One day, a lamp in your house starts acting weird and goes dark forever. Then you realize it’s time to replace the bulb. You buy a new set of replacement bulbs – but when you’re heading to the lamp, the bulb doesn’t fit in.
Well, we are not expert in lighting, that’s fine. What matters is, how to fix this? Someone says re-ordering the correct bulbs, which would add to the spending to even higher than getting a new lamp. Here, we have a better solution that costs far less than that. That is, resorting to light bulb converters.
What are light bulb converters?
Light bulb converters help bulbs fit in lamp sockets that the bulb itself doesn’t. They come with two sides, male and female, as we usually call them. Male is the part that goes in the lamp socket, while the female accepts the bulb with a metal pin in the bottom of the hole to conduct electricity.
How to choose converters for your lamp?
You don’t have to be a bulb expert before buying the right converters for your fixture. It’s just a few things to consider.
Know the cap sizes
Cap fitting, or bulb’s base, is the part that goes in the lamp socket. The first and most important thing to check is the types of both the bulb base and the lamp fitting. Basically, you can find this information from their package. If you have lost the package, it’s also easy to identify by yourself with some basic knowledge below.
Bulb fittings vary in type and size. Below chart lists common fittings and what do the codes mean:
Know the converter’s size
Manufacturers name converters as A to B, like E12 to E26, to indicate the fittings they fit with. The former code refers to the size of the lamp’s fitting while the latter stands for bulb base. For example, GU24 to E26 converters help a E26 bulb fit in a GU24 lamp.
Know the extended length
Getting the sizes ready, you have to consider the length. Light bulb converters extend bulbs to a certain length, mostly by 1.5 to 2.5”. Don’t forget this or you could end up with the bulb sticking out too much or the lamp shade unable to cover back.