Unless you have a very big house, consider whether there are that many lights because the person who put them in decided to use lights that are not very good at doing the job of lighting up rooms.
MR 16 Lampholders
- Thread starter bolst3r
- Start date
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FWIW, the kitchen/dining/seating area has a corridor leading onto a 7 x 8m open-plan room, there are two strips of spots over the kitchen area (one over appliances, one over the island/breakfast bar), a circle over the dining table, a couple over the seating area and a couple in the corridor. Zonally they are perfect and aren't all on at once, so about 20 in the kitchen, we then have a utility room, larder, playroom, craft room and cloakroom... you can see how it soon ads up. We don't just have spots but mood lighting however, where needed we have spots.
Regardless i'm not going to go around removing a stack now.
Luckily when these were put in I went for LV spots, they aren't on the endangered list at the moment and don't consume anything like mains halogens. Saying that it would be best at some point to replace them for LEDs although the cost outlay and time VS lower running costs, i'm not sure if there would be a huge saving.
I think you mean that they are 12v. That makes them ELV. 230v is defined as LV.
REALLY??? You are misinformed. Tell me how a 50watts halogen at 12v consumes less than a 50watts halogen at 230volts.
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Yup, how can there be a saving if they are the same wattage? There can't be! Apologies
It's so long since the lights went in I can't remember the rationale behind them, think it might have been the shallower depth and ease of testing and replacement with the click flameguard gear. Either way it really seems like time to upgrade! Looks like in the kitchen alone I can save £100+ in the first year so after year two i'm up and subsequent years the savings will really help, especially with energy costs on the climb. I have a spare lamp holder so will buy a convertor kit and some bulbs and see what is possible. Two things that might need some thought is how to earth the new system as LV didn't use the earth and if I can get a decent LED bulb shallow enough, my dad said his where too deep and he had to make some modifications...
Seems like now is the time to do it though!
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Can't help on the dimensions issue. But there are plenty of LED fittings. Or you could just convert the existing ones.
Re the earth. The fittings themselves may not need earthing, but the earth must be looped through on the mains cabling so that the earth is carried through each junction right to the last one.
Re the earth. The fittings themselves may not need earthing, but the earth must be looped through on the mains cabling so that the earth is carried through each junction right to the last one.
Indeed.
If you try to light up rooms with lights which are fundamentally designed to not light up rooms then the number you need soon adds up, as each one only lights up a small amount of space.
I'm going to buy a few test items and see what I can make-up that's suitable, will try in the utility room first as that only has two... I have a sinking feeling the dimmers used will either need replacing or the internals upgrading which is my main fear as I know the box it very tight so little room for anything else.
Chances are you will need to change the dimmers.
The chances are also non-zero that when you find an LED bulb and dimmer combination which works OK, it will stop working, or will work differently so that each bulb is not at the same level of brightness, when you replace a bulb in the future. Be prepared for the possibility that you'll have to replace all of them in a room if one fails.
The chances are also non-zero that when you find an LED bulb and dimmer combination which works OK, it will stop working, or will work differently so that each bulb is not at the same level of brightness, when you replace a bulb in the future. Be prepared for the possibility that you'll have to replace all of them in a room if one fails.
Sorry, just so I understand this right, I'm likely to have the following issues with LEDS:
- Dimmer might stop working (can happen to LV also right)
- Dimmer wont work the same way with each bulb so they will be different brightness
- When Replacing a bulb, it's highly likely it wont match the others, necessitating all bulbs be replaced at the same time
If the above it true, and i'm not saying it's not as you guys obviously have way more experience than me, why would anyone upgrade? The annual savings could be wiped out with all the hassles along the way. Or am I getting this totally wrong (again)
When you decide on which lamps (bulbs) you like, get some spare, then you're pretty much future proofed for a good while. They're not that expensive these days.
If, for example, your utility has only got two fittings (like I think you said), you can always pinch some from there, and replace them.
Although I wouldn't think dimming lights in the utility is what's needed.
Although I wouldn't think dimming lights in the utility is what's needed.
But apart from that, they last for yonks.
O dear. Did you not read TWs post when he said:
"I think you mean that they are 12v. That makes them ELV. 230v is defined as LV."
Yes my bad, I used the wrong acronym but the point still remains.
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