# Replacement Fridge Bulb in US: 220 or 110 volts? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 13, 2015, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/replacement-fridge-bulb-in-us-220-or-110-volts/714909 "2015-03-13T14:04:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![No\_Wikipedia\_Cites](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@No\_Wikipedia\_Cites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Wikipedia_Cites)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/replacement-fridge-bulb-in-us-220-or-110-volts/714909/1 "2015-03-13T14:04:47Z")
I have a Smeg refrigerator here in the US, and need to replace the bulb. The manual just says “E14 15w maximum”. The ones like that are on the internet seem to be “220 volts” or so. Is that ok to use? My fridge is plugged into the regular US 110 volt system. ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/replacement-fridge-bulb-in-us-220-or-110-volts/714909/2 "2015-03-13T14:13:18Z")
… ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/replacement-fridge-bulb-in-us-220-or-110-volts/714909/3 "2015-03-13T14:25:17Z")
You can use a 220v bulb in a 110 socket (but not the reverse), but it will be dim. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/replacement-fridge-bulb-in-us-220-or-110-volts/714909/4 "2015-03-13T14:27:11Z")
> [@No\_Wikipedia\_Cites](#): > > I have a **Smeg refrigerator** here in the US, and need to replace the bulb. Question to you: is the bold an actual brand name? Because I’m sure as hell not going to google that phrase at work. Of is it autocorrect? Or (in spite of capitalization indicating a proper name) your adjective describing its quality 😕 or a description of its contents (ick)? ---
**Author:** ![No\_Wikipedia\_Cites](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@No\_Wikipedia\_Cites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Wikipedia_Cites)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/replacement-fridge-bulb-in-us-220-or-110-volts/714909/5 "2015-03-13T14:31:50Z")
“Smeg is an Italian company which manufactures high-end kitchen appliances. It has been in the US market since 2007” ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/replacement-fridge-bulb-in-us-220-or-110-volts/714909/6 "2015-03-13T14:35:08Z")
> [@No\_Wikipedia\_Cites](#): > > “Smeg is an Italian company which manufactures high-end kitchen appliances. It has been in the US market since 2007” I wonder if they make a Red Dwarf model fridge? My new fridge uses LED bulbs. That would seem to be a good idea as the heat from an incandescent bulb would cause something like a double energy usage. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/replacement-fridge-bulb-in-us-220-or-110-volts/714909/7 "2015-03-13T15:29:54Z")
if you want it to be bright then you need a 110V bulb. a 220V bulb will be dim. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2015, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/replacement-fridge-bulb-in-us-220-or-110-volts/714909/8 "2015-03-13T17:03:56Z")
The reason you’re finding primarily 220-V bulbs, by the way, is that E14 bulbs are much more common in Europe. (The E## system refers to the size of the screw base; see [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edison_screw).) As noted above, you probably won’t hurt anything by plugging in a bulb that’s rated at a higher voltage, but it will be noticeably dimmer. It doesn’t seem to be too hard to find U.S.-rated E14 bulbs from specialized vendors, though; see [here](http://www.buylighting.com/15-Watt-E14-European-Base-Pygmy-Appliance-Bulb-p/atr15wpr125ve14.htm?gclid=Cj0KEQjwlYqoBRDajuaTvsyq1PQBEiQAEhSjnNnY8HfIHzVIEN-E9wZmSPHvlXwNKOOf-ObRLeFTXBYaAgxb8P8HAQ) or [here.](http://www.lightingsupply.com/15t8pygmy-e14-120v.aspx?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Margin+High+PLAs&utm_content=w0igQyfC%7Cpcrid%7C46177959774%7Cpkw%7C%7Cpmt%7C%7Cpdv%7Cc%7C&gclid=Cj0KEQjwlYqoBRDajuaTvsyq1PQBEiQAEhSjnHg9XETPrwV4A94C5f5F27mT9i-aOMlGVFp32viR1SgaAmp78P8HAQ) As a bonus: [Here’s an amusing video from American Forces Network](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zj6-_XJ861A) showing what happens when you plug U.S. light bulbs directly into European sockets. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/replacement-fridge-bulb-in-us-220-or-110-volts/714909/9 "2015-03-14T04:55:21Z")
And conversely, I imagine that if you put a 110V bulb into a 220V socket, it will be much brighter. But only briefly. Then it will be much much dimmer. ---
**Author:** ![Habeed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a587f6/32.png) [@Habeed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Habeed)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/replacement-fridge-bulb-in-us-220-or-110-volts/714909/10 "2015-03-14T11:02:40Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > And conversely, I imagine that if you put a 110V bulb into a 220V socket, it will be much brighter. > > But only briefly. > > Then it will be much much dimmer. Surprisingly, in the video linked above yours, it was much brighter…for a prolonged period. They didn’t burn the bulb out over the timespan of the video. ---
**Author:** ![Tread](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Tread](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tread)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/replacement-fridge-bulb-in-us-220-or-110-volts/714909/11 "2015-03-14T12:34:36Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > And conversely, I imagine that if you put a 110V bulb into a 220V socket, it will be much brighter. > > But only briefly. > > Then it will be much much dimmer. I once was replacing bulbs for emergency lighting in an industrial stairway, the system was 110v, in my box of lamps, there happened to be a 12v bulb, that had the same Edison style base… When I screwed that one into the socket… yes it had the white hot intensity of a thousand suns… for a mere fraction of a second. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2015, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/replacement-fridge-bulb-in-us-220-or-110-volts/714909/12 "2015-03-14T14:31:32Z")
> [@Habeed](#): > > Surprisingly, in the video linked above yours, it was much brighter…for a prolonged period. They didn’t burn the bulb out over the timespan of the video. I had a weird wiring issue in a rental house I lived in once that caused 220v to get sent to a 110v circuit. Every single incandescent bulb on the circuit burned out in the 2 minutes or so that it took us to figure “hey, the lights are insanely bright. Maybe we should turn them off.” We also had a couple of early CFL’s on it, one of which had some visibly melted plastic around the base but they both worked for a while after the incident. ---
**Author:** ![No\_Wikipedia\_Cites](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@No\_Wikipedia\_Cites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Wikipedia_Cites)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/replacement-fridge-bulb-in-us-220-or-110-volts/714909/13 "2015-03-17T22:38:56Z")
I bought an E14 15w (120v) but it would not fit into the socket of the fridge. The old bulb says “Philips HD 10w 125-30v xe7 Italy”. I can’t find anything like that; it appears to be shorter than the E14 I bought, and the screw is just smaller as well.