Can I replace a Maximum Bulb Wattage (Watts) 25 halogen light bulb with 5w LED light bulb? Is it safe?

Question

I purchased 2 of these for 185sf walk in closet. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kichler-Krystal-Ice-11-75-in-W-Chrome-Flush-Mount-Light/50355990 specs say that Max bulb wattage is 25 and come with halogen light bulbs. I replaced with 3w daylight white LED bulbs based on 25w number. The room is too dim. according to specs it is 230 lumens per bulb. each light has 4. 230lmnx4 lights x2 fixtures=1840lumens. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H2XVDRN/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I previously had 2 100w incandescent light there and it was almost bright enough. My guess is that some light is reflected toward the ceiling and that takes away from the usable light. By my calculation this was equivalent to 3200 lumens.

I tried to calculate how many lumens I would need in this room and come up with 30lmnx185sf=5500-6500lmn. 30 is based on what I read on the Internet.

Is it safe for me to replace these with 5w or even 7w LED daylight white 6000k?

I would appreciate an easy to understand answer for someone who is just an amateur, not electrically proficient.

Thank you

Answer 1

When choosing lamps, as long as the actual wattage is below the rating of the fixture, you're safe. It doesn't matter that the fixture generates a lot of light with the watts it consumes.

The equivalent wattage they talk about, like where they say this 3W LED has light output equivalent to a 15W halogen, doesn't matter when selecting lamps for a fixture. The 3W actual wattage determines how much heat it may generate, not the 15W equivalent light output.

In fact it's likely that the LED is more efficient, with less of the electricity consumed turning into heat and more into light, but you can't count on that. Just go by the actual wattage.