I have some problems with lighting in the flat that I own. The lighting was installed by a previous owner, and largely consists of halogen 12V MR16 downlights. When I arrived the bulbs were 50W, but as these have failed, I have been fitting 35W 36 degree beam angle halogen bulbs, because I felt the existing lighting was excessively bright.
The halogen lights are supplemented by standard lamps and bedside lamps fitted with tungsten bulbs.
My main problem is flicker. I have dimmer switches, and I know these cause problems with this type of lighting (the halogen lighting). However, when the lights aren't flickering, I do quite enjoy the quality of light that I am getting when the lights are dimmed. I find that, undimmed, the light is really too bright and the colour temperature a bit too high for my liking.
I have tried to research lighting topics on this forum, but there seems to be a bit of a crusade against downlighting because of its alleged inefficiency, whereas I am more interested in trying to achieve a relaxing environment, although I am not claiming that downlights are necessarily good for that either.
I am wary of more modern lighting such as LED and CFL, but I am mostly ignorant about it. The few times I have encountered these things, I have found the light to be very harsh and industrial, although I am aware there is huge variation in the characteristics of lights of these types.
I never really had any difficulties with tungsten lighting, and always enjoyed it, especially the colour temperature when dimmed.
Is anyone aware of good resources on the internet where I can read up on alternative lighting solutions? I am particularly interested in achieving a nice warm glow, and don't really care about efficiency, although I am not against it if it can be achieved at the same time.
The halogen lights are supplemented by standard lamps and bedside lamps fitted with tungsten bulbs.
My main problem is flicker. I have dimmer switches, and I know these cause problems with this type of lighting (the halogen lighting). However, when the lights aren't flickering, I do quite enjoy the quality of light that I am getting when the lights are dimmed. I find that, undimmed, the light is really too bright and the colour temperature a bit too high for my liking.
I have tried to research lighting topics on this forum, but there seems to be a bit of a crusade against downlighting because of its alleged inefficiency, whereas I am more interested in trying to achieve a relaxing environment, although I am not claiming that downlights are necessarily good for that either.
I am wary of more modern lighting such as LED and CFL, but I am mostly ignorant about it. The few times I have encountered these things, I have found the light to be very harsh and industrial, although I am aware there is huge variation in the characteristics of lights of these types.
I never really had any difficulties with tungsten lighting, and always enjoyed it, especially the colour temperature when dimmed.
Is anyone aware of good resources on the internet where I can read up on alternative lighting solutions? I am particularly interested in achieving a nice warm glow, and don't really care about efficiency, although I am not against it if it can be achieved at the same time.
