Lighting & Ceiling Fans

[Drakenfire]

I just installed the Lyndhurst ceiling fan.   I noticed amongst the reviews that there is some controversy whether or not you can use 60w equivalent bulbs in it.

I've got a dimmer switch at the wall and CFLs get buzzy on me.   I'd prefer to use 60w incandescents.   I just want to make sure that the unit is rated for this before proceeding.

It seems like every light unit these days is posting the max wattage in CFL terms due to the new ban on incandescents.   I'm wondering if the manufacturers are still rating their units for incandescents (60w), but just putting down the CFL equivalent wattage in anticipation of the day when incandescents are gone completely.

Thanks

[Ken_HD_OC]

Hi Drakenfire, welcome to the community and glad you joined us. This is a great question.

I contacted Hampton Bay and was told that yes you can use incandescent bulbs, and they are medium base bulbs as long as you do not exceed the wattage as stated in the manual or on the unit itself.

I also found out that this fan is not dimmable according to the specs. That is most likely the cause of the buzzing you're experiencing. So you may want to consider a different wall switch.

I found that your fan was made by King of Fans. You can contact them directly for additional information or if you need repair parts.

Here is the phone number for King of Fans 1-800-330-3267, they are open 8-5pm Mon. thru Fri. EST.

Hope this helps. We look forward to questions about your other projects.

[Drakenfire]

Thanks Foodieken for the information.

I will call up King of Fans directly for more information about their specs.

Listed specs for light fixtures are getting confusing these days.  

I highly doubt that the unit is rated for only 13w bulbs -- I think they have to expect that some users will want to put in the incandescent equivalents at 60w.    I think the reason they only listed 13w CFL on the box is because of the new government regulations as they're anticipating that people are moving to CFL.    I wish they would give more information on the boxes like "13w CFL or 60W incandescent max" or "13W CFL ONLY" rather than having the end user guess.

I think the reason the specs are listed as not dimmable is because the manufacturer is listing it as CFL only.    With some incandescents in there, I can use the dimmer switch for the lights like I did on my previously installed fan.

Anyhow, these are all questions I can address to the maker directly.   Thank you very much for your reply and posting their contact information.   It's very helpful.

Thanks again!

[Ken_HD_OC]

Drakenfire,

I think you're on to something there about how the specs read for CFL's. Just remember the model takes medium base bulbs.

Good luck.

[Drakenfire]

I gave King of Fans a call.

They said any of their ceiling fans rated for 13W CFLs that use a standard light bulb fitting can use up to 40W incandescent bulbs.

I hope this will be of use to anyone else out there who may have similar questions as I noticed a lot of the Hampton Bay fans only have the 13W CFL rating listed in the spec sheet.

Best Regards

[Joseph_HD_ATL]

Hey Drakenfire,

I'm glad that Foodieken has given you the right contact information for your ceiling fan. You are pretty much dead on for listing the 13W CFL instead of 60W. In the coming years (after 2014 specifically) you'll be seeing lumens rather than watts on the packages of all lighting fixtures. Reason why, is that all incandescent bulbs will be phased out in 2 years, 1 year sooner if you are in California.

What I wanted to talk to you about in this post is the proper dimming for your new CFL and LED bulbs.

You'll need 2 specific things to make sure your lights are properly dimmed, even if you have incandescents in there now. First, you'll need to make sure any new CFL or LED bulbs are fully dimmable. If it doesn't say it on the package, then its a good chance that it isn't. This is important because even if there is a dimmer on them rated for CFL and LED's...it still won't work. Which leads me to my 2nd item you'll need...a dimmer rated for CFL and LED light bulbs. Older dimmers aren't as sensitive to the changes in the CFL's ballast or LED sensitive components for it to work properly, hence you will need a new dimmer rated for these kinds of new bulbs. We already have a few of these in our stores, and one nice style we carry is shown below. Click on the image below to view a video feature on the product.

Best part is, they aren't that expensive and with the advent of federal law in the US mandating that all incandescents to be phased out by 2014, getting the right dimmable bulb and dimmer goes a long way to make sure you get exactly the light you need and would like.

Hope this helps you out,

aboveaveragejoe

[muckleyd]

I came across a similar issue, when I googled this came across your post-

I changed the existing 13W bulbs CFL that came with the fan with dimmable CFLs (same W) and a dimmer switch that would work with the CFL and was seeing some weird things with the lights when I was dimming them-

From off to slightly on position of the dimmer, some lights (not all three) would turn on with minimal intensity. At one position all three lights were flickering at the same time. I didn't ever achieve the "dim" that I was looking for, only bright and a little less bright.

Im not sure if this will work with CFLs- so I think I may go forward with the 40W incadescent lights as discussed before