I'm no longer able to do anything myself, except make a nuisance of myself to the tradesmen I hire to do jobs for me. And the first rule of good interference is to know what you're talking about - preferably before you specify the job and hire the tradesmen. So here I am at a place called DIY NOT, hoping that the emphasis on the "not" is acceptable. 
I have an L shaped landing with the stairs coming up the short arm and the long thin one leading down past a couple of doors to an end bedroom. We currently have just two lights, one above the head of the stairs and the other nearly at the end of the "corridor". Both are triple lights, with bulbs that won't fit anywhere else in the house. Both are now nearly dead, with only one bulb working. Both are on dimmer switches.
We don't much care for "candelabras", we don't like dimmer switches generally and especially not in non-living spaces and would like to move over to more sensible bulbs. I've had family opinion that says, "Just put in single fittings and energy-saving bulbs and straight switches," and ones that hymn the virtue of fluorescent strips and even some in favour of retaining the dimmers.
Me, I know that the electrics will probably need looking at and also that the ceiling needs painting (no wooden panelling here), so I think this is the time for a technological leap and I want to go over to LED lighting - if that's practical.
When I first thought of this 4 years ago, LEDs were strictly for display lighting and faddists. I get the impression, however, that LEDs are now ready for the mainstream. My own preference is to have 2 tracks of LED lighting with spots that can be used for to light the corridor bookcases and/or pictures and then one standard pendent light - also LED for preference - to cast light down the stairwell.
Questions:
1] Is it possible to find an LED lamp which could be put in a fairly standard shade (yet to be picked!) to light the stairway?
2] Can I put LED lights on a track using the wiring which currently supports the 3-lamp light fitting now in place?
3] Is it practical to specify a "neutral white" LED, which would be the best if we decide to put pictures up - some suppliers do not appear to stock them?
4] Since we will be looking at a brand new fitting in both cases, which sort of LED should I expect to install? I've seen a lot of talk about different letters (GU10, M16R, etc) but nothing that helps much - "Will fit where your halogen lights went," is no help at all since I'm replacing the light fittings as well as the bulbs. I don't even know whether the future lies with bayonet or screw fittings.
I've a reasonable capital budget, so saving a few quid on every bulb is not a pre-requisite. Getting it right first time so that I don't have the hassle of calling (and paying) an electrician to change a technological or aesthetic mistake would be much worse. What I don't have is time or energy to climb around trying things out.
Suggestions?
I have an L shaped landing with the stairs coming up the short arm and the long thin one leading down past a couple of doors to an end bedroom. We currently have just two lights, one above the head of the stairs and the other nearly at the end of the "corridor". Both are triple lights, with bulbs that won't fit anywhere else in the house. Both are now nearly dead, with only one bulb working. Both are on dimmer switches.
We don't much care for "candelabras", we don't like dimmer switches generally and especially not in non-living spaces and would like to move over to more sensible bulbs. I've had family opinion that says, "Just put in single fittings and energy-saving bulbs and straight switches," and ones that hymn the virtue of fluorescent strips and even some in favour of retaining the dimmers.
Me, I know that the electrics will probably need looking at and also that the ceiling needs painting (no wooden panelling here), so I think this is the time for a technological leap and I want to go over to LED lighting - if that's practical.
When I first thought of this 4 years ago, LEDs were strictly for display lighting and faddists. I get the impression, however, that LEDs are now ready for the mainstream. My own preference is to have 2 tracks of LED lighting with spots that can be used for to light the corridor bookcases and/or pictures and then one standard pendent light - also LED for preference - to cast light down the stairwell.
Questions:
1] Is it possible to find an LED lamp which could be put in a fairly standard shade (yet to be picked!) to light the stairway?
2] Can I put LED lights on a track using the wiring which currently supports the 3-lamp light fitting now in place?
3] Is it practical to specify a "neutral white" LED, which would be the best if we decide to put pictures up - some suppliers do not appear to stock them?
4] Since we will be looking at a brand new fitting in both cases, which sort of LED should I expect to install? I've seen a lot of talk about different letters (GU10, M16R, etc) but nothing that helps much - "Will fit where your halogen lights went," is no help at all since I'm replacing the light fittings as well as the bulbs. I don't even know whether the future lies with bayonet or screw fittings.
I've a reasonable capital budget, so saving a few quid on every bulb is not a pre-requisite. Getting it right first time so that I don't have the hassle of calling (and paying) an electrician to change a technological or aesthetic mistake would be much worse. What I don't have is time or energy to climb around trying things out.
Suggestions?
