home depot light

[Jnance]

so i have this clamp on utility light over my sump. the bulb says its 90 watts. but i dont know what the fixture puts out... should i be worried about this? can fires start by mismatched bulbs/lights? or do they just burn out?
thanks!

 

[Dirtsquirt]

Not sure what you're asking...

The fixture really has no bearing on the lamp wattage, it usually has some maximum though, most "household" fixtures are 100w. I think they probably do that for insurance reasons.

 

[mmkeeper]

If you are looking for a grow light for your sump get a 90w cfl 6500K.

 

[Jnance]

what does cfl stand for?

 

[edwing206]

Compact flourescent light. However you spell it.

 

[billaweed]

Jnance. Are you asking if the wattage of the bulb is too much or too little for the fixture you bought?

 

[trido]

If you are looking for a grow light for your sump get a 90w cfl 6500K.

For growing cheato or other macros in a sump or fuge. A cheap $7 flood hood and a 23w 6500k (off the shelf, also near $7 ) GE house hold florescent light bulb is usually plenty. I actually have a 13watt florescent over one of my fuges and the cheato grows better in there than under my 23W.

 

[Jnance]

exactly mmkeeper.. so?

 

[colin779]

I know as an electrician, that you can have bad problems if you have a fixture that is rated for say a 60 watt maximum bulb, and you use a 100 watt bulb.

I just recently had to troubleshoot a ladys house whose master bedroom breaker kept tripping. Discovered it happened whenever she turned on her closet light, so investigated the switch, all clear there, took down the first light, nothing unusual, moved on to light fixture number 2 and found all the elctrical melted, the sheet rock scorched and cracked, and all the paint an insulation in the fixtured burned out. She had replaced the bulb a few months prior with a 100 watt bulb in a 65 watt maximum fixture

So long story short, do not use a bulb with a wattage rated higher then the fixture you have, the bulb will pull more power then the wire is capable of safely carrying.

 

[trido]

exactly mmkeeper.. so?

The cheap flood hoods with clamps are usually rated for 100 watts. Some are rated for 150. There should be a small tag on the inside behind the bulb that will tell you the maximum bulb rating for the hood you have. If its gone, simply go back to the store and look at the pile of them in the box. One of them will have a rating tag.

To answer your original question...With a 90 watt bulb you should be fine and, Yes an over sized bulb for the fixture can cause electrical fires from various causes.


A standard 90 watt bulb will not grow macros as well as a lesser wattage florescent bulb due to the spectrum of lighting they emit. A florescent bulb will save not only save electricity, but export more nutrients from your tank via more macro algea growth.

 

[Jnance]

great guys thanks. ill check for that tag, so i should get a lesser wattage flourescent?

 

[Jnance]

yeah it says use a 60 watt or smaller bulb. back to the depot...

 

[Scooterman]

Whatever you do, Don't put that clip on so where it could fall in the water, hope you have it plugged into a GFCI. Those CFL will run cooler, less power & work well for your purpose!