Watt-volt question.

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Robbie

Minister of Fire
Hearth Supporter
Jul 5, 2006
610
East Tennessee- Great Smoky Mountains.
Hello, I bought a vintage electric heater that came with a red "15 watt-125 volt" bulb to reflect red on the polished fan blade.........kind of a fireplace effect I guess used in the 40s when this heater is dated.

The bulb was blown.....so I found this "120 volt" online and wonder if this will work.........of course I plan to paint it with red heat paint..........Thanks for any advice.

http://www.bulbs.com/eSpec.aspx?ID=14108&Ref;="Regular"+(A-Shape)&RefId=116&Ref2=Incandescent+Bulbs



Robbie
 
Should work fine...
It will glow a little more bright, and may burn out a bit quicker than the one that came with it...
But I would say the difference would be negligable.....
 
Was this thing made to be used in the USA? Line voltage is 110-120V so what would you do with a 125V bulb? I think if the base is the same size the one you found online would work. The watts rating is what gives you different brightness levels (and more heat output).
 
Yes, I am so proud of this little gem. I found it on ebay and got a great deal.

I cleaned it up and lubricated the motor and it works like a new one except the bulb was blown.

I appreciate the advice.

I will not run this thing but just at certain times when I'm keeping a close eye on it.

(broken link removed to http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190148650159&sspagename=ADME:X:RTQ:US:11)


Robbie
 
jtp10181 said:
Was this thing made to be used in the USA? Line voltage is 110-120V so what would you do with a 125V bulb? I think if the base is the same size the one you found online would work. The watts rating is what gives you different brightness levels (and more heat output).
Click to expand...
Industrial controls like Allen Bradley incandescant bulbs are usually rated at 125-130 volts..
Wattage and voltage are related...
JTP lets look at an ignitor for an example..
nameplate rating is 120 volts 300 watts....
Run it at 240 volts and you get 600 watts.....
so the lumens produced by a 125volt 15 watt bulb are the same as 120volt 15 watt bulb, it just depends on what voltage you actually pump to it.....
So upon further review Robbie........ If your bulb was 125 volt and burned out and you replaced it with a 120volt you MIGHT notice a difference.....
 
GVA......wow, thats pretty impressive stuff !

In other words, it will work and I probably won't notice anything other than it works since I never got to see the other one work.

I just wanted it to work similar to the way it used to.

I never realized there are people that actually collect old bulbs.......... :)

Thanks again for the input.


Robbie
 
It is relatively common practice to take 125v or 130v and place it in a 110-120v fixture, particularly one that is difficut to access, ie elevator shafts, crawl spaces, high fixtures etc. Most of your so called long life bulbs are merely bulbs designed for slightly higher voltages which, when run on 110-120v last much longer since less than rated current is flowing through the filament.
 
Robbie,

Remember that each watt consumed generates 3.4 BTU of heat.
 
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