Replacing E17 sockets with E26s

[trpnbils]

Okay, so this grew out of another thread on another topic but I figured it might get more visibility here because it's just a general question:

I have a Hampton Bay fan with an E17 4-light kit on it right now that doesn't do jack as far as lighting the room it's in. Additionally, it's above a pool table so I'd like as much light as I can get. Right now I have a plug-in spotlight mounted up in a corner of the room aimed at the table for when we play in the evenings and it looks all white-trashy...

It seems that the highest wattage equivalent E17 bulbs I could get would be 60 watts. Right now I've got 40w incandescent bulbs in there so I don't think the 60w equivalent is going to make that much of a difference. It was brought up that I could replace the E17 sockets with E26 sockets instead of buying an adapter/converter.

My question is this.... is it just a matter of disconnecting the wires from the E17s and rewiring the E26s in the same way, or is there something I'd have to do in the way of replacing the wiring for the whole light assembly? If it involves rewiring the whole fan I'd rather just go with the 60w equivalent bulbs.... but if it's just a matter of disconnecting and then reconnecting I'm all for doing that.

Also, would the E26 sockets have the same outer diameter as the E17s? In other words, would I still be able to use the existing globes or would i need to get bigger ones?

Thanks

[Deleted]

Think of it like replacing the socket in a table lamp, but four times. I havent actually done this yet, but it shouldnt be hard.

[Cole S.]

Like Dan said, it just comes down to swapping the sockets themselves, in my experience the gauge is typically the same on nearly all sockets used on fans. I think replacement sockets come with the little screws that you simply attach the existing wires to. You'll probably have to snip off the old sockets (I doubt they have the screws), strip the wire back a bit, and then attach them to the screws on the new sockets. You might be able to find sockets with wires already attached as Dan suggested in the other thread, then it's simply feed the new sockets and connect as the old ones were set up.

The one thing that I'm not sure about is attaching the sockets back to the existing kit with the little screws. Sometimes the "bracket", for lack of a better term, varies by the type of socket. When I did mine I replaced everything; socket and bracket. However sometimes the bracket is pressed in instead of being threaded or held on with a nut and would not be interchangeable in that case without a lot of work. I'm not sure exactly what type of fixture you're dealing with to tell how it might be assembled.

As for the globes, my guess would be that they would still work alright because they're pretty standard across the board, but I can't assure you positively that they will either. Some are smaller than others, but being Hampton Bay I don't see that being a major issue here.

[trpnbils]

Guy at Home Depot today told me that even if I replaced the sockets with E26s I'd still be limited to the total wattage of the original fixture (in this case 4x40w = 160w) so that doesn't do me any good. He said it's because of the heat and not the wattage???

Anyway, given that it's above a pool table here's what I'm thinking.... Getting a 3-or-4 light fixture that has a spotlight socket in the middle aimed straight down. Even if I had to use the 40w bulbs in the main lights I could still spend a little extra and get a high lumen LED bulb for that spotlight without overdoing it.

Sound OK?

[Deleted]

Once you switch to E26, you can use CFLs. 100w equivalent CFLs still fit in most ceiling fan lights without looking odd. Or PAR 16's/PAR 20's. Switching to medium base sockets gives you a much wider option of bulbs, you should be able to get more than enough light one way or another.

You could also buy a vintage 5 light kit, with 4 arms and a center globe, all medium base. Depending on the glass you use, you could put a PAR or R bulb in the center socket.

[trpnbils]

That's something else I brought up at Home Depot today... if I switched to CFL bulbs in medium sockets, I was told I could only go up (in equivalent wattage) about 1.5x the capacity of the standard incandescent bulbs. In other words, if it's rated at 40w per bulb now, I could only go up to 60w equivalent with CFLs not because of the wattage involved, but because of the heat produced by the bulbs. It was again at this point that I was directed to the LED bulbs (which were somewhere in the neighborhood of $30/bulb for the size I would want).

Does that sound realistic, or if it's rated at 40w per socket now, could I in fact change them to medium sockets and then put in 100w equivalent CFLs since they're only using 23w apiece?

[Zachary Yarnes]

You'd be surprised how much brighter 60w bulbs are than 40w...almost twice the lumens
Watts are a measure of energy usage, not light output

[Cole S.]

Fair point, might be worth trying the 60 watt bulbs before going through any unnecessary trouble.

Otherwise, I don't think the heat thing sounds like a valid argument. I don't feel that 23 watt CFLs get hot enough to cause concern, but it kinda comes down to what you're comfortable with.

[Deleted]

Frankly, I go by the wattage draw. If a fixture is rated for 60 watts, then I would put a CFL of up to 60 watts (use, not equivalent). Granted, all 60 watt bulbs do not produce the same amount of heat, but the difference should not be so great as to cause a problem. If you have 60 watts it is either getting converted into light or heat. The more is converted into light, the less goes to heat.