We have a closet fixture that just burned out - I think it was replaced over 7 years ago.
Under the globe it has a GU24 socket (sorry if that’s the wrong terminology), it takes a spiral bulb with 2 pins at the bottom.
Went to Home Depot, they don’t seem to carry this bulb.
I looked online, and there’s an adapter with 2 pins that will allow a screw in bulb to be used, but if we did that then the globe wouldn’t be able to fit back on.
They do sell spiral 2 pin bulbs online, but I am completely confused.
The specs on my burned out bulb: TOSPO TP120-23MSL / GU24
23W 120V/60Hz 360mA 2700K CRI>-80 (the dash should be under the >)
There are bulbs online that are 23W, but appear to be equivalent to 100W. There are also 13W bulbs with a 60W equivalency.
Am I wrong, but is the bulb I have now (23W) equivalent to 60W? Are newer spiral 23W bulbs now 100W? Wouldn’t this be too hot for the fixture?
Would appreciate any help/suggestions (but hopefully in short words, since screwing in lightbulbs is the extent of my electrical knowledge!
Thanks so much.
“Equivalent” means that it would be approximately the same amount of light as an old fashioned (and hot) incandescent bulb.
23 watts (100 watt equivalent) is much less than any lighting fixture can handle. If you go with LED, the power consumption is even less for the same amount of light.
I had a small, cheapish light fixture that took those bulbs, and after having no luck trying to find a bulb locally, including 3 big box stores, I bought another cheap fixture that took normal bulbs. I had bought the original fixture at Home Depot in the first place, and was quite irritated they didn’t carry replacement bulbs for fixtures they sold. I’m fairly handy, so changing the fixture wasn’t a big deal to me.
Also, pay close attention when ordering online. I had found (and ordered) two GU24 bulbs online, but failed to notice until a couple days later (100% my fault) that they were shipping from China, and would take a very long time to arrive. That was why I then hit every store in the area looking for them. After driving all over town, I decided I didn’t want to have to deal with an obscure light bulb that could only be found at the whim of an internet search, and just got another cheap, standard fixture.
no, as has been said. the “wattage” rating on fixtures assumes incandescent bulbs, which are about 2% efficient at providing light. yes, about 98% of the power they consume is cast off as heat instead of visible light. LED bulbs are many times more efficient, so they throw off less waste heat.
now, there is a gotcha- LED bulbs generate less waste heat, but the light emitting diodes themselves are more sensitive to high temperatures (more heat shortens their lives.) You’ll find bulbs which are labeled “not intended for enclosed fixtures” and others which say enclosed fixtures are OK. the ones suitable for enclosed fixtures generally will have a lot more substantial heatsinks.
My understanding is that the GU24 form factor was essentially invented for California energy standards since there was never an incandescent/halogen compatible bulb. You were forced to use a lower energy compact fluorescent bulb.
I’m amazed, and grateful! Thanks so much for the extremely helpful links, and teaching me the difference between CFL, LED, and old fashioned incandescent bulbs.
I wish I was intelligent/handy enough to install another fixture, for now I have to make do with this one. Knowing that shipped bulbs might have to come from China - don’t think I can wait in the dark that long!
Anyway, a lot of different choices now to think about - thanks once again to the best (and smartest!) people anywhere.
The two Amazon links that I provided show that the bulbs are in stock and NOT coming from China. You could have them in a couple of days, if you want them.
Yes, the GU24 was specifically designed to break compatibility with Edison screw bases so you can’t put a standard incandescent lamp in, only self-ballasted fluorescents. Not just to police energy use or to prevent incandescent lamps in places they’re not allowed (like a closet unless covered and with greater clearances than fluorescent or LED) but so you don’t put one in a fixture not designed to be able to take the heat. Originally the idea was to use fixtures with integral ballasts (which would have a four pin connector for the lamps) but people didn’t like not being able to change the light output of the bulb, and replacing a defective integrated ballast was beyond the capability of many homeowners.
This is indeed an irritating situation. Spiral globes are getting harder to find, because Compact Florescents are becoming harder to find. And the GU24 socket was designed to shorter than an Edison screw, because compact florescents were often longer than an incandescent globe.
And the bottom line is that light fittings that were designed for a short fat CFD don’t work well with taller longer globes.
(Those adapters are/were illegal in California, because if you screw in an incandescent globe you’ll burn out the fitting)
Again, thanks to everyone for the help. Was able to find an LE bulb with a 2 pin base - it came quickly, and surprisingly not broken (even if Amazon did ship it in a box with 25 pounds of canned cat food!
It fits in the fixture, and we can find our canned soup and winter coats once again.
Yay!
