Max wattage in a light fixture

[Filliam H. Muffman]

davester wrote:
The only reason I can think of is that if the fixture is tightly enclosed the CFL electronics will fail because they are much more heat sensitive than incandescents. An incandescent is just a bent piece of wire so there is nothing to overheat, whereas CFL electronics require ventilation.

:agree: Some version of this.

They make the rating based on worst case scenario. The heat for the electronics is concentrated in the base. If you want a higher wattage CFL, put in a bigger fixture with a higher rating. If you can orient the current fixture so that the bulb is base down, and angled 30 to 45 degrees off vertical, you should be able to get away with a 20 W CFL, but it will have reduced life due to higher temps. If there is some way to reliably provide ventilation for the fixture without exposing it to insects and moisture/weather, that should also allow you to use a higher wattage bulb.

Edit: LED bulbs have similar problems. Currently about 75% of the mass of LED bulbs are the aluminum heat sinks to cool the emitters. If manufacturers of LED's can get the efficiency up another 30%, it will allow them to cut the mass of the heat sink by half.