Any idea why this lighting pendant seems to be overheating?

[MrTeeny]

Only this light in the downstairs circuit seems to have any problems, the circuits not exceeding the max number of watts and under 5 amps even if every light was on which they never are.

It's the first light in the circuit if that makes any difference

 

[bernardgreen]

If the circuit was over loaded the heat would be generated in the cable in the ceiling and in the terminals of the ceiling rose and would therefore not be able to scorch the lamp holder as in the picture.

The heat that is causing the damage is from the lamp itself.

The normal reason for this type of damage is that the wattage of the lamp is too high for the fitting an/or lamp shade. Use a lower wattage lamp.

Poor contact between the lamp and the contacts in the lamp holder is another reason.

You may need to replace that lamp holder.

 

[JohnD]

you will need to replace that lampholder, and preferably the flex as well. It would be interesting to know the rating of the old bulb, and if it was an ordinary one or something special. The heat might have been concentrated by the shape of the shade.

If you fit an energy-saving lamp (CFL) it will generate far less heat, as well as saving you money and lasting much longer.

If the old lamp was a 100W, try to get a 20W CFL at least. 22W will be slightly brighter.

The 12W CFLs are only equivalent to a 60w bulb so OK for a table lamp, but not to light a room.

You can get CFLs with an opal globe which looks better and causes less glare if there is no shade. The stick lamps and spirals are cheap and bright but rather ugly if they are not concealed by the shade. The frosted globe make a slight reduction in brightness.

Some brands are slow to come bright, the latest Osram are notably quick.

From time to time, CFLs are subsidised as part of energy-saving campaigns, and it is worth buying your spares when that happens. But try one first in case (like some Philips) it is slow to brighten or you don't like the colour. "Warm White" 2700k is quite a nice tone.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

You can get CFLs with an opal globe which looks better and causes less glare if there is no shade.

Or even if there is a shade, if it's open at the bottom then that type of lamp has a better appearance.

Some brands are slow to come bright, the latest Osram are notably quick. ... But try one first in case (like some Philips) it is slow to brighten.

In reality this is not as big a problem as the paper performance might suggest.

Yes, some lamps can take 20-30s to reach full brightness, but you'll probably find that they have reached a brightness which is insignificantly less to the naked eye than full brightness and/or bright enough to be perfectly useful.

I agree, try first, but if they tick all the other boxes for price, style, full output, don't be too critical of a slightly slow ramp up - you will get used to it, and it can be a blessing if it's a light you turn on if you get up in the night.

 

[MrTeeny]

If the circuit was over loaded the heat would be generated in the cable in the ceiling and in the terminals of the ceiling rose and would therefore not be able to scorch the lamp holder as in the picture.

The heat that is causing the damage is from the lamp itself.

The normal reason for this type of damage is that the wattage of the lamp is too high for the fitting an/or lamp shade. Use a lower wattage lamp.

Poor contact between the lamp and the contacts in the lamp holder is another reason.

You may need to replace that lamp holder.

Thanks for the replies guys , all makes sense, the bulb is a 100W and that and the current shade is likely to be the problem as I guess the current shade is basically insulating the heat in as it's some stupid almost wicker type shade. Blame the missus not me

No problems with the actual ceiling rose so I'll replace the lamp holder and flex and use one of the energy saving bulbs. Always avoided those in the past as they take forever to light up and are dim to say the least. Guess things should have moved on a lot from my experience with the freebies given away by the energy comps though.[/img]

 

[NewOrder]

I've had to replace some of ours, I've found that on our 31 year old holders the mechanism itself wears causes very poor contact with the bulb hence overheating.

Your fitting looks quite new so I suspect it is a combination of poor design and a high rated bulb. We used to use 150w bulbs without any problem though.

 

[JohnD]

"Which" said of the Osram Dulux Superstar 22W

"Although brightness at start-up is the Achilles' heel of this type of bulb, this particular model brightened up relatively quickly after being switched on. It emits 40% of its light after three seconds, which is as good as it gets for CFL bulbs."

worth considering if start-up time is key to you.

The Osram Duluxstar is cheaper but not quite as fast.

"The Osram Duluxstar 14W Lumilux managed to achieve an average of 35% of its light output three seconds after being switched on, which is good for a CFL-type bulb."

Despite its name, the Sylvania Mini-Lynx Fast-Start
"...The Mini-Lynx's start-up performance was satisfactory - on average it emitted 28% of its claimed total light after three seconds use"

The Philips T65 Softone was especially slow.
"After three seconds use, this Softone emitted only 20% of its total light output"