So i've been forced to move into a smaller house due to a cash flow crisis.
The house right now has one regular lightbulb in each room - now the problem si, that they are all off to the side. Apparently the owner intended to put in downlights but never got around to doing it. The previous owner has a contact who can get me downlights at cost price, I just need to pick what type I want.
I have a mate who is an electrician, who is coming from Adelaide in a month, and can do the labour for free.
The light to the side makes it barely usable, and so I am after recommendations on downlights.
From my research, I have ascertained the following:
Halogen seems to be cheap to buy, but expensive to run, whilst LED seem to be expensive to buy and cheap to run.
CFL seems to be somewhere in the middle, but brightness is an issue.
Am I missing other options here?
Keeping in mind my cash flow problems, but also wanting to keep long term running costs in mind, what is the best option?
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Low voltage halogens are just as expensive to run as 240V lamps, but because they are designed to pass most of the heat trhough the reflector, they are a potential fire hazard if there isn't plenty of free space around them in the ceiling, and you need to check them periodically to ensure no material has moved closer to them.
There are some very good LED downlights available these days, such as clusters of 3W CREE LED's which have similar output to a 50W halogen.
They run fairly cool and have a long service life and different colour temperature models are available.
As you mentioned, they are expensive, but should last much longer than halogens and they are much safer.
LED's seem to go for around $50 upwards. I need some 25 lights, which costs $1250. I'll look into LED and perhaps put them in the living areas, where they will be on for long periods of time, compared to bedrooms where they will be on for much shorter periods of time and so cost savings there will be minimal
Thanks
As others gave said, standard (ie freestanding) lamps are the go. Easy to reposition, easy to change bulbs etc. Theones that reflect upward have solved a couple problems in my studio/office/vivisection room...
One thing to watch with LED lighting is their light distribution angle. They might produce more lux but you will require more of them to lit the room compare to standard halogen ones. I could be mistaken as I only evaluated LED replacement light globes for industrial applications. Also what is very important to consider is the light direction. You don't want to have majority of vertical light beams as this wll cause a lot of shadowing from furniture in the room. Good balance of vertical and horizontal beams will produce better general lighting background and shouldn't be disregarded when people evaluate their lighting options.
What I am trying to say is it might be missleading when you compare just a single light globe purchase price and running cost. Look at the whole picture - how many lights you will need of each type to give you what you want and then do the math.
Last edited by fromaron; 05-02-11 at 03:08 PM.
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