Is there a difference between aluminum and copper appliance bulbs?

My 25 year old refrigerator had a copper appliance bulb that burned out. I got an aluminum appliance bulb but it would not work, tried another one, which did not work, then bought a copper one, and it worked just fine. Everybody said aluminum would work, but in practice, only copper did.|||Copper conducts electricity twice as easy as aluminum. The wattage on the lite is too week to travel through the aluminum.|||I think what you are seeing is the new bulb isn't screwing into the base quite as far as the old one. What you need to do is unplug the refrigerator, take a small screwdriver and raise the center tab in the light bulb socket a bit. You don't have to go very far but it will allow contact to the center conductor of the bulb. It has nothing to do with the difference in aluminum and copper conductivity. There is 115 Volts available at sufficient current to light a 25W or 40W bulb to full brightness.|||Wired most likely has the correct answer for your question.





I just wanted to add that a copper or brass based bulb will resist corrosion in your refrigerator a lot better than the aluminum. I avoid using aluminum based bulbs anywhere that they may be subject to moisture.