Converting Ceiling Fan light from Intermediate(E17) to Medium base so you can use CFLs
by Tony Primerano on Jan.07, 2008, under Life, green, tech
Up until a few months ago, all of my bedroom ceiling fans used Compact Florescent bulbs (CFLs). Back in October I bought a Hampton Bay Ceiling fan for Dani’s room and when I installed the light fixture I noticed it had a different socket type. It used Intermediate base bulbs (also known as E17). These bulbs are rare and there is no CFL option. So I went back to Home Depot and sure enough all the manufacturers were starting to use these things. The Home Depot guy suspected it was a conspiracy between the ceiling fan companies and the bulb manufacturer. There is only a single brand of intermediate base bulbs at Home Depot so this made a little sense. They also cost as much as a CFL!
I had no desire to use these bulbs so I started looking into converting my base to use the standard medium base socket. I saw a medium base for a ceiling fan display model at Home Depot but they wouldn’t sell it to me and it was no longer going to be carried. The plot thickened. So I looked on the Lowes website and I found a medium base socket that I figured I could retrofit onto my base. While I was looking for the item at Lowes, I asked a representative of one of the lighting companies (who was restocking) about the intermediate bases and he said it was all part of the 2007 Energy Bill. Huh? How can using a base that doesn’t support CFLs be part of an energy bill? I googled around and it appears this was a loophole to get around the Bill. The bill required ceiling fan manufacturers to ship with CFLs, UNLESS they used candelabra or intermediate base bulbs.
Bastards.
Here is the conversion that I did tonight in about 15 minutes.
DISCLAIMER: Please do no do this unless you are experienced with electrical wiring. Follow these steps at your own risk. There may be typos so use common sense if you do this.
1) Unscrew the existing sockets and cut the wires. Keep track of the original wiring. Save the screws.
2) Remove the mount from the Lowes socket and attach it to the base with the screw from the intermediate base. Twist and bend to get it as close to center.
3) You’ll need to strip the existing wires that were not part of the intermediate bases.
4) Combine your whites and blacks and attach with a twist on electrical wire connector.
5) Reinstall
Since these sockets are bigger I needed to bend the socket a little before the light covers fit but overall the fixture looks great.
Pictures. yeah close ups are out of focus but hopefully helpful. 
This is the bottom of the intermediate bulb base. poor focus. This is where you will find the screw to remove it.
Here is how the medium base (lleft) compares to the intermediate base (right).
The new base had 2 screws. I removed them and used the screw from the intermediate base since I knew it fit the fixture.
Old Wiring.
New Wiring
And now I have CFL joy.
January 7th, 2008 on 9:53 pm
Cool. Hope you didn’t forget your electrical tape around the wirenuts…
January 7th, 2008 on 10:11 pm
I used to do that but it seems pretty pointless so I stopped. Anyone following this please follow your local code.
January 8th, 2008 on 6:46 am
All of my ceiling fans have dimming lights. Have you found any decent dimming CFLs?
January 12th, 2008 on 11:34 am
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I have 2 ceiling fans that came with the intermediate bases. I found the replacement bases at Lowe’s for $1.97 each. I’ve changed out 1 ceiling fan & I am in the process of working on the 2nd one. Our Hampton Bay light kit was a little different than yours. It had the quick connect globes instead of the screw type so I had to remove a few extra pieces to be able to use the regular base sockets. Now we can use the CFL bulbs! We already had 2 of the intermediate base bulbs “explode” – luckily no one was injured.
January 12th, 2008 on 3:08 pm
Jeff, I had a bulb explode in the 1st week. I figured it was damaged in shipping but perhaps Hampton Bay is getting a good deal on defective bulbs. I had to use pliers to get the old bulb out as all the glass was on the floor.
Alan, It doesn’t sound like dimmers and CFLs play nice. It might work with LED bulbs. At the moment they are too expensive.
January 12th, 2008 on 3:32 pm
I’ve seen some “dimmable” CFLs in the stores. Generally, however, people claim they don’t work well for the full dimming range. Basically you get nothing until 30-50%… Then it scales properly upwards. I want dimmable CFLs for my ceiling floods, but… Not yet.
