I wonder if I'm breaking any laws by doing this

[Conan The Librarian]

My work room at home is the smallest room in the house and I just replaced the room lights with new bulbs. A pair of 100 watters, so I can get good light all the time by using one bulb, and then screw in the second bulb if I want extra warmth in the room while I'm working. I really appreciate the inefficiency of the incandescent bulbs during the winter, and it seems to use less energy than a small space heater.

[Sourdough]

Is the wiring sufficient to handle two 100 watt bulbs.  many of the house fires I saw during my AF days as an emergency worker was where people used 100 or 150 watt bulbs in fixtures designed for 65 watt bulbs.  As can the wireing handle the added load?

[bilmac]

Wait awhile Conan. The liberals will make it against the law to use florescent bulbs when they finally figure it out that they are hazardous material.

[Conan The Librarian]

Sourdough: Now that is interesting! This is an bedroom ceiling light, and I think I've always used 75 watters in it before. Based on your advice, I'm backing out the 100 watters. Thanks! I think we've used 75 watters for most incandescent bulbs in our house over the years.

[mechanic]

Watch carefully, as few fixtures are capable of handling the heat generated.  A fixture for a heat lamp, or one of the old ceramic pull chains likely would be ok.  It's not the amps that get ya, as these bulbs draw less than a clock radio, but they put out, as you noted, a lot of heat!
 
Ben

[Anna]

People with water wells used a thing called a hot box for years to keep their pipes from freezing .
It consist of an insulated box with a light bulb inside to keep it warm .

[BBF]

LOL@ the people in the South.
We northern types use heat tape to keep water pipes running.
I have a pressure tank that sits below our hooch that is also insulated and depending on outside temps has up to 200 watt of "heat" to keep things flowing.

[FPH]

Sourdough: Now that is interesting! This is an bedroom ceiling light, and I think I've always used 75 watters in it before. Based on your advice, I'm backing out the 100 watters. Thanks! I think we've used 75 watters for most incandescent bulbs in our house over the years.

Look to see what the wire size is in the panel.  Also, look at your fuse or breaker size(are they warm).  Is the home newish and grounded or old and ungrounded?  Three wire as opposed to two wire.?

[mechanic]

Two 100 watt bulbs, 120 volt circuit.  Divide 200 (total watts), by 120, (voltage) =1.6667 amps.  A standard 120 circuit is 15 amps, thus you could power roughly 9 of these bulbs if nothing else is on the circuit.  But the heat from the bulbs, if not used in a heat shielded receptacle, will cook the receptacle and wiring attached to it.  I use 100 w. incadescents in some outdoor fixtures, but they are metal and ceramic.
 
Many ceiling fixtures use up to 4- 60 watt bulbs, or 240 watts total, but they normally have metal shielding and fiberglass insulation to keep the heat from damaging wiring or ceiling, etc.
 
I had an uncle that set his house on fire, by using 4- 100 watt bulbs near a 100 year old ceiling.  Luckily he was home and managed to get the fire out. The bulbs themselves didn't start the fire, but they cooked the wiring until the insulation fell off and shorted.
 
The new "corkscrew" flourescent bulbs put out the same light for about a fourth the power requirement, and almost no heat. 
 
Ben

[Anna]

LOL@ the people in the South.
We northern types use heat tape to keep water pipes running.
I have a pressure tank that sits below our hooch that is also insulated and depending on outside temps has up to 200 watt of "heat" to keep things flowing.

Hay,what the heck I tried ! Must be a man thing 

[mechanic]

LOL@ the people in the South.
We northern types use heat tape to keep water pipes running.
I have a pressure tank that sits below our hooch that is also insulated and depending on outside temps has up to 200 watt of "heat" to keep things flowing.

Thats why I don't live up there...too cold for my buns!
 
Ben

[magooch]

I concur with Mechanic about the compact florescent bulbs being a better option.  Particularly, I would recommend checking at your local Walmart.  They now have their own brand that sells for $3.57 for four 26 watt full spectrum daylight bulbs.  These bulbs produce way more light than the equivalent incandescent (100 watt) bulbs and they are guaranteed to last for about 7 years.
 
We use bulbs of this type in my daughter's hair salon and have saved a ton of money over incandescents because of their longevity and electricity used.  However, they are not suitable where the light is being turned on and off frequently.

