Downlights for Kitchen

My Mrs would like some downlights putting in our kitchen ceiling .
We already have some in our bathroom . Im not a big fan of the ones we have , as its hard work changing the bulbs (halogen) ones , and there not really bright enough . There limited to 50 watts . We have 5 in around 8 sq meters . Also , they get very hot , and tend to crack the plaster surrounding them . Ive had to re-plaster the area around 3 of them in the 12 months theyve been up
Can anybody suggest which the best type - Im told L.E.D. ones are better , as they dont get hot . Also , how many would I need , to give off a good amount of light . My ceiling is 9M square , or 3M x 3M .

Two of these:
http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/GLPL226E.html

colin H said:

We already have some in our bathroom . Im not a big fan of the ones we have , as its hard work changing the bulbs (halogen) ones , and there not really bright enough . There limited to 50 watts .

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Well, consider that once upon a time the bathroom would have been lit by 60 watts of glorious incandescent light from a standard lamp. And it would have been bright enough. What you have now is 250 watts, and its NOT bright enough. Now you see, halogen downlighting is fundamentally flawed. Get rid. Fit some LEDs. My mum has some in her bathroom, 6 x 3 watts = 18 watts, and its very bright. Fit the ones with one or 3 LEDs per capsule, they are better quality than the ones with 20+ per capsule, though more expensive.

Colin - recessed lighting can be OK, but only in large sizes.

The little 2" diameter ones came out of the retail display market, where they were designed to throw small pools of light onto individual items. Ever noticed how a common term for them is spotlights?

They are actually specifically designed to not be any good for providing general room illumination.

I referred to them as torches, and if you look at the business end of a Maglite you'll see a marked similarity to an MR16 lamp. Fiddling with the lamp technology does nothing to address the problems of the format.

In places like kitchens, bathrooms, WCs, possibly hallways and landings where you just want unobtrusive efficient lighting that just gets on and does the job, something like this is ideal:





Or, for kitchens in particular, there's a lot to recommend good old tried and trusted fluorescent strip lights.

They don't have to look like this:




For example the top right one here:




or these:





And these are all from one maker.

[EDIT] Possibly discontinued now, but if you look at the products from commercial/architectural lighting makers you'll probably find all sorts of interesting fittings. [/EDIT]


Fluourescent lights can be dimmed. If you find one you like which isn't dimmable, look to see how easy it would be to replace the ballast with a dimmable one (which you can often find on fleaBay).



But you wouldn't want any of the above in living rooms, dining rooms, bedrooms. Back to looking in lighting shops and websites - cast your net wider than the limited range of cr*p they have in the sheds. As the old saying goes, if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. And if all you do is look in DIY sheds everything that isn't hideous looks like a downlighter.


In terms of basic technology, as well as fluorescent and LED, look into magnetic induction lamps, dielectric barrier discharge lighting (Osram have been sitting on their Planon technology for b****y years, which is a shame), and Electron stimulated luminescence.




If you want LED, again go for larger sizes, e.g. the Thorn BaseLED.




http://www.thornlighting.co.uk/download/Base_LED_Brochure.pdf

http://www.thornlighting.co.uk/PDB/Ressource/teaser/E2/TLG_BaseLED.pdf

http://www.thornlighting.co.uk/object/PDF/datasheet.aspx?CompanyID=7&GroupID=12650&CL=E2&CC=GB





Think if you could use cold cathode neons:



here's an example of that in a domestic kitchen showing that it isn't only suitable for nightclubs and hotel foyers:


(Ignore the fact that there are also torches in there )