January 22nd, 2008 on 12:14 am
It is the loophole of 2005 Energy Bill, the one which gave tons of money to oil companies. 2007 Energy Bill is the one that is going to effectively ban incandescent lamps in the next 10 years.
January 30th, 2008 on 7:13 pm
Wow………just bought a fan……..yep……..intermediate…….
so glad I saw your article. Going to Lowes tomorrow!!! Thanks!!!
January 31st, 2008 on 10:30 am
Just had to tell you that I went down to Lowe’s to get the part, and it was right in the fan parts section, and only $1.97. Went home installed the fours parts, in super fast speed, and worked 100%. I might note that I just retired from the Electrical dept at the local Home Depot, and I let my buddy know about this crappy deal they are selling, and how to fix it…
Thanks again
February 3rd, 2008 on 11:05 pm
There is an easier way. Purchase some intermediate to candelabra adapters then buy the candelabra cfl’s. No electrical experiance needed.
February 4th, 2008 on 9:10 am
Can someone send me a picture of what a lamp looks like with the candelabra adapter? Does it make the bulbs stick out too far? That is a simpler implementation but more expensive. I can get 16W CFLs for $1 but the Candelabra CFLs are rare and run about $4. Still better than running an incandescent, and for people who don’t want to mess with electrical wiring its probably the way to go.
February 7th, 2008 on 10:33 am
I’m so glad to see this info. I went shopping last night at Home Depot and was told by the salesperson, “I think they changed the sockets because people were overloading them by putting in higher wattage lamps.This way you can only put a 40 or a 60 watt lamp in there.” My first reaction was, “Why would they create a new socket that you can’t use a CFL in? I will be stoppin at Lowe’s to purchase some standard sockets asap. Thanks.
February 8th, 2008 on 10:18 pm
These comments are really helpful. I just purchased a fan from Home Depot and the lighting has intermediate sockets. After reading your comments, I went to Lowes to buy some standard sockets to replace the intermediate ones . The lady said that over the next few years, they will STOP making the energy efficient standard sized bulbs. I did however find a light kit that takes candelabra candles. I guess I will end up replacing it soon.
I would like to know if there are and where adapters can be found for: intermediate to candelabra, or intermediate to standard for the light bulbs. Please if anyone knows anything on where to find them, I would appreciate it.
February 10th, 2008 on 10:17 pm
If you want to use a screw in converter I think intermediate to candelabra is the way to go because the bulbs won’t stick out too far.
I’m not sure if lowes or home depot carry these adapters but there are plenty of places selling them online.
images of intermediate to candelabra
February 11th, 2008 on 3:32 pm
Awesome website! Thanks so much for the idea! I have two fans in my family room that i installed last summer from the Home Depot. They both have the E17 base for the sockets. So now I have a total of 8 sockets to replace, but the savings with cfl’s will more than make up for the work involved.
February 15th, 2008 on 10:07 pm
Pigtails hanging out of ceiling fans look ridiculous. I realize our nation will save $18 billion a year when we are all mandated to use these inadequate lighting methods. We could have saved an additional $172 BILLION by not waging war in Iraq. Penny wise and pound foolish!
February 16th, 2008 on 3:27 pm
Jane, personally, I don’t mind the look of CFLs, I’m more concerned about the mercury they contain. In a few years LED lights will be cheap an plentiful. At the moment they are ugly too but I’m sure someone will remedy that as the price drops.
February 17th, 2008 on 7:03 pm
Fantastic set of comments. I wish I had researched before. I may just do the easier method of going intermediate to candelabra and candelabra to medium. But that will mean a couple of adapter before the CFL is screwed on. Might be a bit ungainly.
February 21st, 2008 on 1:41 am
Well, I was staying in the 60 Watt recommended range for my older ceiling fans, but I guess I was being an energy hog compared the those using the CFLs, as I was using the GE Edison Hallogen bulbs. I have trouble seeing & the extra white light helps, not to mention the positive effects on my mood as well. So my question is, by replacing the sockets with the standard base ones, is the wiring being used by the ceiling fan companies for these light kits capable of safely handling the extra load? Messing with electrical things makes me a bit nervous.
