Energy-efficient bulbs...same wattage as normal bulbs?

Question

I just bought a ceiling fan that has 3 lights on it. Each requires a max of 50W. I bought 3 40W energy efficient bulbs for it but it looks dull. On the box it says "40W replacement-uses only 9W". I was told that when a lamp says the max wattage its going by the heat the bulb gives off. So does that mean I can buy say a 60W bulb for it? I'm just confused about it all.

Answer 1

The bulb you can use is determined by the actual wattage the bulb uses, not the "equivalent wattage".

You can safely use a 13 watt bulb in this fixture without any problem. This is usually the equivalent of a 60 watt conventional bulb. You could go even larger if you feel the need.

Answer 2

Actually the wattage is the amount of electricity it uses.

You bought a bulb that uses 9W but because it is super efficient it actually puts out as much light as if it were a typical 40W bulb.

You can buy a up-to 50W bulb. This would be 20% brighter than the current 40W bulb.

Answer 3

You are correct: Watts is a measurement of heat. When a person understands this fact, it's a puzzle as to why light bulbs have, for a century, been measured in this method. Ask anyone who has tried to remove a hot, 100 watt black light. It isn't putting out any light, but it sure is hot. Consequently, because of the advent of the energy-efficient bulbs, manufacturers will eventually have to switch their advertising from 'watts' to 'lumens' with lumens being the literal definition of illumination. Note: energy-efficient bulbs have actually been with us for decades, having been known as flourescent bulbs. However, the new, smaller bulbs do use different, starter-less, technology.
As a general rule, divide the 'regular' bulb wattage by 4.5 to arrive at the energy-efficient bulb wattage. That means you can safely slap in your ceiling fan the brightest energy-efficient bulbs you can find. However, don't expect to find any 'bright' bulbs because the size dictates the brightness. In this case, size DOES count.

Answer 4

Yes. They don't put out as much heat. My lamp says 40 watt max. I use 60's in it and still don't get as much heat as from a regular 40. I agree that you don't get as much light from an energy efficient bulb of the same wattage, but have had no problem with using a bigger watt energy efficient. Would never do that with a regular bulb.

Answer 5

If your fan says it takes 3 forty watt bulbs, then you can put bigger CFL's in it. I would try the 13/ 15 watt CFL that is a replacement for the 60 watt bulb. That would probably do a wonderful job for what you need. Or you can use the 18 watt CFL that is a replacement for the 75 watt bulb. CFL bulbs get a little bigger when the wattage gets higher so make sure there is room for a larger CFL.

Bulbs are brighter when they have a globe around them. If you remove the globe, they are somewhat dimmer.

Answer 6

The bulbs you bought are fluorescent, however, you can use up to 120 watts (40W x 3) of incandescent. The fluorescent bulbs you bought have a lower light output (lumens) than comperable 40 watt incandescent bulbs. You may want to replace one or two of the fluorescent bulbs with incandescent 40 watt bulbs. That will give you more light, at the cost of additional wattage.

You are currently consuming 27 watts when the light is on. With two 40W and one of your 9 W bulbs, you would consume 89 watts.

Answer 7

I'm assuming you're talking about the new curly Q florescent bulbs that are supposed to be so wonderful. They usually use less wattage to make pretty much the same amount of light as their incandescent counterpart. They are, however, somewhat dimmer when they first come on, at least the few that we have are. They come on somewhat brighter after a few minutes. The wattage usage of a bulb has nothing to do with the amount of heat it puts out.

Answer 8

Wattage is the measurement of power being used. Anything that uses power creates heat. Lights creat this by a tungsten filliment inside the bulb, it has a very high resistance to the flow of current thus heats up and gives of light energy plus radient heat. Thats simple ohms law in electricity. Flouresent bulbs dont have elements inside, they use electricity to excite the flourine gas inside creating an ion flow, by doing this the amount of heat giving of is very minimun. You cost savings go up because it requiers less watts to do this. If your 9w compacts arent bright enough go to 13w, do not put in a incadesent bulb as well as this will defeat the purpose of comact flouresents in the first place.

Answer 9

you can go with much higher wattage on energy efficient bulbs are not as Britte and they will still save you money They are a different type of light!!
Tom

Answer 10

When you first turn on these efficient lights they are dull. Wait a couple of minutes and they will brighten up.