Decent very bright light for UK living room

[Twinbee]

A few years ago, I asked on this very forum what the best light was for my living room. My question now is pretty much the same as before. I want super bright, around 4000-5000k colour temp, and also convenient/safe too if possible.

Some pros and cons of some purchases/possibilities:

CFL: 85w (450w equiv). I bought one. Good, but imposing (fitting a light shade reduces overall light). Perhaps a bit of mercury gas leakage if broke (my developed a crack after 3 years). I'd now consider a 40w (200w equivalent), especially if around 5000 colour temp.

Halogen: I have a giant 1 kilowatt halogen on a table pointing up at the ceiling. It's very bright, but not good in the summer when we don't want heating as well as lighting ;-) Space is also an issue, as it sits on it. I'm also worried about a possible explosion that occurs at the end of the life cycle.

HID: Don't know how far these have progressed since a few years ago. I heard they can be very dodgy in terms of explosion if you're not careful.

Ideally, I'd be fitting my walls with OLED wallpaper, but unless I can get my hands on a time machine, I'd like some apx. 5000k, shaded light that's safe, easy to use, and hopefully cheap. What are the best options?

Can someone also tell me where the market is for 40 watt (200w equiv) 4500k CFLs is? I can't believe it's almost non-existent.

 

[jtr1962]

Any reason not to consider 4 foot T8 or T5 tubes? If you want a room super bright with shadow-free 5000K light, that's really the best way to go. It's also the most cost effective in the long run. Tubes last a very long time. They're inexpensive and readily available. The fixtures are relatively inexpensive, also.

 

[Twinbee]

Thanks for the suggestion - I have thought about it before. Fitting them to the ceiling would be doable if awkward for every room. However, I'm not an electrician, so they would need to be connected to the electricity somehow (each separately?), so that'd be awkward, and pretty expensive..... what do you think?

If there's a portable ready-made home DIY method which connects the tubes to a standard UK mains power socket, I'll happily try it out.

 

[Barbarin]

I'm doing some research with 2000 lm, 4200ºK, 30 watt LED stripes, and the amount of light and even distribution is really good. Two of them might do the job, sure. (And you can dim them)

Javier

 

[Twinbee]

Barbarin, that sounds good - I didn't think LEDs had come of age at all. I assume each of those strips is roughly as bright as a 100w incandescent bulb. Where can I buy them, or did you make them?

Alas, I'm guessing the tubes will be cheaper...

 

[Barbarin]

Barbarin, that sounds good - I didn't think LEDs had come of age at all. I assume each of those strips is roughly as bright as a 100w incandescent bulb. Where can I buy them, or did you make them?

Alas, I'm guessing the tubes will be cheaper...

I had some of them made by a supplier for me, for testing purposes. Send me PM is you need some.

Each strip is way brighter than a 42 Watt tube, and as it is longer it gets better light distribution, with less shadows.

Follow the link, and you will see an interesting comparation, 84 Watt fluorescent fixture vs. single 30 Watt stripe.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=287250

Javier

 

[Twinbee]

Barbarin, are they costly, and can they fit into a regular UK power outlet? I'm no electrician, so it could be tricky, although if the DIY is easy, I could give it a shot. Also, it is 4200ºK right? The light seems a little bluish, though maybe that's just the camera setting?

To further the idea of T8 tubes, it would seem I need a ballast. Assuming each make some kind of noise, are electronic or conventional ballasts quieter? And if I fit 4 T8 tubes, do I need a ballast for each one?

Thanks all for trying to help on this matter. :twothumbs

 

[jtr1962]

To further the idea of T8 tubes, it would seem I need a ballast. Assuming each make some kind of noise, are electronic or conventional ballasts quieter? And if I fit 4 T8 tubes, do I need a ballast for each one?

They have ballasts for 4 tubes. Electronic is the only kind available for T8, and they are generally very quiet.

As for fitting T8 fixtures in every room, so long as the room already has a ceiling light of some kind already installed it's not hard. Remove the conventional fixture or socket, connect the pair of wires to the ballast wires in the fixture, and screw the fixture on the ceiling with appropriate screws. The hardest part is drilling the appropriate holes to mount the fluorescent fixture. The type of screws and size holes you need depend upon what type of ceiling you have. For example, for sheet rock ceilings you would use butterfly screws and drill ~1/4" holes. If you're handy figure less than 30 minutes per fixture.

 

[Dave_H]

CFL: 85w (450w equiv). I bought one. Good, but imposing (fitting a light shade reduces overall light). Perhaps a bit of mercury gas leakage if broke (my developed a crack after 3 years). I'd now consider a 40w (200w equivalent), especially if around 5000 colour temp.

I've managed to grab a few 42W 2800L CFLs but they were
3000k, not what you want. I tend to pass them off as I have
no need for that much light in one place, but got good deals.
Next time I'm out and about I'll check for what's available in
4000-5000k OTC, but I see you're in the UK. Typical regular
price here is about $12-$15 but if you need to go to a specialty
supplier, could be more (as a reference point).

