Advice for dimly lit lounge

[cooa99]

We have a north facing lounge approximately 5.2m x 4.5m in size. The french doors at one end are the only source of natural lighting. There is only a single ceiling 35w CFL spiral bulb. The bulb is permanently on even during the day. This seems to be the most powerful bulb I have seen without opting for a 100w Incandescent bulb. The walls are painted barely white or very light cream.

Working from home means spending more time in the lounge and I just find the room too dark for my liking. I also hate the creamy glow on the bulb

I thought about having GU10 LED downlights fitted but it will be a nightmare lifting all the floorboards and carpets upstairs to do this.

I could do with ideas on best ways to increase the lighting significantly in this room.

Thanks

 

[AndyPRK]

If the ceiling is white and clean I like uplighters on the wall.

Want at least 2

fit them 1/3 the way down the wall.
Just have a flexi cable to start with and plug them into a 13A socket.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/282998922558
Screwfix do them. £10 + led ses candle


https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/184863385684

 

[333rocky333]

What about a five arm chandelier you can then fit 5 Led lamps
Wattage dont mean a lot nowadays in relation to light output, you may find a lower wattage Led gives out more light than your 35w Cfl, a lot of Cfl lamps were warm white 830 colour, which can be a bit dull

 

[studentspark]

Just your standard lamps, that you plug into the sockets. These give good light, and you can't see the light source. So easy on the eye, you get a nice level of ambient light, with no expense, apart from the lamp it self. And if you need more directional light, buy a lamp that suits that need. Overhead lighting is a poor way to light a domestic room. (IMO) Its to harsh. OK for kitchens when you may need light when cooking . But generally we want it a bit softer.

 

[Sureitsoff?]

floor standing uplighters like these with led bulbs
https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/tagarp-floor-uplighter-black-white-20464051/

£7 each so worth a try

 

[cooa99]

Thanks very much for the ideas, I think I'll give the 5 arm chandelier and plugin uplighters a try.

Will painting the walls white make a difference?

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Ditch the CFL for an 100w LED equivalent to start with- the light output on compact florries dropped with age quite a lot.
Then look at others- standard lamps are good. Downlights aren't ideal for living spaces

 

[Tricky-Dicky]

Hi cooa99,
Similar situation to my room, we fitted a 5 arm chandelier that takes E14/SES bulbs. The bulbs use 4 watts each giving out the equiv of 35 watts of light ie 175 watts in total.

RYET LED bulb E14 470 lumen, globe opal white - IKEA

 

[JohnD]

If you want a really strong lamp, look for a 24W or 25W LED Globe. The opal globe is about 125mm diameter, which helps reduce glare.

I got a couple of them for large rooms where the lamp is exposed, IMO they look quite good.

Not often seen, I have had Phillips and GE and some other brands.

If you have any CFLs in the cupboard, put them in hall, landing and porch lights that run for long periods, the warm-up time will not matter.

 

[ericmark]

I used an eight arm chandelier, and 8 x 6 watt bulbs, however still not really good enough, at around 560 lumen each, so 4480 lumen, the 35 watt CFL will be around 2000 lumen.

I used a plug in ceiling rose, as an 8 arm chandelier is a little on heavy side, but well within the 5 kg regulation 559.6.1.5 of BS7671:2008 requires, but heavy to hold up while wiring it. So wired up on the floor then plugged in.

But we also have cabinet lights, and up lighters to add even more, the 2 meter coil of lights which have been on sale in Lidi use 2 to 22 watt depending on the setting used, so do give out a fair bit of light.

The other option is a plate of GU10 lamps, again we have a 5 lamp unit ready to be fitted top of stairs.

The other is lighting track so yet again multi-lamps, and it also means you can spread them out, all selected as it means no rewiring, in essence the lighting track is surface wiring, but not seen as surface wiring. I have not used lighting track in years, but it could be fed from a ceiling rose if you wish, so it can be arranged to get light everywhere, without having to rewire anything.

 

[cooa99]

My lounge ceiling height is only 2.33m so can't have something hanging lower than the current light bulb (at 30cm). Are the pics below the sort of lighting I should be looking at?

 

[AndyPRK]

I would be very careful with buying these online. The shades / lights may be smaller than they appear.

I do have an 8 ? shade one in my living room. 12v halogen and it does give good light.

I did buy a 3 shade one online (similar to the last picture) that I fitted with leds. And am disappointed with the light output.

I guess this doesn’t help you very much!

some quantity in the middle maybe ok!

 

[333rocky333]

Regarding new lights be wary of what lampholders they have fitted, due to a lot of Halogen lamps being phased out, you could be lumbered with a fitting that may not look right or even not work (due to transformer incompatibility) with the so called Led equivalent lamps, mainly G4 and G9 lamps

 

[ericmark]

Regarding new lights be wary of what lampholders they have fitted, due to a lot of Halogen lamps being phased out, you could be lumbered with a fitting that may not look right or even not work (due to transformer incompatibility) with the so called Led equivalent lamps, mainly G4 and G9 lamps

You have made a very good point, wife's bedroom uses G9 both these are G9, the small one would not switch off it flashed, and had a shimmer when turned on, but the covers did fit, the larger one worked great but covers would not fit, and can only buy on line.

 

[cooa99]

I have played around with a different lightings but still have issues, primarily because I am working from home atm and I need good lighting for video calls.

I (and hopefully with blessings from SHMBO) have decided that we could do with ceiling downlight. Ceiling area is not 4 sides, almost rectangle but it has 6 sides

So I guess the questions are should it be done by :
(a) Holes in the ceiling ...assuming no need for lifting floorboards upstairs
(b) Creating a suspended/droped ceiling

I guess both have their pros & cons. I am leaning more towards (a) thinking its easier & cheaper option but could do with advice on mitigating it's fire hazard cons