Using US Floor Lamp in India

madbullram

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Guys,
Stupid thought and a possible DIY so thought will ask you all. A friend gifted me a Floor Standing lamp he bought in IKEA for my new house. As you know its made for US so 110v. What should I do to use it ?

1. Change the wire and plug and the buld holder to Indian Spec (I aint sure if the wire can withstand 240v)
2. By a regular 5w bulb and fit it.

I did think of using a 110v step down that I use for my Cordless, but if I do that can i still a regular bulb?

Also, is the holder dia same as the indian bulb dia :)

just curious to know if anyone experimented this...
 
Madbull:

Some time ago I purchased a worker's lamp that has a lamp holder protected by an aluminum grill and a hook. You can hang this lamp anywhere, and this will provide the light you need to do work in dark places. I bought this lamp from a supermarket in the US. It has a long yellow coloured power cord with the standard US plug at the end.

All I did when I came to India was to fit a 220 volt bulb with a thread into the holder. I thought I will cut the plug and fit a Indian plug. But I settled for using an Indian to US plug adapter. I have been using it for nearly 4 years without any issue other than the bulb getting fused.

If the cord of your device is thick, all you have to do is fit an Indian bulb and an adaptor. Most of these cords can take 100 to 500 volts or more. Similarly you should not have any issues with the bulb holder. That can also handle higher voltages.

Just be careful if you using an halogen lamp. Halogen lamps usually use a converter inside. That converter may not be able to handle 200 volts.

Cheers
 
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So what you are saying, just ensure wire is thick enough. If it is, buy a regular 5w bulb and if it fits the holder fit it, plug a step down and connect the map to it and it should work?
 
So what you are saying, just ensure wire is thick enough. If it is, buy a regular 5w bulb and if it fits the holder fit it, plug a step down and connect the map to it and it should work?

If you are using a 220 volts 5 watts bulb, why do you need a step down at all? I connect it to the mains supply directly.

As I said before, if you have a halogen lamp, you have to replace the converter inside. Just check the specs on the converter. If it says 110 volts, you need to change it. You will get the converter in any electrical shop for a few 100 rupees. If it says 110-240 volts, you are in luck and don't have to do anything at all, excepting getting a plug adapter and using it.

If it is an ordinary bulb, just change the bulb and use it directly.

Cheers
 
The holder and wire clearly said only 110v, so bought a CFL 11W and pluged the light to the step down and voila it works perfectly :)
 
The holder and wire clearly said only 110v, so bought a CFL 11W and pluged the light to the step down and voila it works perfectly :)
Thanks. Which step down did you use? I have some safavieh lamps from the US, that I want to use in India. It says a 40w bulb
 
Asrujit,
Did you realise that you have restarted a 12 year old thread ! :)

OPTION 1: Now in India, you get 220 Volt incandescent bulbs that will fit the screw type US Bulb holders.

Get an Incandescent bulb (Not an LED or CFL) and fit it into the Safavieh Lamps you have.

Just plug those into the Indian Power line and all will be fine.

OPTION 2: If the Safavieh Lamps already have USA Incandescent bulbs in them, that you want to use, simple Fit a 1N0007 Diode (cost Rs 1 ) in series with any one wire at the plug of the Safavieh lamp. No other modification of step down voltage converter will be required. Note, that the Diode will work well ONLY with 110 Volts INCADESCENT Bulbs, and Not with LED of CFL bulbs.
 
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Easiest thing is to get E27 bulbs rated 230V. You can safely use the lamps bought in the US safely here. In fact 110V wires are thicker and can carry more current than the wires used for 220V and hence no issue.
 
110V lamps draw twice the current of equivalent 220V lamps so wire thickness is not an issue. LED lamps are 5 or 10 watts and the current is so trivial under either 110V or 220V that it should not be a factor at all.

In any case issue seems to have been resolved.
 
B22 (our standard Indian type), E27 (thread type with 27mm dia), E14 (thread type with 14mm dia) are the major three types of bulbs used world over. Find out the type of the one your holder is having. Buy a desired wattage of LED bulb from local shop or online rated at 220/240 V. Fix it and use it. Nothing else matters
 
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