electricalfluorescentlight-fixturelighting
I gather this is generally possible, as long as bulbs draw less power than the ballast can provide, but are there limits on how low you can go?
I currently have an electronic ballast for 1 or 2 54W T5 F54T5HO bulbs and two F13T5 bulbs. The specifications on the ballast don't list anything close to that wattage.
What are the consequences of running 1 13W bulb on a ballast that can support 2 54W (besides wasting the hardware)?
No. A ballast provides a method of creating an arc to ignite a plasma; once the strike happens, the resistance of the tube dives, so the ballast controls the maximum wattage. If one lamp failed to ignite, the other lamp would be allowed to be driven at 2x the current, and this can cause the driven lamp to explode.
Each lamp needs to be controlled by the proper sized ballast.
It looks like the Hue system doesn't have any candelabra sized bulbs. I don't see a Hue switch that would let you control the fixture as is. All the Hue system bulbs look large.
There are adapters that will let you use standard bulbs in an e14 socket:
I'm just not sure the bulb will fit in the fixture with the adapter - looks like it may be too small even without the adapter. It might turn out to be easier to change the fixture.
(BTW, if you are in the US, you may want to check that it's really E14 and not E17 intermediate size socket.)
Best Answer
That's not how it works.
Unlike incandescent bulbs, florescent bulbs do not draw a particular amount of power - they are rated to handle a particular amount of power. They are actually "negative resistance" devices - which basically means they will draw an infinite amount of power if you let them. (Specifically: The more current that goes into them the lower their resistance, which then allows even more current to flow into them, reducing the resistance even more.)
The job of the ballast is to prevent them from doing so and refuse to feed them more power than they are rated for.
So it's the ballast the controls the power NOT the bulb, and if you tried what you are suggesting you will put 54W of power in a bulb rated to handle 13.