Better bulb for those halogen torchieres?

February 20, 2007 8:13 AM

Does anyone make a better bulb for those ubiquitous halogen torchieres?

You know the lamp, we all had one in college and zillions of them are still around.

Does anyone make a bulb out of LEDs or CF or something better than halogen that will work in the existing fitting of one of these lamps?

I know torchieres do exist in fluorescent form, but I was hoping somebody has come up with a more efficient bulb that would work in the old lamps.

posted by bink to home & garden (13 comments total)

I had an extra one, and so I just replaced the halogen socket with a screw-in regular socket, and now I have a 'daylight' cf in it. I'm not what you would call handy, but the replacement was really easy. I also replaced the four position switch, with a simple push toggle. I'll look online for the socket I used.
posted by philomathoholic at 8:22 AM on February 20, 2007

LEDTronics is generally the go-to company for these kinds of questions. I don't know what sort of torchiere you're talking about, but here's a whole page with LED-replacement bulbs.
posted by muddgirl at 8:25 AM on February 20, 2007

Something like this and I was lucky enough that it was easily connected to the lamp itself, without any additional hardware.
posted by philomathoholic at 8:35 AM on February 20, 2007

muddgirl: I believe the OP is referring to a lamp like this.
posted by philomathoholic at 8:39 AM on February 20, 2007

FWIW the torchiere bulb is called "J-Type". Cursory googling found no LED replacements.
posted by plinth at 8:49 AM on February 20, 2007

Philomathaholic is spot on about the lamp type, and plinth is right about the bulb type.

I am wary of rewiring the whole socket like that, though, mostly because mine has a dimmer knob instead of a regular switch.

I hold out hope that someone is working on this kind of retrofit bulb that would fit in the J-type socket. They'd save the earth, prevent fires, and probably make a tidy pile of cash.
posted by bink at 9:08 AM on February 20, 2007

I suspect they will be hard to find, or they don't exist at all. Those lights are designed for the extreme heat of a 300W element that is virtually sitting out in the open. To that end, in the one I have, there are two layers of glass shielding to prevent stray objects from hitting the bulb and starting a fire. Any possible replacement would be larger than the original J-type halogen, so you'd have to dismantle safety devices to get more space, and few would sell a product that instructs people to do that..

I am wary of rewiring the whole socket like that, though, mostly because mine has a dimmer knob instead of a regular switch.

If you are wary, don't let me push you to do it - good to know your limits, and all that - but there is no reason why the dimmer should worry you. There are still just two wires leading to the bulb, and two wires on the replacement socket.
posted by Chuckles at 9:18 AM on February 20, 2007

And I guess I might as well link up the current question about dimming LED bulbs, just in case..
posted by Chuckles at 9:21 AM on February 20, 2007

Can you still get these lamps anywhere? I love the light from them, and I'm irritated that they're not made anymore.
posted by Malor at 9:25 AM on February 20, 2007

Malor: froogle finds lots. Most (US) retail stores around me carry them also.
posted by philomathoholic at 9:48 AM on February 20, 2007

Those lamps suck power like it's going out of style. Sure, they're very bright, but an ad-hoc study at my old apartment showed that one used more juice than my computer and the air conditioner combined. They can also be a fire hazard.
posted by roue at 12:34 PM on February 20, 2007

Any recommendations for an energy-efficient lamp that puts out that same kind of light then? I've tried the compact fluorescent torchieres, but they're very dim in comparison to the halogen variety.
posted by longdaysjourney at 1:06 PM on February 20, 2007

Any recommendations for an energy-efficient lamp that puts out that same kind of light then?

Here's one that says it will replace a 300 watt incandescent. It is a bit large, though. I imagine, they will be more difficult to find in this wattage.
posted by philomathoholic at 12:36 AM on February 21, 2007