February 21st, 2008 on 1:53 am
And second question…concerning those exploding intermediate bulbs… I had pretty much decided before ordering these new fans that I would just have to get use to using the new bulbs. But I’m really not liking what i’m hearing about them. How can I avoid getting any of those exploding bulbs? How do I make sure I’m getting quality bulbs, i guess is the question or is this even possible? Again, messing with electricity makes me nervous & I also have a little puppy I don’t want walking through slivers of glass either. I really can use all the advice out there in cyberspace. I’ve been racking my brain for a month over all this bulb size changes in trying to order a couple of new fans.
February 21st, 2008 on 2:03 pm
EMD, the fan wiring is built to handle 60 watt bulbs and CFLs use fewer amps so there shouldn’t be an issue.
For someone who doesn’t want to mess with electricity I would look into getting intermediate to candelabra socket reducers (these just screw in and cost about $2. Then you can buy candelabra CFLs. This costs a lot more but doesn’t involve messing with electrical wires.
Maybe someone will start making intermediate base CFLs soon. The fan manufacturers are creating demand for them.
February 25th, 2008 on 11:00 am
The only problem is that if you want over 60watts with a CFL light you can not do this with a candelabra bulb. I have not seen one that is over 60waats. When I changed my socket to meduim base I then went to a 100 watt CFL, and boy does it work… No mater what you think, changing the socket is the best way to go, and so easy. Bye
Ron from Santa Rosa, CA
March 16th, 2008 on 9:04 pm
I was at The Home Depot the other day and in the fan section I found an intermediate CFL. It was only 40 watts but now I don’t have to us the adapters anymore. And by the way, Home Depot has the Medium base sockets for fans to replace the intermediate sockets for only 3 bucks
March 17th, 2008 on 8:00 am
Looks like Lowes stopped stocking the socket I was linking to above. It was < $2. They might still have them.
Scott, how much were the intermediate CFLs at Home Depot?
40 watts is really high for a CFL. Was that the equivalent light output of a 40 watt bulb I hope. Hopefully its only drawing 13 watts. Let me know if you have a link to it.
March 17th, 2008 on 8:23 pm
The price at Home Depot is $6.97 for one. It was expensive but I think worth it. The bulb is equivalent to a 40 watt but only draws 9 watts. I can’t find a link to the bulb but I know the store by me has them by the fans and the one by my parents is in the CFL section in the bulb aisle.
April 26th, 2008 on 12:31 pm
I appreciated the article. I was able to change over my E17 to E26 bases as illustrated. My coast t Lowe’s was $2.96 for each base. I would suggest that the wire you use for the change over is rated at the same level as the original wiring. Otherwise you may be responsible for over loaded wiring causing a problem in the future.
August 25th, 2008 on 3:52 pm
Finally an answer. I have been on the net for several hours looking for intermediate base CFL and then looking for adapters. I thought the sockets were pressed in, but finally I found the screw. You were right, approximately 15 minutes from start to finish. Geez I am glad my father taught me respect for electricity instead of fear. The adapters I found for Medium to intermediate base were 8.00 each. This was a much easier and cheaper fix. Thanks
November 23rd, 2008 on 8:47 pm
I cannot belive I found this Blog!
Just as I was getting ready to throw out 3 perfectly good Hampton Bay celing light/fans I find the solution. Thanks a pile for the info.
February 26th, 2009 on 7:27 pm
Yeah, Jane…how about just not buying bottled water! It seems we use 71 million barrels of oil to make the bottles for the water we buy because we are too lazy to keep up with reusable bottle or clean a container to drink from. The lights are just hosing us in the eco friendly dept.since the companies are using the loophole and we can’t use low E lights,
March 4th, 2009 on 3:04 pm
Tony, don’t sweat the mercury in the CFLs. The average CFL contains approximately 4 mg of mercury, and the power it uses over a typical 5-year lifetime will produce another 2.4 mg of mercury through the burning of coal and other fossil fuels, which all contain some amount of mercury. This results in a total of around 6.4 mg of mercury produced over the life of your CFL bulb.
On the other hand, they typical 60W incandescent bulb will consume enough power that approximately 10 mg of mercury will be released into the environment over 5-years of use.
