Joined up thinking? Not really

[ban-all-sheds]

Recently bought a new lampshade (sorry - non-electric light is, I believe, the new term) to replace a flush light in a bedroom.

So - gonna need a rose and a lampholder etc. I wasn't sure if I had them or not - I knew I had some old roses, but not sure how grubby or yellowed, and I knew I had some lampholders, but not sure if they were E27 (which I wanted because almost all my other lights use E27 lamps and I don't want to have to keep more spares).

So as I was passing a B&Q I thought I'd pop in and buy them, just in case.

As far as I can see, none of the lights they sell use BC or SBC lamps.

The vast majority of the lamps on their shelves have E27 or E14 bases.

In the electrical aisle they had over a dozen combination of maker and type of lampholder (MK, Marbo etc, pendant, batten, angled batten etc).

All of them were BC.

It so happened that the store electrician was there, so I asked him if I was missing something - were they really all BC?

They were. Apparently what I had to do was to buy one, and then go to a wholesaler and buy a BC-ES adapter.

I pointed out the preponderance of ES lights and ES lamps at the other end of the store.

I know, he said wearily.

 

[plugwash]

Do traditional UK pendant lampholders even exist in ES? I don't think i've ever seen one.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Yes.

 

[pjcomp]

I appreciate that the end result helped justify your pseudonym BAS, but how can someone with a name like yours even go into one ... ?

pj

 

[ban-all-sheds]

The alternative is?

As well as no hardware stores or electrical shops, where I live we no longer have any fishmongers, any greengrocers, any decent bakers....

Sheds of one sort or another are all we are left with.

 

[securespark]

Which bit of the Smoke are you in to have none of those?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Western suburbia.

I'm sure that all of these places exist within a 20 mile radius, but none of them are together, none of them are arranged so that you can go from A to B to C by public transport, driving takes ages because of congestion, and then when you get there there's nowhere to park...

But up-market kitchen and bath shops, bijou cafes and pubs - we got loadsa them.

 

[333rocky333]

Would there be much domestic demand for es, holders if they kept them,

i would assume most domestic people buying lampholders proberly want bc to replace a faullty bc one, keeping there present 28mm shades that are not gonna fit a es holder which are commonly 40mm, as for the fittings they sell some off them are not designed to replace the holders easily. if at all, sometimes of push fit or moulded screwless type and if sold would not really be suitable for standard pendant use

When I worked in wickes they didnt even seem to stock the lamps to fit the fittings they sold, which was odd, if the display lights lampholders failed we were told to bin them rather than waste time attempting to repair them.

I remember when them 3 pin bc and pl lampholders came out, people moaned that ther old trusted favorite shades were to small to fit there nice new hallway

What shades would they have to stock 28mm or 40mm expecting you to fit unsitely adaptors, or both just in case

Are you near a ryness there good for odd bits like that, fulham, sutton, and free delivery over a tenner

 

[Astra99]

I buy any E14/E27 parts I need when I go over to Spain on holiday. They are quite cheap in the Chinese shops, and still reasonable in the ferreterias.

The only thing I have yet to find in Spain is a shade adapter ring from the 40mm E27 to the 25mm E14, the latter being fairly close to our 28mm BC holders. I am taking some metal "top hat" type and plastic C-type clip-in adapters with me next time I go over to show the retailers what I want.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Would there be much domestic demand for es, holders if they kept them,

Yes.

i would assume most domestic people buying lampholders proberly want bc to replace a faullty bc one,

Why assume that?

keeping there present 28mm shades that are not gonna fit a es holder which are commonly 40mm,

So nobody buys new shades any more?

Strange that so many places have them on display for sale, isn't it.

Next time I find myself in B&Q I'll look at some of their shades and see if they would take an E27 holder, just like the one I bought last weekend.

When I worked in wickes they didnt even seem to stock the lamps to fit the fittings they sold,

I am being perfectly serious when I say I genuinely believe that that sort of thing should be a criminal offence.

What shades would they have to stock 28mm or 40mm expecting you to fit unsitely adaptors, or both just in case

So - are you a betting man?

Want to make a wager that B&G sell no shades which would take a 40mm lampholder?

What about places like Ikea, John Lewis, BHS? Do you think they source shades from manufacturers that only make them to take 28mm lampholders?

You talk about unsightly adapters - the shade I bought will need the adapter in it if I use a BC lampholder. If I use an E27 I will be able to dispense with the adapter.

 

[ericmark]

When we decided to got to CFL we hunted many stores before we found a fitting to take any CFL without the lamp sticking out of the shade like something silly.

The best of a bad bunch used SES lamps and once bought we again had problems replacing the lamps from high street outlets that didn't poke out of the shade.

Near every lamp my wife liked had quartz halogen bulbs in them. In the main like the projector lamps. I would guess since used in projectors they got around the ban on large tungsten lamps?

I thought there was already a law about supporting products sold?

 

[333rocky333]

Fair enough, maybe 40mm shades are now more popular than when i last looked

I will have a look next time im workng in Bhs

 

[markocosic]

Ikea will sell you *everything* to go with their products and then some. Far far better thought out than the DIY sheds.

Nowhere* stocks anything useful and first class post/courier is cheaper than driving or the bus. Online all the way...

*except toolstation, which has pretty much everything you'd need except the bulky low value ****e, or tempting special offers and the over 60s on a wednesday discount. Still not worth going** to their shops though, as they'll post anything over a tenner ordered before 8pm or some daft cutoff out next-day for free anyhow...

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Electrical/White+Wiring+Accessories/d190/sd2633

**unless you want just one copper pipe, 40 mm waste pipe, or flourescent tube, which are available singly in store.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Toolstation don't sell ES lampholders though...

 

[djt205]

A criminal offence to not stock fittings for the lamps they sell... I'd hate to live in your world! They should be available, yes, but, as you know, sheds are run by database administrators not people who know what they're doing.