Lamp wattage

liloustick · Post by **liloustick** » Fri Nov 06, 2020 1:24 pm

Hi everyone,

I recently bought a lamp and am confused by the wattage label (see image). It reads:
Max 4W for LED; Max 8W for CFL, Max 18W for Halogen. On the website it also says Max 25W for incandescent bulb.

I thought that lamps only had one Watt rating and that it applied to any type of light bulb.... Therefore if I'm correct, could I not use a LED of up to 25W? (In practice I would use a LED of around 10W as that provides sufficient lumens).

I am hoping that the Watt numbers for LED, CFL and Halogen are shown because they would provide the lumens equivalent of a 25W incandescent bulb, rather than because bulbs of higher wattage would damage the lamp.

Grateful for your help explaining the label!

Best wishes
Leanne

yartin · Post by **yartin** » Fri Nov 06, 2020 2:25 pm

If it says 25W incandescent bulb, then usually you can use any bulb upto 25W. IE: 25W halogen , led.

This must be a small lamp.

Someone-Else · Post by **Someone-Else** » Fri Nov 06, 2020 2:42 pm

Usually the rating of a light fitting is such because of the heat the actual lamp gives off, so a halogen will give off more heat than an LED lamp, so why they have specified it that way round, who knows.

yartin · Post by **yartin** » Fri Nov 06, 2020 2:59 pm

To add: I would stick to the label, 18W max for any bulb.

kellys_eye · Post by **kellys_eye** » Fri Nov 06, 2020 6:33 pm

There's no rhyme nor reason to those numbers - in fact I'd say they were 'upside down'. You could use any LED in there without issue as an 18W version would be like a searchlight......

Rorschach · Post by **Rorschach** » Fri Nov 06, 2020 6:59 pm

Well that's weird!

Someone-Else · Post by **Someone-Else** » Fri Nov 06, 2020 8:10 pm

kellys_eye wrote: ↑Fri Nov 06, 2020 6:33 pm in fact I'd say they were 'upside down'.

I was going to say that.

As I said, the ratings are regarding how much heat the light fitting can "handle" before damage occurs, it does seem odd that they say only a low wattage LED lamp can be used, when a higher wattage halogen gives off more heat.