I hope this is not too long! In my looking at chandeliers for my traditional dining room, I want to be able to eliminate the ones that will have inadequate light. I donÂt want to make a costly mistake and find out itÂs not enough until itÂs hung. Anyone have a formula or rule of thumb for this?

PlusÂIs there is difference in actual output between candelabra bulbs and regular bulbs? They might each say "60 watt" , but do they effectively light the room in the same way? DonÂt regular bulbs, of the same wattage, seem to put out more light than candelabra bulbs? I have some bedside lamps that take one or the other (60 watt regular vs. 60 watt candelabra): and I swear the ones with regular bulbs put out more light.

Right now the light is adequate, but barely, with the builderÂs skimpy chandelier of 5 60 watt candelabra bulbs in clear glass hurricane cups and one 60 watt downlight. We usually DO use the downlight: the 5 candelabra bulbs are not enough otherwise. I have not been able to find a formal fixture with a downlight, so I think I have to let that go and make up for it in other ways, like more or brighter bulbs.

The room is 12 wide by 13 feet long. Furniture is dark wood, walls are painted in medium warm colors (on top) to dark tones (below). Ceiling height is standard 8 feet. I have already figured out my diameter range (between 24 and 30 inches) for the room, so at least thatÂs one thing down.

Please tell me how to analyze these options.

1) Most of the ones I am looking at, that are not proportionately too tall/wide for the room, have 6 60 watt candelabra bulbs . 6 60 watt bulbs seems the most common configuration. That seems like pretty much an even trade for what I have now: maybe functionally less (!), with no downlight.

To get 9 lights in a candelabra bulb chandelier, seems to mean a 2 tier fixture, which will probably be both too wide and too tall for the room. The 2 tiered choices are all over 32" in diameter, most more, like 35".

2) Alternatively, I can get a chandelier that uses regular bulbs , in various kinds of frosted glass cups. Wattage for those are either 60 watt or 100, number of fixtures 6. If those bulbs really put out more light, then maybe I need to limit myself to styles like that.

3) I have found a few with 6 60 watt candelabra bulbs on top, and a shallow frosted glass bowl on the bottom, that takes 2 regular 60 watt bulbs. Maybe the best option for overall light? Though there are not many like that; itÂs pretty limiting in style, and they tend to be wide. The ones I've found are 32 and wider. (Plus IÂm not sure I even like that style.)To me the glass bowl makes the whole thing look casual.

I wonÂt even TALK about style! I can narrow down the choices this way firstÂfunction before form. Thanks!