Lamps generally come with a maximum wattage allowed. For instance, many lamps only allow 60 watt bulbs. It has always been my understanding that when using CFL bulbs you were basically limited by the actual wattage of the bulb (not the “equivalent” wattage that is often used to indicate equivalent brightness). You could therefore easily use a 30 watt CFL in a lamp rated for 60 watts (even though the “equivalent” wattage would be 120). A quick Google search confirms my view. When replacing a bulb on a recently bought lamp, I noticed a sticker with the following information; There was a 60 watt limit for “type A lighting” (I assume that meant incandescent), and a 15 watt limit for CFL. Has anybody else encountered this? Is there a valid reason for this?
Heat is the limiting factor for bulb size. A lamp with a tight, air restricting shade gets too hot. I’ve seen scorch marks on my relatives lamp shades.
Better ceiling fixtures and lamps use ceramic base socket to screw the bulb in. It can handle more heat than a cheap plastic socket. I got reminded of this recently. My hallway light had started flickering. I discovered the plastic socket was charred. My daughter had put in a 75W bulb instead of a 40W. I had to replace the fixture. The new ceiling fixture has a ceramic socket.
CFLs get hot around the base due to the ballast and incandescents get hot at the filament, dissipating the heat further away from the base. The difference in the heat distribution can make a difference to many lamps and fixtures. A CFL might overheat and damage the socket where an incandescent producing exactly the same amount of heat would not, due simply to the heat being emitted further away from the base in the incandescent.
You are generally pretty safe putting the same equivalent light CFL into a socket since the overall wattage will be lower for the same brightness and that will offset any difference due to the physical pattern of heat distribution. Putting a brighter CFL in the same socket just because its overall wattage is the same or lower can get you in trouble though.
No cite but using a lamp with a higher light output but not higher wattage should be okay, although the heat I believe is lower it’s also distributed differently to a regular bulb. I wouldn’t use a higher number than recommended, if I was going to not be near the light at all times.
two scorched lamp shades
the CFL puts out much less heat though it is from the base. there could be not enough space in that lamp fixture to get rid of the heat without damage if the bulb was bigger.
Invest in LEDs. They stay cool and use all the power to generate light. Expensive to begin with but they have a much longer life than CEFs and you get instant light too.
Err - haven’t we been down this road before?