Even though the CFL bulb uses mercury in its manufacture, the incandescent bulb still produces more. Also, there are several places (including IKEA and Ace Hardware in some areas) that will take CFL bulbs in for recycling or proper disposal.
March 7th, 2009 on 11:05 am
Tony,
Thanks for the detailed instuctions and photos on converting from an E17 base to an E26 base to use CFLs.
Question: Do you observe loud buzzing from your Hampton Bay ceiling fan when the fan blades are rotating? After installing my two Hampton 42″ ceiling fans in each bedroom, both fan motors generate an anoying vibration noise, and is most noticiable on low speed. I think it’s a manufacturing problem with this brand. Let me know if you are experiencing this problem or anyone else that’s reading this.
March 7th, 2009 on 9:49 pm
I did this same change to my fan today. The one major difference was that ceramic sockets wouldn’t fit, as mine has a 1.5″ tube that the socket fits within (and ceramic sockets are 1.5″). Instead, I bought the plastic sockets, which fit perfectly.
March 8th, 2009 on 7:31 pm
Dean, I have 3 hampton bay fans. One of them was noisy (electric hum) when I got it and I exchanged it the same day. If you have 2 noisy ones maybe the quality is just going downhill. :-\ The one in my room is so quiet all you hear is the air circulating.
April 11th, 2009 on 4:51 pm
Actually the move to candelabra bases is the manufacturers way of getting around having to supply CFLs with the lights. The Energy Bill of 2005 mandated that CFLs be supplied with all medium and pin base light kits as a way of saving energy. It exempted candelabra bases because there were not CFLs for them at the time.
Guess what, every manufacturer switched to all candelabra bases so they didn’t have to supply the CFLs. Result, energy consumption will likely rise because even people who want to use CFLs in these fixtures, can’t without a lot of the problems described above.
We may not have the best engineers any more, but we sure have the best lawyers figuring out how to exploit loopholes.
April 13th, 2009 on 2:47 pm
Hello Folks:
I just bought a new Hampton Bay and was dismayed to find intermediate bases in the light kit. I know where the medium adapters are sold and as an Accomplished DIY electrician, I can easily change out the sockets. You may need the porcelain ones or those with a metal “C” adapter to mount it to the existing fixture base.
One thing I recently heard, However is that CFLs SHOULD NOT be used in Ceiling Fan Lights! The possible fan vibration can affect the ballast of the light and cause IT to explode!
I have CFLs in one fan and I am taking them OUT post haste. I like energy saving as much as the next person, but I don’t want potential “Bombs” in my ceiling fans!
Food for thought! Also Medium Base Bulbs are sold in 40-60 watt size that are SMALLER than regular bulbs to better fit the fan shades. They work Fine with Dimmers.
April 20th, 2009 on 6:34 pm
There are CFL’s with a intermediate base, so there is no need to change the base in your light kit for your fan. I do agree that the vibration from the fan could be a problem, but I am not should of this. Also note your dimmer must be specially for CFL’s.
June 8th, 2009 on 8:01 pm
I just came across your posting. I am sorry that you have a Home Depot in your area that people in the Electrical Department without any basic knowledge. It was interesting reading. Two things that I want to clear up. The first is Home Depot sells the same base to make the conversion (probably cheaper than Lowes), and secondly the post about CFLs exploding in fans is an urban myth, kinda along the lines of not talking on your cell phone at a gas station. I haves used CFLs in ceiling fans for over 5 years. Neither I nor any customer of mine has ever had one explode, or catch fire as the other myth goes. By the way I am the Electrical Dept. Supervisor at the Home Depot in my area (Hagerstown,MD). Stop by if you are ever in the area,
June 28th, 2009 on 4:57 pm
Just did my conversion today based off your post and it worked great. Exelent write-up.
Sadly I have to side with the people agreeing that Home Depot peeps are not terribly helpful. The ones in my area have gone from wonderful to ‘even if I can find someone, they don’t know much and give me nasty looks for talking to them’ over the last few years.
July 4th, 2009 on 6:57 pm
Hi, I was wondering if any of you would make/design some conversion/connectors for sale so that I could just buy from you and plug it into my ceiling fan light base to change from intermediate to Medium? I am sure lots of people out there are like me who wanted to use CFLs, but are limited to what we can find in the market. Thank you!
