# BR vs PAR bulbs **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 19, 2014, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/br-vs-par-bulbs/693529 "2014-07-19T13:41:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mdcastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/br-vs-par-bulbs/693529/1 "2014-07-19T13:41:11Z")
I’ve heard that PAR bulbs are for outdoors and BR bulbs are for indoors. I’m planning on installing can lights in my soffits outdoors, and in my home theater in the basement. Both have fairly low ceilings. I only want one bulb type to have to buy, so which would be a better compromise for both locations? Would a 50 watt PAR bulb give as much useful light as 65 watt PAR bulb. Since I’ll have 20 in the basement the wattage different could be significant. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/br-vs-par-bulbs/693529/2 "2014-07-19T14:36:49Z")
No, it’s not true that PAR bulbs are only for outdoor use. The rangehood in my mother’s kitchen says to use PAR20 50W halogen bulbs. (But she didn’t like how hot they got, so we replaced them. First with CFLs and later with LED bulbs.) ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2014, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/br-vs-par-bulbs/693529/3 "2014-07-19T16:52:55Z")
PAR bulbs are used outdoors because they are bright and can focus light. There are indoor and outdoor PAR bulbs, the indoor ones don’t take as much rough treatment, outdoor bulbs have thicker glass to last in that environment. you will notice a difference between 50W and 65W. they do give off heat. you may want to consider lower wattage bulbs at least eventually.