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Is it okay to use a lower wattage bulb in a higher-rated fixture?
I have a ceiling fan with an intermediate base light fixture. I don't want normal bright OR white light here. This is in my home music studio where I have several indirect "fill" lamps, so just a little from the overhead would be nice, preferably in amber, blue, or red. Aside from ceiling fan lights, the E17 base is common for smaller candle/christmas type bulbs - if this is safe then they'd be just about perfect. I understand that with current one mostly has to worry about the fixture's MAX rating. Please, don't bother answering unless you know what you're talking about and aren't being insipid. Thanks.
BTW, we're talking a 60W MAX fixture, with, say, a 10W bulb. Thanks.
Yes, it is ok. The wattage ratting for a light fixture tell how much power (i.e. current) the electrical parts of the fixture are rated for (wiring and switches).
If you use a bulb with lower rating, then it will use less current and everything will be safe.
Using higher wattage bulbs could cause problems.
A further note, you may have noticed that congress is getting ready to ban incandescent bulbs after 2012. CFL's should be able to be used anywhere as there "wattage" rating is not power, but how much light it produced compared to an incandescent bulb. Its real power usage is much lower.
And one last thing on CFL's, if you have a dimmer in the circuit, then you will have to buy special CFL's in the future.
If you are still reading, I have several ceiling fans. For each one, I replaced the single wall switch with a separate switch between the motor and light sections. I then put a dimmer switch on the light section. That way, you can make the room as dark or light as you want (with a minor irritation that you can hear a slight buzz in very low light conditions).
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