I don’t know how it is in other countries, but here in the UK we still have light sockets rated for the older incandescent bulbs that needed around 60W. But LEDs are much more efficient. Sometimes you see LED bulbs with absurd things like ‘5W = 60W’ written on them, meaning that it actually uses 5W, but it’s as bright as an old 60W bulb. You basically don’t need to worry about the safety limit of the socket, since the LEDs are way under it. Of course since the socket is rated for 60W you could plug in a 60W LED, which would be as bright as an 720W incandescent bulb.
Which I suspect is what this person did to their poor fridge.
Even then, where the hell did they get a 60W LED? LEDs with those kinds of power ratings are pretty hard to find, and they’re going to be fairly expensive as well.
60W LED bulbs don’t exist because the form factor does not allow them to dissipate heat fast enough to keep LED chips that produce >50 W in heat below 150 °C. Fixtures of 20-100+ watts are available as COB modules that get mounted into work light reflectors where the entire back side is the heatsink. Their driver is very simple, so they are cheap but flicker at double the mains frequency. You can mount one in a fridge with adhesive heatsink compound and unsafe wiring modifications, assuming it fits under the cover if the socket is removed. An alternative is a long low-voltage LED strip wound all around the fridge’s interior several times.
Yes, I know… E27 1000W bulbs of similar size have indeed existed. However, unlike a $3 5x8 cm 50W mains COB LED module, you cannot mount one in the intended space in common fridges.
BTW, a little story regarding a 500W one: A Czechoslovak photographer needed one but like most heavy equipment in the Eastern bloc, they were never sold to individuals. He visited the factory for an alleged newspaper photoshoot and teamed up with my grandpa and other workers, who hung his desired bulb on his equipment backpack and pretended to sneakily follow him to the gatehouse. They laughed quietly, pointing at the bulb and thus socially engineering the doorman to enjoy the moment and forgo the usual pat-down. Officially, they just told anyone that the bulb had been a dud, which could not have been disproven.
What’s worse is having dimmable bulbs. A dimmer is required to have the maximum wattage of 120 W or so because there will always be some idiot who decides to put an incandescent bulb in and risks burning the house down.
We could have dimmers a tenth of their size if people stopped being idiots. Instead we need to deal with those massive 4x4x4cm boxes that can’t be fitted into many walls.
I don’t know how it is in other countries, but here in the UK we still have light sockets rated for the older incandescent bulbs that needed around 60W. But LEDs are much more efficient. Sometimes you see LED bulbs with absurd things like ‘5W = 60W’ written on them, meaning that it actually uses 5W, but it’s as bright as an old 60W bulb. You basically don’t need to worry about the safety limit of the socket, since the LEDs are way under it. Of course since the socket is rated for 60W you could plug in a 60W LED, which would be as bright as an 720W incandescent bulb.
Which I suspect is what this person did to their poor fridge.
Even then, where the hell did they get a 60W LED? LEDs with those kinds of power ratings are pretty hard to find, and they’re going to be fairly expensive as well.
60W LED bulbs don’t exist because the form factor does not allow them to dissipate heat fast enough to keep LED chips that produce >50 W in heat below 150 °C. Fixtures of 20-100+ watts are available as COB modules that get mounted into work light reflectors where the entire back side is the heatsink. Their driver is very simple, so they are cheap but flicker at double the mains frequency. You can mount one in a fridge with adhesive heatsink compound and unsafe wiring modifications, assuming it fits under the cover if the socket is removed. An alternative is a long low-voltage LED strip wound all around the fridge’s interior several times.
Bulb gets too hot. Put it in refrigerator. Problem solved.
I mean, a 60W COB LED module mounted to the inside wall of a refrigerator will have a more than suffucient heatsink…
This a a 100w LED light, not a 100w equivalent. It’s equivalent to a 1000w bulb. I bought a few to replace some old halogen shop lights.
Yes, I know… E27 1000W bulbs of similar size have indeed existed. However, unlike a $3 5x8 cm 50W mains COB LED module, you cannot mount one in the intended space in common fridges.
BTW, a little story regarding a 500W one: A Czechoslovak photographer needed one but like most heavy equipment in the Eastern bloc, they were never sold to individuals. He visited the factory for an alleged newspaper photoshoot and teamed up with my grandpa and other workers, who hung his desired bulb on his equipment backpack and pretended to sneakily follow him to the gatehouse. They laughed quietly, pointing at the bulb and thus socially engineering the doorman to enjoy the moment and forgo the usual pat-down. Officially, they just told anyone that the bulb had been a dud, which could not have been disproven.
My guess is that the fridge actually used a 20w bulb. A 20w LED is plenty bright.
What’s worse is having dimmable bulbs. A dimmer is required to have the maximum wattage of 120 W or so because there will always be some idiot who decides to put an incandescent bulb in and risks burning the house down.
We could have dimmers a tenth of their size if people stopped being idiots. Instead we need to deal with those massive 4x4x4cm boxes that can’t be fitted into many walls.