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by Patricia Skeen on April 12th, 2005

Patricia Skeen

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My light socket says do not use greater than a 60 watt bulb. I would like a brighter light and compact flourescent does not fit. What is the reason for the limitation? Could I use a 75 watt bulb safely?

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Answers. 7 helpful answers below.

  • by Thom64 on April 18th, 2005

    Thom64

    Usually the limitation has to do with safety. Typically the additional heat from the higher wattage could damage the fixture. The socket and fixture must be designed for a particular temperature and heat dissipation. There will be some safety margin on that number because the engineer must assume worst case - like a hot room with no air circulation and slightly higher voltage/wattage or lower material properties due to manufacturing variation. So, while in normal operating conditions you won't have a problem, you are gambling with your safety (and perhaps the lives and property of others) if you put a bulb in a socket not rated for its wattage. It is not worth the gamble.

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  • by Nulinvoid on November 5th, 2006

    Nulinvoid

    Never, ever, use a bulb that is higher wattage rating than your fixture is rated for. Lower rated fixtures of 60 watts or less, are often made of very thin metal, surrounding a carboard insert. Heat generation is usually the reason for the lower rating. It may be true that you can get away with putting higher wattage bulbs in lower rated fixtures. In most places, it is illegal. If you do this, and it results in a fire, you are likely going to have problems with your insurance coverage, or possibly even legal problems if it is determined you are responsible.

    If you want brighter light, the solutions are simple but not as simple as you may like. You could change the bulb type as long as the wattage rating matches the fixture reccomendation. Clear bulbs can be one solution, but the light is harsh. Another solution is to use the new GE Reveal bulb, which gives off a bluer, or more full spectrum light than a standard bulb, which has more yellow. The light from these tends to seem brighter, because (though most of us don't tend to notice) daylight has more blue in it due to the blue in the sky. I used to process photos, and in the winter, we always had to remove some of the blue in photos to make them look more "natural" because of all the blue light from the sky reflecting off the snow. The truly best solution however, is to buy more lamps and place them strategically around the room. If you want overall brightness in the room, the best lamps for this purpose are halogen torch lamps. The give light that is fuller spectrum than other bulbs, and because they are aimed at teh ceiling, the white of the ceiling acts as a diffuser, providing very bright, practically full spectrum light throughout the room. Halogen is the closest thing to sunlight you can put indoors. Halogen bulbs and fixtures are available up to 300 watts (more if yo buy a work lamp, but they are not reccomended for standard home use) in the U.S. It is even more dangerous to overload a halogen fixture with bulb rated higher than the fixture, so make sure you get a fixture rated for the maximum if you want extremely bright light. Get one with a dimmer in case you don't want that brightness all the time.

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  • by Anonymous on August 18th, 2008

    Anonymous

    Hi - We just bought a house & we're replacing all the bulbs with the energy saver spiral Fluorescent bulb. One of the bulb in the bedroom has a 60 watts bulb. So, can I replace it 75 watts energy saver spiral Fluorescent bulb, since it's just using 19 watts compare to the bulb anyway??? Please let me know.

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  • by yellowcat16 on August 18th, 2008

    yellowcat16

    Looks like you got all the right answers.

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  • by tjatherton on November 5th, 2006

    tjatherton

    There are options of getting a clear light bulb, that will give off more light with the same wattage (not the frosted light bulbs that are so common). Also you could change the lamp shade to one that allows more light to pass through it. But I would stick to the manufacturers limitations on wattages.

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  • by Anonymous on August 18th, 2008

    Anonymous

    Hi - We just bought a house & we're replacing all the bulbs with the energy saver spiral Fluorescent bulb. One of the bulb in the bedroom has a 60 watts bulb. So, can I replace it 75 watts energy saver spiral Fluorescent bulb, since it's just using 19 watts compare to the bulb anyway??? Please let me know.

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  • by mercedes13 on November 5th, 2006

    mercedes13

    well, if your light socket has a 60 watt limitation, usually if you use more then it'll cause a fire or something. basically, the limitation is for safety. so unless you're a risky person...

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