Bathroom lighting and new lamp types

[Keithclarke]

Forgive a newbie question. Our bathroom has two old-fashioned bayonet fittings with 60W spotlights in - they've been there for years with no problems with steam, etc. Now we've had a shower fitted quite close to one of them, and I'm wondering whether to do the sensible thing and replace them with proper bathroom fittings.

The problem is, since I last fitted any lights, all the new bulbs have taken over, and try as I might, I cannot figure out how I can replicate the brightness of the old spots. I see too many reviews where people say "Despite the rating of the bulbs the result was a bit dim" etc. I read that the measure of brightness is now lumens, but none of the products I see make any mention of the lumen measurement, only watts.

Could anyone give some basic advice to an old codger? What do I need for safe new fittings without losing any of the brightness of the good old-fashioned spots?

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Depending on the type of lamp you have rule of thumb would be 15-20 lumens per watt.
Would really depend on what type of fitting you would like in the room, this would be dictated by IP ratings as you main concern would be ingress of moisture and the zone in which the fitting is.
LED lighting has come a long way in recent times and is comparable with the old standard lamps used, but the angle of the beam is also important on how the light is distributed within the location.

 

[Keithclarke]

Many thanks. That throws some light on the subject!

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Many thanks. That throws some light on the subject!

Not only a newbie but a comedian to boot!

 

[ericmark]

The is light directly from the bulb and light reflected from other surfaces and the brighter the lamp the more useful light will be reflected and this is why the guide lines don't seem to work out.

So a very bright old lamp will reflect off the wall with enough light to see what you are doing but the more spread out light from newer florescent or LED lamps not being as concentrated will not reflect of the wall in the same way.

So if I was to take my living room and use two even spaced 100W tungsten bulbs of original design and replace with four 10W LED bulbs that light evenly spaced the the 10W would give out more light but what we try to do is use the original wiring so we use two pairs of 10W bulbs and these cast far more shadows then the pair of 100W bulbs.

Since a bathroom has white tiled walls not really a problem but this is why there is so much talk about the so called energy saving lamps not doing what they say on the packet.

The change of units don't help we always bought a bulb by wattage and although these charts

help it's also down to direction of light and intensity so only approx.
My living room started with:-
2 x 100W tungsten.
replaced by 2 groups of 3 x 40W tungsten.
replaced by 2 groups of 5 x 8W CFL.
being replaced by 2 groups of 5 x 1.6W LED candle lamps.
However we have also now got three lamps two being table and one being a standard lamp allowing us to light the shadows.

 

[Keithclarke]

Thank you, that's really helpful. I suppose one of my problems is that for so many light fittings I have found online the description doesn't seem to give any idea about the lamp except that it is a GU10 fitting, or whatever. Am I being particularly thick, or are retailers really leaving out this most basic piece of information? Or is it that you can put any bulb in, so long as it fits, unlike the old 60W max?

All I really want is one single ceiling spot and one bar with three or four spots and for them all to be as bright as possible. I would also like not to have spend an entire weekend at the top of a ladder cursing because the wiring is tricky. The two complaints I see in reviews are "too dim" and "too tricky". Any suggestions gratefully received.

 

[riveralt]

All I really want is one single ceiling spot and one bar with three or four spots and for them all to be as bright as possible. I would also like not to have spend an entire weekend at the top of a ladder cursing because the wiring is tricky. The two complaints I see in reviews are "too dim" and "too tricky". Any suggestions gratefully received.

Although it is likely that your spot light(s) will be outside the bathroom zones your banana bar may not.
//www.diynot.com/wiki/electrics:speclcn:bathroom_zones

In either case you will want to take into account the IP rating of your new lighting - particularly of the spot light which otherwise could allow damp into your roof or floor space.

Been to a number of houses with 'faulty bathroom lights' or tripping 'fuses' where the customer has used non ip rated lights in the bathroom.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Interesting.

The mods aren't usually so zealous.

Did somebody get bent out of shape?