Will a 25w halogen bulb put off the same amount of heat as a 40w incandescent bulb?

Question

I want to put a more energy efficient bulb in a fixture that is rated for 40w incandescent. I am worried about the halogen getting too hot and catching on fire (as they are prone to). I realize the 40w incandescent is about 480 lumens and the 25w halogen is 300 lumens. This would be sufficient brightness for me. I wanted to know if the halogen would stay cooler, being only 25w?

Answer 1

The heat produced by a bulb can be directly determined from the wattage rating. A 50 watt bulb will produce twice the heat as a 25 watt bulb. Since neither incandescent bulbs nor halogen bulbs are very efficient at turning electricity into light you can just go by the wattage rating to see how much heat is produced. The halogen will produce less heat.

I should stop there and not confuse matters but since the halogen bulb is probably smaller that bulb will rise to a higher temperature on its surface. Temperature and heat are not the same thing. That incandescent bulb is probably has much more surface area. That means it can get rid if its heat better and not get as hot.

On source I found indicates that a halogen bulb MUST warm up to about 480 degrees F (250 C) to work at all. I could not find a reference for the temperature of the glass of an incandescent bulb. I guess if you are willing to accept the color of the light from a florescent bulb you could try that to get a lot of light at a low temperature.

Answer 2

Generally, most halogens burn hotter than their incandescent counterparts. You should consider getting some compact flourescents. A 23 watt compact flourescent will generallr burn slightly cooler than incandescent, and put off the same amount of light as a 100 watt incandescent.

Answer 3

25w Halogen Bulb

Answer 4

Halogen lights are much more powerful light, but also get hotter. Basically, you DONT want to leave a halogen light on for longer than about 12 hours at a time. Halogens left on for longer than that do not often catch fire (mainly because they will only catch fire if there is something for them to catch fire to) and they do not get hot enough.

The problem comes when people leave the light on for days.

25 watts shouldn't be enough to catch fire, it shouldn't even give off that much heat, but not that much light either.

Answer 5

I have a lava lamp. The bulb burnt out and I bought another one but did not realize that it was supposed to be a 120v 25 watt bulb. It was a 40 watt bulb. My lamp got too hot and the lava wasnt flowing like it should have been. I doublechecked it after googling it and realized my problem. Use only the recommended bulb.

Answer 6

yes it would

Answer 7

yes. less cooler.