Light bulbs: CFL, LED, Old Kind... Maximum Wattage??? Conversion Wattage???

[PelicanPines]

Ok... I live in a house that was built and sold as "Energy Star". All the bulbs, 15 years ago were CFLs. Over time I have been replacing the dead ones with new CFLs. A year or so ago... I switched to LEDs.

I determined I don't like "soft white"... I like "bright white". That said. Certain fixtures say "60watt max"... I know that is for the old style bulbs.

My question is... do I have to use an equivalent watt bulb to the maximum stipulated or can I go up in LED wattage... say... put a 12 watt LED into a 60 watt max fixture... ???

Do I take the equivalents seriously or is it a suggestion ??? I like bright lights

Does someone have an accurate chart showing the "equivalents"? I see a rather large range when looking at LED bulbs... all saying 75 watt equivalent.

OLD vs CFL vs LED...

Discuss and teach me and others.

 

[yatg]

"equivalent" refers to light output (lumens), not power consumption (watts).

Each LED/CFL is going to be different, look on the package for actual wattage of the bulbs. As long as the actual wattage is less than 60, go ahead and brighten things up.

 

[yeldogt]

Are you talking about a standard base screw type bulb --?

Most CFL's are dreadful -- It sounds like you just have fixtures rated for typical incandescent bulbs that had CFLs installed.

Our lighting engineer explained it to me this way. The fixture is rated for its intended bulb -- if it has a standard screw base bulb socket it has to be rated for incandescent. That's why you see some of the strange sockets and bulbs -- you can't use a standard bulb.

If you read many of the CFL's they say don't use in an enclosed fixture -- This is not for the fixture .... it for the bulb. The ballasts can't take the heat ... even if the fixture can. It's the same with some of the LEDS .... they say no enclosed fixture. Although I just bought some for an outside fixture and they don't have that restriction listed.

The equivalent is all about lumens -- and there was a wide range. Although it was based on a standard ... not a long life or 130v bulb. Bought some new GE Revel LEDs .... even the higher watt bulbs have almost no heat produced -- in my enclosed kitchen sconce.

I'm sure you have also found that the soft and bright can be a wide range ... I shoot for the white of a Halogen ... it's around 3000-3100K . Some of the soft are 2700 -- that makes a big difference.

 

[pbon]

The LED are all such low wattage that you can put any in place of an incandescent. The all have wattage written on them. Few are more than 25 watts and most are about half that or less. I have a 25 watt LED flood that is supposed to put put as much light as a 250 watt incandescent flood.

I have found a few lights over the years that don’t work with LEDs. Not sure why. Maybe the draw is too low with the LED.

 

[Bert_]

The LED are all such low wattage that you can put any in place of an incandescent. The all have wattage written on them. Few are more than 25 watts and most are about half that or less. I have a 25 watt LED flood that is supposed to put put as much light as a 250 watt incandescent flood.

I have found a few lights over the years that don’t work with LEDs. Not sure why. Maybe the draw is too low with the LED.

It won't hurt the fixture, that's what the rating means. Using most any cfl or led bulb in an enclosed fixture will shorten the life of the bulb.

 

[Terry D]

Newer fixtures now, at least the ones I installed last week are rated in both regular watts and LED watts. They were rated for 40 watts and 7 watts LED max. Its a heat thing. Old incandescent bulbs threw out a lot of heat, LEDs produce heat, but not as much. Dimmers now are also dual rated

 

[cybrdyke]

The 60w max rating in your fixture was referring to an incandescent bulb. Any more than 60w and the fixture would get too hot. You dont have that problem anymore, now that you can use LED bulbs.
Due to the nature of LED's, there is no equivalency chart that's accurate.
60w incandescent lamps emitted approximately 800 lumens, so you should look for an LED that produces a similar amount if you want to stay the same. If you want more light, look for one that's 1000 or more. You can find them in a "light bulb" shape up to 2500 lumens, and even higher.
For reference, a 75w incandescent lamp emitted 1100 lumens and a 100w incandescent lamp emitted about 1600 lumens.
Also, dont go by the words "soft white, bright white, daylight", etc. There are no standards for these words, so the cheesy manufacturers lie alot about the color of the bulbs. Find a color you like and then determing what the Kelvin rating is. It will likely say on the box somewhere or on the base of the lamp. Use the K numbers when choosing your lamp, not the marketing words. One company's "bright white" is another company's "soft white".
CD

 

[Bert_]

Also, dont go by the words "soft white, bright white, daylight", etc. There are no standards for these words, so the cheesy manufacturers lie alot about the color of the bulbs. Find a color you like and then determing what the Kelvin rating is. It will likely say on the box somewhere or on the base of the lamp. Use the K numbers when choosing your lamp, not the marketing words. One company's "bright white" is another company's "soft white".
CD

Thank you for typing that out. I wanted to post the same thing earlier but didn't get it typed out.

 

[PelicanPines]

Thanks cybrdyke and Bert.... learned something there.

My ocd is strong when one bulb in the chandelier is "yellowish"

I miss when all bulbs were made by two companies ... so a 40 watt looked like every other 40 watt..