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Can I put a 100W equivalent LED in a 75W socket?

Discussion in 'Techno-Magic' started by SlickRCBD, Oct 25, 2020.

  1. SlickRCBD Gems: 29/31
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    My mother repainted her bedroom, now she thinks it is too dark in there and wants to put a brighter light bulb in the ceiling fan fixture.
    All three bedrooms got identical ceiling fans/light fixtures installed at the end of the 1980's. The one in my old bedroom said on the side it was supposed to be rated for 75W light bulbs, but putting a 75 in there caused the socket to overheat and it had to be replaced...twice when I was burning the midnight oil either working on homework or staying up late playing games on the computer. I found that a 60W incandescent (only game in town back then) worked fine however.

    Am I correct that installing a 100W equivalent LED, which uses only 15W would work in that 30 year old socket without worrying about it melting/blowing/overheating? If not, should the 75W equivalent LED which uses only 13W work just fine, unlike it's incandescent ancestors?

    Note that I don't know for sure that 75W won't work in her light, but the one that was installed in my old room, which was an absolutely identical model did melt twice even though the sticker on the socket says "Do not use more than 75 watts". It's possible I got a lemon, and it did require the light to be on from after dinner until something like 2-3a.m. before that happened.
     
  2. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    If a 60W incandescent works fine, then you could plug four 15W LEDs in there and still only use 60W of power. "100W equivalent" means simply that the 15W LED will shine about as bright as a 100W incandescent would. But it still only uses 15W of power, which is the only thing relevant in your case. So yes, you can definitely plug in that 15W LED, or an even more powerful one.
     
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    I wasn't concerned as much about the draw as what would make the darn thing melt like the one in my old bedroom did 30 years ago.
     
  4. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    That's what makes it melt... an incandescent bulb will get as hot as there is power going through it. The power distribution is a bit different in LEDs, but still the same general principle. The fitting will not get hotter than it would get from a 15W incandescent. If you still used incandescent bulbs you could just replace the plastic socket with a ceramic one and it wouldn't melt even at more than 100W, but for LEDs even plastic is fine for the most powerful ones.
     
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    That's actually what we did in my old room after the second time it melted, that and switched to 60's. Once is a lemon, twice means it's not really rated for 75W. Her room still has the original socket however. Only my old bedroom has been upgraded like that. Dad's ex-bedroom (he died in '96) is also using the original.
    Funny thing, ComED used to give out free light bulbs if you paid your bill in person, and between my mom and grandfather they stockpiled enough 40's, 60's, and 100's that she still has a few left, although only 5 60's and 4 40's remain, so the end is near. The practice ended around when I started high school, and grandpa died in 1999 when I was at community college, so his stockpile was added to mom's.
    So my mother is still using incandescent bulbs.
    She also calls me to change the ones on the ceiling because she is 5'1 and I am 6'2. Especially the one in her room where the bed combined with her bad knee makes getting to it problematic. The king size bed blocks using a ladder and a bad knee makes standing on the bed a bad idea.
     
    Last edited: Jan 13, 2023
  6. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    The LEDs have come down in price so much that it doesn't make sense economically to use anything else in areas where you need lighting for extended periods of time. I still use our remaining stock of incandescents in places such as hallways, though. Since they're lit only for short periods of time, incandescents are fine there.
     
  7. SlickRCBD Gems: 29/31
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    You're preaching to the choir.
    Mom on the other hand has had what was essentially a 25 year supply for free that's just runing out now in 2020. She already switched for the 3-ways, which were NOT given out for free.
    She'll probably be switching within the next year or two as the stock runs out, but her attitude has been "Why should I buy more light bulbs? I've got tons of them in the basement."
    Also she does NOT like Compact Florescent bulbs, because of the way they can take time to "power up". I did persuade her to try them at least a decade ago for the lights she uses all the time. LEDs were expensive or nonexistent back then.

    Now that there are only a handful of 60's and 40's left, and that LEDs have come down in price, I might be able to persuade her to switch the LED, but there is no chance of her using CFLs. She wound up giving me the CFLs I mentioned above because she said "Take them, or I'm going to throw them out, they're worthless". On the other hand, she has at least three dozen 100 watt incandescents left as only a couple rarely used sockets in the basement use them. ComEd used to give out light bulbs for free if you paid the bill in person so she and my grandparents built a huge stockpile of light bulbs.
    This LED I just installed in her room needs to be the test case, once she decides it's as good as an incandescent I might be able to persuade her.

    Sorry, stubbornness can run in the family. The sad thing is my father's side can be worse.
     
    Last edited: Nov 6, 2021
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