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megs86_gw

Understanding Lightbulbs

Megs86
9 years ago

Hi-- I purchased a chandelier for Christmas, it is installed and looks great. I am trying to figure out the bulbs because the ones they say to use are too dim.

It says and I quote 'Use with 25-watt maximum candelabra bulbs or 5-watt CFL bulbs.'

I used 25 Watt candelabra bulbs, the problem is that these bulbs are so dim I cannot stand it. Now it says 5 watt CLF, does that mean that I could use a higher watt CLF than 5 watts as long as I don't go over 25 watts? Am I totally misunderstanding or what?

I feel like an airhead, but don't want to have a fire, so here I am. Thank you for your help.

Here is a link that might be useful: Product Link

This post was edited by Megs86 on Fri, Dec 26, 14 at 18:05

Comments (2)

  • David
    9 years ago

    The 25 W rating is for incandescent bulbs.

    The restriction on the CFL is most likely due to the socket size.

    A typical 5W candelabra CFL bulb uses the E12 base.

    The typical output will be ~ 200 lumens per bulb.

    23 W CFLs mostly utilize the E26 base.

    There are E12 to E26 converters. The bulbs and converters would probably make things look out of proportion.

    The best option is to look for higher output lights (more lumens per watt)

    For example -

    FEIT PerformanceLED Chandelier Candelabra Omni-Directional - 7 Watt - 500 Lumens - 60 Watt Equal - E12 Base

    Here is a link that might be useful: FEIT Candlabra

  • bus_driver
    9 years ago

    It appears to be 6 lamps. The suggested Feit lamps probably are a good choice for that. The claimed 500 lumens is on the low side for claimed 60 watt equivalents.
    For additional choices look on eBay at the thousands of offered LED lamps. Many of those sellers are in China,but most are reasonably reliable.
    For those small LED lamps. be sure the power is off to the fixture when changing lamps. Grasp the LED lamp as close as possible to the threaded portion. Grasping it higher up could result in the top part coming loose from the base and ruining the lamp. It happened to me.