The Historic District

I have an antique ceiling fixture with a small pressed glass shade that is held in place with set screws.

I have always been very concerned about not using a too high wattage bulb as I don't want to risk cracking the shade. Since incandescent bulbs are getting scarcer I am wondering if an LED bulb poses any risk to the shade ? The kid at the hardware store assured me use in an enclosed fixture was fine, despite warnings on the packaging to NOT do this.

Can someone enlighten me as to the risks ?

Willa, I think I would trust the packaging.

Yay, something I know about! (ha ha)

It's due to over-heating, Willa. I believe you CAN use them (they won't get as hot as the original incandescent they were made to replace), but their life will be shortened. They may start to 'turn off' after a while of being on. Of course you'd use the "made to replace 60W incandescent", not some huge one. The heat is too much for the LED circuitry in the base, tho not "hot hot" like a regular bulb.

I use run of the mill LEDs at my house, but our overhead lights are just to go in and out of a room, once in a blue moon. The table lamps come on and the overheads are shut off. Zero problems. I think they are a good idea, they really do decrease your energy use, and thus add some 'safety factor' if you have old wiring.

In case you'd like to go 'by the book', Philips and Cree are 2 manufacturers of LED bulbs that ARE made for use in enclosed fixtures! Since you find the fixture to be special, you may want to get a few of those.

In short, if they are made to "replace X watt bulb", and YOUR fixture is made for X watt bulb, the LED will run cooler than its older incandescent.

Gothic we posted at about the same time Yes, go w/packaging or you can't sue if something goes wrong...

Thanks - that was exactly the info I was looking for.

The kid at the hardware store looked to be barely 17, so while he was trying to be helpful, I think he gave bad advice. One day he may know the agonies of a hard to replace antique shade - but probably not now.

be sure to by an LED that is suitable for an enclosed fixture - not all are, it usually says whether it is or not on the box. I have used higher watt equivalents with LEDs with no problem -of course proceed with caution, YMMV

Good question and discussion.
I'm excited to use LED built fixtures in my new addition (should it ever get done). There's not a lot of vintage-looking LED selection out there yet, but the main dealers have them.
I'm mostly excited because my vision isn't what it used to be and good light really helps.

The real problem is that a long, long time ago someone started measuring the brightness of a light bulb by how much power it used (watts). Watts is not a measure of brightness, lumens is, or foot candles. Watts (power) is dissipated as heat energy. So, a 40 watt incandescent bulb is cooler than a 60 watt bulb.

Most new lights (CFL or LED) give equivalent ratings in watts because that is what most people are used to. So, a 60 watt incandescent creates more heat than a 60 watt equivalent LED that uses somewhere around 10 watts (manufacturer and/or design dependent). So when a fixture says maximum of 60 watts, you could put in a much brighter LED as long as the power consumed (watts) doesn't exceed 60.

Then there is color temperature......

Great point Al. If LED’s aren’t recommended by the manufacture I wonder if the issue is the little bit of electronics in the housing?

Could be that a build up of a small amount of heat is detrimental to the electronics. If that is the case, it's poor design. I'd put it into the category of paranoia of their lawyers.

Remember watts is watts whether it is being generated by a burning filament or LED electronics. The LED is also electronics not a burning piece of carbon.

The bulbs that are designed to go in enclosed fixtures aren't quite as attractive as the ones designed to mimic the look of an incandescent. Shop around a bit. The higher quality bulbs that can handle the rather minimal heat soaked up in an enclosed fixture are out there. And they are worth it. If it's enclosed you don't have to worry so much about appearance, right?

My exterior lighting is all LED and it's been a few years since I've had to replace a bulb. Most of my interior lighting is LED as well. I plan on installing them in my shop some time this winter.