What's the current hot tip for a bright, high-CRI 3-way bulb?

[N8N]

So, I need a lamp for my bedroom as it does not have a ceiling fixture. Last time I was in this situation I bought a torchière from the Despot that I really liked, it was patina bronze (I'm sure not really) with an orange mica shade. This ended up being one of my first lighting projects as with an L-Prize bulb it was just too dim; I took a piece of clear Plexiglas, three sockets, and an old 3-way CFL that I destroyed for the bottom and made a fixture to hold three L-Prize bulbs in such a way that it would light one, two, or three (so 60W, 120W, 180W equivalent) as you turned the key. That worked great. Unfortunately I let my ex talk me into keeping that lamp when we split up and I didn't even stop and think that it had three L-Prizes in it (that kind of hurts, although I think I still have one sealed in my storage locker somewhere) and my little custom assembly. The matching night table lamp also had an L-Prize in it... Were I thinking clearly I would have at least unscrewed my custom 3-bulb thing from the torchière and kept it but I obviously was not.

Well, my question is, do I need to do this again, or is there a sufficiently bright, high-CRI LED single bulb available today? It's been over a decade, I would think there is... I'm just asking for recommendations so I don't have to completely go down a research rabbit hole.

I am guessing I am going to need the 3-way format again as I tend to haunt thrift stores and pick up cool vintage stuff when I find it...

Thanks!

 

[N8N]

Wow, such reply

Well, I still haven't bought myself a lamp yet but I did fix one for my landlady (she had a matching pair and one stopped working, I told her I'd put a new socket on it rather than have her throw it out) and ordered a couple Feit "50/100/150" off Amazon because I've had good luck with their dimmable LED bulbs; it's OK, but would like something brighter for myself. Any recommends?

Yes, I bought two bulbs for my landlady (and one for the closet) and she won't care; it bugs the crap out of me to have a 3-way lamp with a regular bulb in it. Is it just me or does it bother anyone else as well?

 

[Dave_H]

Sorry there is so little response, more activity is in the off-topic forums lately....

I have an older floor lamp with 3-way Mogul (larger) base which does not fit any LED 3-w bulbs with smaller E26 base. So I bought an "adapter" socket which turns out only to pass through two connections, not the 3rd, so I am stuck with OFF and MED (the brighter "filament" turned on).

LED 3-way lamp is 2700K 50/100/150W (equivalent) Luminus PLYC1442, putting out 850/1300/2150 lumens, drawing 6/12/19W. It seems OK as far as I've been able to test on medium setting. It is non-filament LED type, not sure this one is still available.

I also recently acquired a 3-way A21/E26 Sylvania 40/60/100W eq. filament -type bul 600/900/1500 lumens consuming 5/7/12.5W. It has a long product number (below). It is good, but is clear and needs a shade to avoid glare. Again it is same problem with the adapter, so I can get 900 lumens, for which I could use a regular 60W or 75W eq. bulb.

LED12.5A21/3WAY/0/827/FIL/RP/OU also marked 3568845

Dave

 

[Dave_H]

Alternative to expensive 3-way LED bulb is to use a fixed bulb with 3-step touch dimmer,
inserted in line with the cord. This creates a de-facto tri-light.

Touching the cord or part of lamp will cause stepping, but depends on the lamp. I tried it on on
a lamp with metal body using 100W eq. bulb, worked OK. I touched collar of the bulb itself, which caused stepping, but caution in doing this as bulb collars can get rather hot, especially at 100W eq. level (typically 12-14W LED power).

The bulb needs to be dimmable. Getting (good) LED bulbs above 100W eq. tends to get expensive. I see nothing above 100W in filament OTC here (e.g. HD). However, this could work out well.

Dave

 

[Dave_H]

Another case of the OP gone MIA?

I obtained a couple of 2100 lumen 20W bulbs which are roughly 150W equivalent. The
3-stage touch dimmer worked somewhat well, not as much difference between settings as
I would like, crowded towards the bright end. It is still a good alternative to 3-way
bulbs, and does not require a lamp with 3-way socket.

Dave

 

[N8N]

I actually did disappear for about 2 weeks. Got my butt kicked by a nasty bug.

I'm really looking for an actual 3-way bulb because I imagine I'm going to find a vintage lamp that I don't want to modify; if I were doing a touch lamp or something I would just use something that dims as you say.

That's obnoxious that you couldn't find a Mogul to Edison 3-way base adapter although I guess that probably is a niche application... but the last nice vintage lamp I saw in a thrift store used a Mogul base, I just wasn't looking for one at the time.

Edit: you made me look; would this work for you? https://thelampshopintroy.com/lightbulbs/e26-to-e39-sleeve-adapter-standard-base-to-mogul-base