vibration in fans that kills lamps. It doesn't have to be a noticeable wobble. It's just always vibrating and that is damaging to the delicate filament in the lamp. Put an LED lamp in there....no filament.
CD

^^^^^That's the way to go.^^^^^

 

[cybrdyke]

the incandescent bulbs have a **** warm glow when dimmed way down. Led's do not.

CCT dimming, the golden tone that you get when dimming incandescents, is available in LED now. You can get this now in regular lamps (A-line lamps), BR30, MR16, and very soon in decorative candles. Philips calls it "WarmGlow". Not sure what fancy names the other manufacturers have.
CD

 

[Shiftless]

CCT dimming, the golden tone that you get when dimming incandescents, is available in LED now. You can get this now in regular lamps (A-line lamps), BR30, MR16, and very soon in decorative candles. Philips calls it "WarmGlow". Not sure what fancy names the other manufacturers have.
CD

Thanks CD, I didn't know about those.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

We have a fan that wobbles quite a bit but hasnt killed a bulb in the 8 months weve been here. I think its cause the bulbs are CFLs...

 

[CJ7VFR]

What type of shades are around the bulbs? Are they the open type where you can see the bulb to change it, or are they enclosed shades where you have to take them off to change the bulbs?

Some of the enclosed shades trap a lot of the heat from the bulbs, and that can make them burn out faster. Even some of the open type metal shades can trap the heat and burn out the bulbs faster.

My father has a ceiling fan in his kitchen. We put it up for him about 15 years ago. It has four open type metal shades, but they are a slim design, and the bulbs are very close to the edges of the shades.

He was using four standard size 40 watt incandescent bulbs in there, and they would burn out every 3 or 4 months. It did not matter what brand they were, or if they said for fan use, or we used the ones rated for hard use. They all burned out fast.

So I bought him some CFL bulbs that were 15 watts (light output equivalent to 60 watt incandescent. They didn't have 40 watt equivalent CFL's back then that I could find) and those lasted a minimum of 5 YEARS before he had to replace any. The fan put out more light and was using a lot less electricity with the CFL's.

As a matter of fact, he called me a few weeks ago and said the last of the four original CFL bulbs finally burned out! That one bulb lasted for almost 15 years.

I think the heat had a lot to do with why the older bulbs burned out fast. Once we put in the lower wattage CFL's, they put out less heat and lasted way longer.

The new LED's will use even less wattage to get the same light output, but at this point it would not be worth the extra money for the cost of the LED's for my fathers ceiling fan since the CFL's are lasting so long, and he still has a few more new ones in the pack I originally bought him 15 years ago.

But if you are having problems with bulbs burning out, then I would try the LED's in your case. If you are paying to replace bulbs so often, it will eventually become a wash as to the cost of buying the LED's now versus buying the other bulbs over and over again.

And the LED's will run way cooler, and they will use WAY less electricity!!

Jim

 

[nadogail]

Either Rough Service or 130 Volt lamps might be a good choice.

Rough Service lamps (bulbs) are more impact and vibration resistant.

130 Volt lamps (bulbs) last a lot longer in USA 120 volt circuits, because they are not being driven to full brightness.

 

[wyo george]

The shades are open, not closed in.

I'm going to pick up some LEDs this week, they cost more, but I'm done with these CFLs and don't want to go back to the higher draw of incandescent.

 

[cybrdyke]

Before you go get them, check whether you have the regular base or the smaller base. Also, try to determine how many lumens you would like the lamp to put out. They offer a 40w or a 60w equivalent.
And, there are 4 or 5 different bulb shapes.
here is the selection at home depot:http://www.homedepot.com/b/Electrical-Light-Bulbs-Decorative-Light-Bulbs-Chandelier-Candelabra-Light-Bulbs/N-5yc1vZc5ui/Ntk-Extended/Ntt-philips+led?Ntx=mode+matchpartialmax&NCNI-5

 

[wyo george]

Standard base, 40w equivalent and no fancy shapes needed


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk