# The brightest candelabra base bulb. Ever

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-brightest-candelabra-base-bulb-ever/971077>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [September 6, 2022, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-brightest-candelabra-base-bulb-ever/971077 "2022-09-06T18:33:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2022, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-brightest-candelabra-base-bulb-ever/971077/1 "2022-09-06T18:33:13Z")

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I have two wall sconces in the living room and they really never have been bright enough for me. They use E12 or candelabra bases so they have been limited to 60 watt bulbs, usually flame-shaped. One failed yesterday so I went to Home Depot. I found the ones I currently have, LED with 500 lumens output. But they had some old style incandescent that put out 575 lumens so I grabbed them as I looked for other choices.

A HD associate asked me the usual, “Did you find what you are looking for”?" Instead of my usual polite nod I launched into a (pretend) tirade. “NO. I want the brightest, nastiest candelabra base bulb I can find. I want it to suck up electricity like there’s no tomorrow and blister the paint on the walls. I want it to almost blind me. That’s what I want.”

He reaches over and grabs a pack, “LEDs!” “No. those are 500 lumens and I want more. These incandescent ones are 575 but I’m looking for something bigger but I guess they don’t make any.”

The young man smiles and jokes, “I keep these hidden” and whips out a 3-pack of 100 watt equivalent COB lamps that put out 800 lumens. I am totally impressed and tell him so. Then he says, we don’t sell these but if you go online - and shows me the most Gawd awful powerful, probably illegal bulbs, the mighty Hullavolt E12. 1500 freakin lumens of 3000K light from 24 individual LEDs, a full 150 watt equivalent bulb! It looks like a short-handled German potato masher hand grenade.

Sadly they are not dimmable. “Dimmable??!!! Do I fucking look like I’m dimmable?”

Anyway, the 800 lumen lamps have completely changed the room and I don’t need to go to full brightness. And it was great to meet a Home Depot Guy who knows what he is talking about

> **[The Brightest E12 LED Bulbs - Reactual](https://reactual.com/home-and-garden/the-brightest-e12-led-bulbs-of-2019.html)**
>
> LED bulbs are now available in the smaller E12 size. This size bulb is usually found in ceiling fans and chandelier fixtures.

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**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2022, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-brightest-candelabra-base-bulb-ever/971077/2 "2022-09-06T19:50:53Z")

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> [@mixdenny](#):
>
> Anyway, the 800 lumen lamps have completely changed the room and I don’t need to go to full brightness.

The vanity in my bathroom uses showcase bulbs. The incandescent ones were about a foot long and the lengthy filament would visible wiggle and you could hear it vibrating. They burned out pretty quickly so I finally got some LED ‘bulbs’ instead. As you said, they seemed too bright at first but I got used to them.

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**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2022, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-brightest-candelabra-base-bulb-ever/971077/3 "2022-09-06T19:55:27Z")

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> [@mixdenny](#):
>
> Sadly they are not dimmable.

Here ya go:

[https://smile.amazon.com/LXcom-Candelabra-Equivalent-Chandelier-Decorative/dp/B07V3KRPD1/](https://smile.amazon.com/LXcom-Candelabra-Equivalent-Chandelier-Decorative/dp/B07V3KRPD1/)

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**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-brightest-candelabra-base-bulb-ever/971077/4 "2022-09-07T00:07:20Z")

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The make insanely bright LED bulbs these days. Like the light output of 500W incandescents with an electrical consumption less than your sconce was designed for.

The gotcha is they’re for industrial or warehouse uses, not ordinary home use. There’s no real problem with using them or getting them. The problem is finding out they exist and ordering them. But now that you know they exist, Amazon, _et al_ can do the rest.

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**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\
**Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-brightest-candelabra-base-bulb-ever/971077/5 "2022-09-07T01:13:12Z")

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I looked around for ages for a _mini_ candelabra (E11) base bulb that was at least 75 W equivalent, and short (\<2.75"). They had to fit vertically in some saucer-shaped bathroom fixtures.

I eventually found [these](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09GN5NYPB). 850 lumen, warm white, and the right dimensions. I’m pretty pleased with them since it brings a 300 W bathroom fixture down to 32 W with no obvious loss in brightness or light quality.