Dave

 

[ktm032]

You could use these as they are 29 bucks each shipped. They use 48 nichia gs k1's and you can opt for the warm bin and the cool bin, which ever you prefer. At 700 lumen each, they only consume 6 watts and use a standard light bulb fixture and they are dim-able. Also they emitt no heat and will last 20k hrs at the absolute minimum.

To light up 1000 sq feet you would only need six of these and it would only consume 30 watts. That's pretty efficient and will only 174 bucks shipped and no modding or wiring needed.

This is a 100 percent dependable company that warranties all their stuff and has great customer service.

Here's a link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/700-Lumens-AC-LED-BULB-Warm-White-Cool-White-/120608369012?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0

Hope this helps with adding some possibilities.

I have their 2 of their 18v worklight modules and 6 of their maglite (C or D) modules and they all work flawlessly and their claim on lumens is 100 percent on spec, so no flake on specs here. They are great for the money and can not find anything better for the money and ease.

 

[Barbarin]

Barbarin, are they costly, and can they fit into a regular UK power outlet? I'm no electrician, so it could be tricky, although if the DIY is easy, I could give it a shot. Also, it is 4200ºK right? The light seems a little bluish, though maybe that's just the camera setting?

To further the idea of T8 tubes, it would seem I need a ballast. Assuming each make some kind of noise, are electronic or conventional ballasts quieter? And if I fit 4 T8 tubes, do I need a ballast for each one?

Thanks all for trying to help on this matter. :twothumbs

Definetively it requires some skills, as what I can send you is just LED stripes, with high output PLCC's. This means not just a lot of light, but to take care of heat dissipation. I'm using alloy profiles, specifically designed, but as they are very long you should have to use your own solution (complicated shipping). You should get also a 24 V DC source, which is not complicated by itself, but is an addition.

So, the cons are as explained... the pros is that you would get a very innovative look, a very good light distribution, and a very good lux value with a very low consume (let's say 60 Watt for 4000 real lumen).

Any other question, please feel free.

Javier

 

[Twinbee]

Cheers all for the info.

jtr1962, I might research more into this thanks to what you've said. I guess I'll also need to conceal the wires which connect from the ballast to the 4 tubes.

I was also thinking of getting some of the brighter tubes, at 70 watt each. This would mean about 4*70=280 watt of light. However, the 'maximum limit' on the ceiling light fixture is 100 watt, but I'm not sure if that assumes a standard hot-running incandescent is going to fitted, so it may be estimated at 100 watt max due to heat issues, rather than the maximum power supply that it can provide. Obviously, heat won't be a problem with the tubes since they'll be away from the fixture.

Otherwise, maybe a standard mains socket system is possible to implement instead?

Dave_H, thanks - I'd be happy to pay up to £30-40 for an apx 4000-5000k 40-50w CFL.

ktm032 - interesting and definitely some of the brightest ready-to-buy LED bulbs I've seen. However they're still only around 700 lumens (about 40w incandescent equivalent), so unless I can get a multiple plug adaptor (which I don't think exists for light bulbs) to fit many bulbs into one ceiling socket, it's out the question I think.

Barbarin, cheers also. Your solution or something like it is not out the question if I have time to research that too. LEDs are becoming ever cheaper, efficient and powerful, so undoubtedly we'll all be using LEDs (or OLEDs) in the long run. That's a great project you made there.

I wonder if anyone is insane enough to have a Metal Halide floodlight in their living room to reduce the dull-lit cave effect. Y'know the kind usually used for lighting football pitches More efficient (and initially expensive) than halogen, and I know it's HID, but it may be worth a try... 500w-1kw of that light would be pretty awesome.

 

[Dave_H]

Cheers all for the info.

Dave_H, thanks - I'd be happy to pay up to £30-40 for an apx 4000-5000k 40-50w CFL.

I checked a Wal-Mart store, which had two 40/45W spiral CFLs
which were 4100k, not 5000k as you preferred, but getting closer.
One was 2250L/6000h at ~ $12 (CDN), said to replace 150W incan;
the other 2600L/10000h to replace 200W incan. for $20. They had
a ruggedized version of the latter for a bit higher cost, but lower
output probably due to protective coating.

Ones I bought (2700k,42W, 2800L) are fairly big, about 17cm height from
tip of base (E26) and 7cm diameter; not sure which bases are avaialble
to suit you (GU24?). People seem to like them for lighting garages (not
completely exposed to the elements).

I can't vouch for these particular ones, but gives an idea what's
out there.

Dave

 

[LEDninja]

I'd be happy to pay up to £30-40 for an apx 4000-5000k 40-50w CFL.

Does that mean you are in the British Isles?
What is the voltage/frequency over there? (230V/50Hz?)
What bulb socket type do you use?

 

[Twinbee]

Yep, the UK (see title). I'm not too worried about the socket type, because converters are very cheap, though I use B22 (bayonet).

 

[broadgage]

A cool white 60 watt CFL is available, output roughly equal to 250 watt incandescent.
They use a tightly folded T2 tube and are relatively compact, for the wattage.
Sold in the UK by international lamps.

Another option might to be to replace the fixture with a chandelier that takes multiple lamps.
4 CFLs each of 23 watts, or 6 each of 15 watts should give enough light.

 

[Twinbee]

Thanks broadgage - I'll look into that too.