How many halogens per switch?

[DumbBlonde5]

We have 9 halogens in our kitchen and they are all on a single switch. This was all fitted before we moved in. The bulbs don't seem to last long at all and we are getting fed up with changing them. We tried a lower wattage bulb to see if that helped and they have lasted slightly longer. Do you think this is too many lights for one switch? There is a single switch at two points in the kitchen both of which turn the lights on/off.

We want to change these all to LEDs in the future to save money. Will 9 of those be too many as well please?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

This was all fitted before we moved in.

You have my sympathy.

The bulbs don't seem to last long at all

That's what they do.

Do you think this is too many lights for one switch?

It's nothing to do with the switch.

We want to change these all to LEDs in the future to save money. Will 9 of those be too many as well please?

9 is not too many for the switch.

Sounds like a lot of lights for one room though - why so many?

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

We have 9 halogens in our kitchen and they are all on a single switch. This was all fitted before we moved in. The bulbs don't seem to last long at all and we are getting fed up with changing them. We tried a lower wattage bulb to see if that helped and they have lasted slightly longer. Do you think this is too many lights for one switch? There is a single switch at two points in the kitchen both of which turn the lights on/off.

If you have halogens at 50Wx9 you have 450W, trying lower watt lamp bulbs should have very little difference. It is all about the quality of the product regarding it's lifespan. Unfortunately halogen lamps have a reputation regarding lifespan, especially cheap ones.

We want to change these all to LEDs in the future to save money. Will 9 of those be too many as well please?

No, you will be much better off using LED.

 

[AndyPRK]

Start replacing them with LEDs

 

[eveares]

I agree, replace them with LED's!

I recently replaced 17 x 50w GU10 Halogens, for 17 x 5W LED GU10 Spotlights in my kitchen.

850w to 85w!

I am currently using these:http://www.tcpi.eu/products/led-bulbs/led-gu10-spotlights/led-gu10-5w

 

[ban-all-sheds]

17.

In one room.

17.


Utter madness.

 

[eveares]

Utter madness

17 may not be ideal, but I would not call it "Utter madness"

I also do tend to prefer bright lit rooms.

What would you do with my kitchen's lighting situation BAS?

Old video of my Kitchen before I switched to LED: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV3jb2Zrcok

 

[ban-all-sheds]

What would you do with my kitchen's lighting situation BAS?

Light it with lights designed to light rooms, not with lights designed to not do that.

 

[eveares]

Light it with lights designed to light rooms, not with lights designed to not do that.

Could you be more specific please? Strip out all the lights, and put candles evrywhere?

After all, I think 85w for a room the size of my kitchen is pretty good.

 

[RF Lighting]

Bas is very much stuck in the past and can not accept that several lights spread evenly across a ceiling does a great job of lighting a room.

It's better than one big light stuck in the middle of the room trying to light everywhere.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

After all, I think 85w for a room the size of my kitchen is pretty good.

The wattage is irrelevant.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Bas is very much stuck in the past and can not accept that several lights spread evenly across a ceiling does a great job of lighting a room.

It's nothing to do with being stuck in the past, and everything to do with the fact that it's the "several" which is the problem.

 

[RF Lighting]

How old fashioned. We've evolved to realise that lots of small lights gives a more even spread of light than one big light in the middle of the room. It makes perfect sense.

 

[Aragorn84]

Tiny 2" downlights are **** at lighting rooms, this seems immediately obvious to anyone with eyes, and i'm amazed given your forum name that you've not noticed it.

LED downlights are, in my experience, even worse than halogen ones, as the beam diffusion is much less, and they become even more of a spotlight, illuminating a tiny area of floor.

Hopeless things.

A kitchen is a functional area, and REQUIRES good illumination. You can be all arty-farty in a lounge or bedroom where it doesnt matter as much, but in a kitchen, where you use sharp knives and suchlike, it should be properly illuminated.

My kitchen has two twin-4ft HF linear fluro fittings with pleasing modern plastic diffusers on them. They look functional, but still pleasing to the eye. Those four lamps put out around 13500 Lumens, a light output that would require around 30 50w GU10 lamps, and consume 1.5kw. Even with LED's you'd still need 30 6w GU10 LED's, consuming 180w. My fluros use 144w.

 

[RF Lighting]

Your experience must be some what limited then. Typically LEDs will have a much wider beam angle than the halogen equivalent.

What a lot of people fail to realise is that with down lighters, it's not just a case of slapping a few in the ceiling and then being surprised that they don't do a very good job of lighting a room, and all the other issues regularly cited here by the nay sayers.

I've designed hundreds of downlighter installations, and not one of them exhibits the issues you mention.

I'll offer you the same opportunity as I have done to bas many times, to come and see a couple of properly designed installations and see just how well they light the room.