What can I use for 25 watt bulb replacement

Question

Can I use a 60 watt led bulb that uses only 7 watts to replace my current incandescent 25 watt bulb? Never mind the lumens, it can be dimmer.....thanks.

Answer 1

Yes, that's fine. The 'maximum wattage' rating listed on a light fixture is actual watts, not incandescent-equivalent-watts. So in this case, your 7W LED bulb is well under the 25W maximum rating of your fixture, so it will be fine to use.

Answer 2

Lumens Are What Matters

There are plenty of charts on the web. Using one found randomly as an example:

25W incandescent = 220 - 250 lumens

then searching Home Depot as an example, I found a Cree "25W equivalent", 220 lumens, actual usage 2.6 W.

So that will provide comparable light to a 25W incandescent bulb.

Keep in mind to always check before buying:

• Base size - E26 is "regular" in the US, E12 is "candelabra" and there are other sizes available
• Lumens - as discussed
• Color temperature - more important to some people than others and also matters more in some areas (e.g., dining room) than others (e.g., garage)
• Dimmable - if you are not using a dimmer, it doesn't matter. If you are using a dimmer then if you get bulbs that are not dimmer-compatible then they (a) likely won't dim reliably and (b) might flicker or blink or just be unreliable.

Answer 3

A 7 watt lamp should be fine in a 60 watt socket.

Watts are heat, 3.4 btu's per watt/hour. So 7 watts will put out less than 1/3 the heat than a 25 watt bulb. Some concern needs to be considered that the heat is dissipated differently from an LED than an incandescent element, so generally it is a good rule to not use an LED that uses more than half the watts an incandescent socket is rated for.