As an ex-electrician, I can not in good conscience say go ahead. Logically I know that most of the heat produced in a bulb dissipates up and out from the bulb itself. Get in touch with the fixture manufacturer and ask them about it. It may be that I'm old-fashioned and would rather err on the safe side. Take care and good luck!

I'm looking for lighting that i can use in a subtle way to mimic flickering candles. I was thinking I might make or buy small wooden lanterns, or stone/concrete japanese-style lanterns and install wired lights that mimic candlelight. I'm considering low-voltage because I could put the lights on a timer or photocell, and incorporate them into a plan that might also have some non-candle-type lights in a few areas. I have considered solar,but our winters don't provide much light. All the solar lights I see around my neighborhood don't last more than a few hours, and are the wrong color for a candle-light effect. Most solar and LED lights I've seen have a subtle blue hue, even though they're labeled as white. I have nothing against those lights, but I don't think it's what I'm looking for to solve my design dilemma. Any suggestions? Ideally, I think I'm looking for something close to the battery powered ones I've linked below. PS: I hope you won't mind that I cross posted this on the gardening side. I'm hoping to get perspective from what I believe are two likely very different groups of readers. Here is a link that might be useful: battery powered candle-like lights

I don't think you'll find automotive LEDs to be useful in this situation. Nor can you use a chandlier bulb. Sorry. These new-fangled decorative candles are not at all like the plug-in candles that some of us grew up with. These are electronic gadgets, with control electronics inside the candle. The electronics are probably just barely robust enough to power the low-power LEDs fitted at the factory. Fitting a random higher power LED (let alone an incandescent lamp) is unlikely to help. At best the candle might work in unexpected ways - flicker too fast or slow, or even quit working entirely as the delicate electronics burns out. You might be able to fit an LED with greater efficacy (more light per watt of input power). You'd have to choose it carefully, measuring the forward voltage and nominal current used by the present LED, and finding an appropriate replacement from Mouser or one of the other electronics suppliers. The replacement would have to be one with very similar voltage and current specifications, but higher MCd output. Even then, there's no guarantee that it will work right. These gadgets are usually designed as a unit, and changing any component will throw off the balance. It's kind of like putting an extra 2 cups of flour in your Christmas cookies to make the recipe go farther. Even if they still bake up, they won't taste right. And even if you could make it work, you might well find that just one upgrade LED costs more - probably MUCH more - than you paid for all four of the candles you have now, even before shipping. This is the kind of project that an electronics geek might do for the fun of it, but for the average homeowner it's probably not a winning proposition. I suggest that you give these candles to a friend or a local resale charity, and buy something else that works the way you want it to. Buy them at a local retailer, so you can see how they work before taking them home.

Well, I just painted my laundry room with a color called Ambiance. It is Ben Moore 309 and I really love it. It is a creamy butter color with just a hint of red for warmth. At least that's how it reads in my north-facing laundry room with Reveal light bulbs and a gray Marmoleum floor. You'll have to buy testers once you've narrowed down the choices to see how they look in your dining room. There are too many variables to pick an exact color based on the experience of others. But I just thought you should know there is an Ambiance paint out there. :-)