Friend moved to a place, looks like the light is burnt out. How do I remove the light? and what are these lights?
I tried pulling on the light bulb but it didn’t seem to come out…so wondering if I really do just need to pull harder or theres another way to release the blub?
Image:
These are CFLs.
You should be able to just remove it by screwing counterclockwise.
Most likely it is a compact fluorescent bulb. They come with a variety of bases. If you can’t remove it by pulling straight out try turning the bulb.
There are some new LED bulbs that look similar. Replace it with that and it will last for years. This one is a chip-on-board LED bulb
9W $4.16 if ordered on ebay from China. I have a couple of these in regular lamps. It has the standard E27 US base.
Darn site better than fluorescent.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/AC-85-265V-E27-COB-9W-LED-Corn-Light-Bulb-Energy-saving-Lamp-6000K-Practical/264316184676?hash=item3d8a78e864:g:KIwAAOSw5XJc1GPl
I have one that looks similar to it in my magnifying lamp. Mine needs to pull straight out and has retaining nibs.
See if there’s a ballast in there. If so, you know it’s not a standard screw-in base.
Yes it is a G24 / GX24 (2 pins or 4 pins) type bulb and it is really annoying to change sometimes. Grab the base and pull it straight out.
How many BLF members does it take to unscrew a lightbulb?
Hello redalgal, welcome to BLF.
G24 type bulbs are sometimes hard to get in and out of their sockets.
First feel if there is some play, and in what direction, East-West or North-South (just giving it a name).
Feel what direction has the most play and pull it out while wiggling with the play.
And yes, this question has been asked many times before.
Like Ringo Starr: how many Beatles does it take to replace a lightbulb.
Or a good friend of mine: how many system analysts does it take to replace a lightbulb.
The last one being a trick question: system analysts are incapable of handling physical objects from 9 to 5.
BTW. because lightbulbs can differ from one country to another, it might be smarter to mention the country.
If you wonder why there is so much confusion check out this chart of lamp bases. There are 16 different specialty bases for compact fluorescent lights in addition to the standard screw-in base and the twist and lock bases GU10 and GU24. Good luck finding a replacement if it is one of the specialty bases for compact fluorescent. It might be easier to replace the fixture with an LED fixture as the price of them has fallen a lot over the past couple of years.
BTW dont bother with cheap LED bulbs. The driver usually fails in 1-2 years. There are only two LED bulbs I have which are still working after 4-5 years. One which I bought from amazon on Jan 2014 for £16
and another high cri one I bought in Nov 2015 for £13 (dont think the company sells it anymore)
Both of these were heavier than any other LED bulb I’ve purchased. It seems like the driver quality and heat is what causes the cheap ones to fail quickly.
VegasLEDfan, thanks for pasting that comprehensive chart of bases!
I’ll save a copy and keep in my notes.
Wrap the glass with a cloth before trying to pull or turn it, to protect your hand.
CFL tubes can pull right out of their base and break.
(Don’t panic if the glass breaks but put everything into a ziplock bag and seal it up; there’s some mercury in CFLs but the recent ones use an amalgam (like the kind dentists use) that’s in solid form when the power is off. Not the liquid mercury metal found in the older 4 foot tubes and the like.
Oh yeah make sure the power is off before pulling or twisting, of course.
I can’t believe anyone is charging US$17.50 (16 euros) for a simple LED light bulb these days. The link in post #9 is for the A19 bulb design which is probably the worst design available for an LED bulb. It’s the bulb shape Americans are used to so it is nearly impossible to find corn bulbs either in the older individual LED or COB configuration sold in the US. Corn bulbs may look odd but the work very well.
Why is the A19 bulb such a lousy design? The reason is the manufacturer has to array all of the LEDs on a small plate above the electronics. That’s a disaster when it comes to heat dissipation. Pull one apart and you will see what I mean. The COB bulb shown above has the electronics in the base but the LEDs are spread out over the entire bulb so it doesn’t build up heat as easily. You can buy cheap A19 bulbs in our local dollar store. I tried that design early on but gave them away because I wanted something brighter and I couldn’t find anything suitable. You can get corn bulbs up to at least 2500 lumens.
My experience with bulbs and fixtures purchased directly from China has been very positive. I replaced every fluorescent or incandescent bulb and fixture in my home with the exception of the regular oven and microwave oven with LEDs. Most of them have been in place for four years now and I had just one failure. That was a $2.50 candelabra bulb which began to flicker after about 3 years use.