[PowPow]

200 watts of light at 120 volts is 1.66 amps regardless of the style of light.
The smallest wire used in residences is good for 15 amps and should be protected by a 15 amp breaker which gets weak with age and may only be good for 12 amps.
So the concern is should not be the amperage.
The concern is how the fixture rejects the heat generated.
200 watts of lighting puts 200 watts of heat into the surfaces it is shining on.
The surface area of the illuminated surface is what determines the surface temperature.
Some heat is absorbed by the glass bulb. That’s why its hot. Some is absorbed by the walls.
(For comparison, direct sunlight puts about 70 watts per square foot on the earth’s surface; rooftops are a good example;  how hot it gets depends on how much is absorbed and how much is reflected or convected off.)
Put a small combustible (paper) lamp shade over a big light and you have a hazard.
An open light fixture with no shade radiates the light over a large area and there is not the potential for high temperatures.
I would not be concerned with 200 watts if it is one of those open ceramic light fixtures. I would be concerned if it is recessed light that holds the heat.
Now if you have some ignitable vapors or dust  in the room, freaking out would be appropriate, as the tiny arc created from turning the light off will blow you up.

[hunt-m-up]

LOL@ the people in the South.
We northern types use heat tape to keep water pipes running.
I have a pressure tank that sits below our hooch that is also insulated and depending on outside temps has up to 200 watt of "heat" to keep things flowing.

Hay,what the heck I tried ! Must be a man thing 

Must be a "farther north" kind of thing Anna, I've seen the light bulb trick here before in Iowa. Of  course most of the time it's a heat lamp and bulb. Heat tape is the new-fangled version.
On the "spiral" fluorescent bulbs, I haven't found they have any better life than standard bulbs in an enclosed ceiling fixture. The new instant on versions are an improvement over the first ones that required warm-up time, but I don't think they handle heat any better.

[Ranger99]

when i first bought my place 5 years
ago, i replaced every bulb in the house
with cfl's . they lasted about 3 years and
i've not bought another since. about 2
years ago i bought about a 7-8 year
supply of incandescents.

[Ranger99]

and yes, we put a drop light in
the washing machine in the winter
here

[magooch]

All I can tell you is that I know from actual useage that the compact 26 watt (sometimes 27 watts) daylight bulbs do produce a better light and the bulbs last much longer than incandescent 100 watt standard light bulbs.  Full spectrum incandescent bulbs are also expensive.  Admittedly, some brands of the compact florescent bulbs are not up to par, but they are guaranteed.  We had very good luck with GE and some others that are higher priced, but we have also had some lower priced compacts that last quite well.  I don't know yet how well the Walmart bulbs are going to hold up, because they just became available around here.
We have to use the full spectrum daylight bulbs because of hair coloring.  The girls need the brighter lighting to be able to judge the color.  You don't want the color to look different outdoors than it does in the shop.  What the color looks like in the customers house (because of their lighting), we have no control over.

[Hodr]

When I first got out of the Army back in 1969 I bought a Maytag wringer washing machine with a porcelin tub.  Cleaned it thouroghly and started making beer in it using Anchor Steam recipe and a 40watt bulb  for heat hung from the lid.  My landlord was a retired/disabled Navy Commander from the Ticonderoga and continued to make beer in it until his passing about 1990.  His son still makes beer in it I have been told.  Nothing works like a Maytag.
 
Hodr

[BBF]

Perhaps I didn't understand the OP. I thought he wanted a bit of extra heat not light. Those spiral types do not produce heat( OK very Little)

[FPH]

Perhaps I didn't understand the OP. I thought he wanted a bit of extra heat not light. Those spiral types do not produce heat( OK very Little)

[/s]

Agree, fluorescents are worthless.  As long as you have a 15 amp breaker and 14 ga. Wire, you should be fine.

[magooch]

I thought the OP was looking for ideas about lighting, safety and a bit of heating.  I thought that his first priority should be safety.  Secondly, I assumed that efficient lighting was pretty important.  Heating should be a side benefit that is best addressed with a small heater that has some kind of thermostatic control and won't burn the place down.
In addition, some light fixtures have wiring that is much less adequate than standard house wiring and  you should pay close attention to what wattage they are designed for.  This is where the compact florescents provide very good light without placing the fixture in jeopardy.  And it does save on electricity.