July 7th, 2009 on 10:28 am
There is a E17 to E27 adapter available at ledlight.com. They are $3.87 each. I ordered these and tested and they take standard E26 CFLs. E26 are USA standard Edison base, whereas E27 is European standard Edison base. They only differ by one millimeter in base diameter (26mm Vs 27mm). You have to do a small manipulation for these to work. Turn off the main power. Using a flat bed screw driver lift the center pin out in the socket of the intermediate ceiling light kit (Some of these adapters are not long enough for the center pin in the intermediae socket to come in contact with the center contact point of the adapter). I had to do this for 4 out of the 6 adapters I bought. You may have to lift the center pin slightly in the adapter as well.
Vosslighting.com has E17 to E26 converters that are $10 each, way more expensive. Buying these adapters from ledlight.com is cheaper, saves a lot of wiring work for sure.
July 7th, 2009 on 1:41 pm
Thanks for all the input everyone. I found standard electrical sockets at Home Depot for $1.53 each to replace the silly “intermediate” sockets. It took a couple of hours to retrofit the light fixture and reassemble it on the fan. But now I can use any standard CFLs, available for about $1, vs. the only “intermediate” CFLs I could find which cost $5.
Next time I need a ceiling fan, I’ll consider a brand other than Hampton Bay. What a bunch of nonsense!
July 9th, 2009 on 4:46 pm
I just bought a new ceiling fan (same model as 2 others we have in the house). The new fan includes a medium base (YAY) and a CFL in the box. For the cheapest fan in the store ($35).
Interestingly, the base now says it takes 13W CFL max. That seems silly since one should theoretically be able to put the same wattage of CFL as the standard bulb would’ve allowed.
July 19th, 2009 on 11:12 pm
I followed this method and it everything worked OK for couple of months. Couple of weeks ago, CFL bulbs started blowing out one by one couple of sec apart. I turned the switch off after loosing 3 bulbs. I checked the wiring and everything seems to be OK. So I replaced the bulbs and within an hour the bulbs blew out this time tripping the circuit. All through the fan works OK. I don’t have a dimmer. I use the standard flip switch & remote to operate the fan. Any clue what’s going on? It looks like no one that followed this conversion have this problem.
July 21st, 2009 on 4:28 pm
Yikes vkolli.. is the fan on when the lights blew out? I wonder if there is something wrong with the fan motor that is causing a power surge.
Sorry this didn’t work out for you
August 23rd, 2009 on 12:12 am
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August 23rd, 2009 on 7:51 pm
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August 30th, 2009 on 5:20 pm
I was going to do this today, but was in HomeDepot, and guess what?
They now carry two types of CFL for intermediate sockets. A 60 watt spiral, and a 40 watt globe.
Couldn’t see any like that at Lowes. Around here HD has a better selection of CFLs.
September 3rd, 2009 on 10:04 pm
There seems to be some “governor” in the fan as well- seems like the bulb is delayed when coming on, and won’t go over 40w. Any ideas or work around here?
September 7th, 2009 on 1:58 pm
IKEA sells a CFL with an intermediate base.
It is a relector bulb, non-dimmable.
It is in their SPARSAM energy-saving line.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80087669
September 30th, 2009 on 1:22 pm
found this site a few months ago while looking for an answer to the crappy intermediate bulbs for ceiling fans. In six months I went thru about 12 – 14 bulbs in my kitchen ceiling fans. I finally said “that’s enough” and changed all the sockets in one fan to standard, took about 45 minutes, now running 4 23watt CFL and what a difference in lighting and life of bulb! No Lowell’s or Home Depot in Princeton Indiana, 30 mile drive to each in other cities, but Menards has the light sockets for 2.23ea with 10 inch wires. $8.92 plus tax is chaper than four to 8 adaptors per fan and get to have a choice in CFLs, the only CFL in intermediate base are in a brand that doesn’t work very well for me, they are slow to come on and then have to warm up for full brightness. The “generic” standard base CFLs at Wal-Mart seem to be faster to come on and less time to get to full brightness. Thanks for the tips here on this site! Three more fans to do in the house this afternoon, one in the kitchen and two bedrooms.