Confused between A19 and E26 light bulbs? Learn what these numbers mean, how are they different and similar, and how to pick the right one for your fixture.
When we head out to our local hardware store to purchase a new light bulb, we rarely think about the name of the light bulb that we are going to get. We are more concerned with figuring out what wattage the LED bulb is equivalent to an incandescent light bulb. Those names are on the boxes, though, if you care to look. These names are expressed in codes usually featuring a letter followed by a number, though there are certain codes that use two or three letters before the number. Two of the most common codes you will see are A19 and E26.
In an A19 bulb, the A refers to the shape of the bulb itself, which is that classic pear-shaped design. It being such a common design is why it got the first letter of the alphabet. The 19 refers to the diameter of the bulb’s widest points. Oddly, this number is how many one-eighths of an inch that distance is.
