How to chose light wattage?

[McDonaldsMcChanel]

I've bought a chandelier for my dining table. I don't want it too bright because the bulbs will be just above the sight level of diners (old house, low ceilings).

Light fitting says it requires 5x e14, max 25w bulbs.

I found 4w led ("equivalent 35w incandescence ") bulbs, called 'vintage' - it looks like this refers to the warm colour:

1. Can I use these or do I need to find 25w?

1. Would 5x 35w bulbs be too bright for dining? I don't want to cause a glare.

I'd fit a dimmer switch, I think it will be too bright with 5 bulbs of either wattage.

250 lumens is apparently about the old 25W equivalent

Thank you. Yes I'd wondered if I could do this.

So can you just change a regular switch to a dimmer switch and use dimmable bulbs, or do I need to do anything to the wires themselves? Sorry for my ignorance.

Buy bulbs with a lower lumen value to get bulbs that aren't as bright. Is it the candle shaped ones with a narrow screw fitting that you want?

Not all bulbs are dimmable either

Yes, you should be able to just swap the switch. Dimmable LEDs can flicker a bit when you first turn the light on, but it should settle down after a few seconds. It's really nice to be able to adjust the lighting level though.

I dont know if you have a local screwfix but they have a selection of E14 bulbs of different brightness

www.screwfix.com/c/electrical-lighting/light-bulbs/cat8350001?calclightbulbtechnology=led&capfittingtype=ses

Yes those are exactly what I had in mind.

Is 250 lumens standard for 'atmospheric' lighting?

And also in warm white or cool white or daylight. Warm would be more yellow and less harsh compared to the other two

You need to stick to a max 25w. If you exceed the maximum, there's a risk of overheating the light bulb, which can lead to melting the socket and the wire insulation. Ultimately it could lead to a fire.

However, LED bulbs don't get as hot as incandescent bulbs so you should be fine to exceed it with your 35w bulbs as long as they're LED.

Lumens is the amount of light they emit so the higher the lumens the brighter the bulb

Then you get warm, cool, daylight, etc as the tones of the light

Yes this is what I wondered. So am I correct saying that 4w LEDs would be fine (even though they produce "equivalent " 35w)?

Generally I was just hoping to avoid the trial and error waste.

The bulbs she is looking at are 4W and it's the equivalent incandescent brightness that's 35W. Those bulbs aren't actually 35W

Warm light is definitely what were after.

Yes 4W would be fine but you do get lower watt E14 bulbs that would be less bright

I know that, I can read just like you but thanks for being a pedant just because I didn't type the word 'equivalent'. Honestly 🙄

@McDonaldsMcChanel an example from screwfix

Terribly sorry but the way you worded it suggested you thought they were 35w bulbs but would be ok as they wouldn't get as hot as incandescent bulbs.

I think it's probably best I go down the dimmable route to keep all my options open.

So it looks like I can just replace normal switch for dimmer and use dim bulbs. Didn't know it was that simple!

Thank you ☺️