Which bulb for exterior PIR light?
- Thread starter wellyfish
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Give us a clue
When narrowed down a bit, we can further refine.
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Likely RS7, you can get both quartz and LED versions, the LED however looks very different
measure length.
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Note in UK outside lights limited to 150 watt without planning.
Untrue …
Yes, untrue relating to planning issues; but apparently true relating to building regs (In England and Wales anyway!) and efficiency
Building regulations: lighting | GOV.WALES
If you are carrying out electrical work and fixing lighting to the outside of your house in England and Wales, you will have to follow new building regulations rules.
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I seem to remember Part L1B See here for more info but possible the 150 watt is now expressed in lumen.
It seems it may have changed, I now find
"6.58 Where installed in a new or existing dwelling, each internal light fitting should have lamps with a minimum luminous efficacy of 75 light source lumens per circuit-watt." I look at the box the last GU10 came in and it says 5.5 watt 345 lumen bought in the high street not internet it is LED but at 62.72 lumen per watt it does not comply.
In real terms unless the light upsets some one, unlikely to be a problem. And in Wales where I live still using the old L1B building regulations, so OK here as long as under the 150 watt limit.
It seems it may have changed, I now find
Seems changed in 2021 so can't use quartz lights any more it seems, it now says
"6.58 Where installed in a new or existing dwelling, each internal light fitting should have lamps with a minimum luminous efficacy of 75 light source lumens per circuit-watt." I look at the box the last GU10 came in and it says 5.5 watt 345 lumen bought in the high street not internet it is LED but at 62.72 lumen per watt it does not comply.
In real terms unless the light upsets some one, unlikely to be a problem. And in Wales where I live still using the old L1B building regulations, so OK here as long as under the 150 watt limit.
What does not comply with what? The 6.60(b) you quote would appear to be satisfied if a 62.72 lumen/W light which is PIR+daylight-controlled, wouldn't it?
Kind Regards, John
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I will admit I am confused, we have regulations, and laws, and I am not sure what the difference is, and we have the actual law or regulation and official explanations of what they mean.
With BS 7671 for example it states it is not law, but can be used in a court of law, and will building regulations the LABC inspector can and does from time to time tell builders they are allowed to do things which seen to be against regulations and also ask for things which it seems are not covered by regulations. As to what a statutory instrument is not sure?
Have have only read the guide, and some of the requirements seem to have been dropped, I remember the L1 bulbs, designed to stop the owner reverting back to tungsten by have 3 pins on the side of BA22d bulbs, or a dimple on the GU10 bulbs which in real terms resulted in needing to buy more expensive bulbs, which were hard to find.
My wife bought a outside lamp requiring a R7s tube for Aldi, and it lasted around a day, but moved into this house around 3 years ago and there are two lamps using R7s tubes, and they still work, although not used much. But the Aldi one the bulb was replaced for an LED version
and it only just fitted, the reflector no longer works as a reflector, but hold the replacement unit facing outwards, but the cost of lamp plus LED tube worked out more than whole LED lamp, so fitted something like this 
at my mother house as cheaper, also the Aldi unit got water in it, had to drill drain holes, the Screwfix unit worked until house sold, I will admit I prefer a lamp where the bulb can be changed, but so often when it comes to change them you can't anyway as no longer sold.
I note you can still buy these from screwfix I note sold in packs of 3, I remember buying normal light bulbs in packs of 10, they had such a short life, however also bought LED bulbs in multi-packs.
But the question is when a whole lamp costs £9.50 is it worth buying a bulb at £8.36 (Screwfix prices)? I know I intend to replace my lights once building work is complete, what I am looking at is moving from PIR controlled to phone controlled, so I can turn it on before I get out of the car, and off once in house, the old one's would not see me until walked a good few steps towards them, and had a habit of switching off before I had got to top of steps, and I really have no desire to make it easy for intruders.
What I will do is fit a box, so renewing lamps in the future will be easy, and no twin and earth exposed to sun light.
The point is lighting has moved on, the cost of running the light has reduced, so today if expecting visitors I have no worried about having the lamp on dusk to dawn, and some zigbee bulbs can be programmed to do that, the problem is to work out what can be done, I had intended to use a remote control for one light, only to find it would only work with a bulb, not a relay.
What we thought we knew all about has changed so much, hard to keep up.
With BS 7671 for example it states it is not law, but can be used in a court of law, and will building regulations the LABC inspector can and does from time to time tell builders they are allowed to do things which seen to be against regulations and also ask for things which it seems are not covered by regulations. As to what a statutory instrument is not sure?
Have have only read the guide, and some of the requirements seem to have been dropped, I remember the L1 bulbs, designed to stop the owner reverting back to tungsten by have 3 pins on the side of BA22d bulbs, or a dimple on the GU10 bulbs which in real terms resulted in needing to buy more expensive bulbs, which were hard to find.
My wife bought a outside lamp requiring a R7s tube for Aldi, and it lasted around a day, but moved into this house around 3 years ago and there are two lamps using R7s tubes, and they still work, although not used much. But the Aldi one the bulb was replaced for an LED version
and it only just fitted, the reflector no longer works as a reflector, but hold the replacement unit facing outwards, but the cost of lamp plus LED tube worked out more than whole LED lamp, so fitted something like this at my mother house as cheaper, also the Aldi unit got water in it, had to drill drain holes, the Screwfix unit worked until house sold, I will admit I prefer a lamp where the bulb can be changed, but so often when it comes to change them you can't anyway as no longer sold.I note you can still buy these from screwfix I note sold in packs of 3, I remember buying normal light bulbs in packs of 10, they had such a short life, however also bought LED bulbs in multi-packs.
But the question is when a whole lamp costs £9.50 is it worth buying a bulb at £8.36 (Screwfix prices)? I know I intend to replace my lights once building work is complete, what I am looking at is moving from PIR controlled to phone controlled, so I can turn it on before I get out of the car, and off once in house, the old one's would not see me until walked a good few steps towards them, and had a habit of switching off before I had got to top of steps, and I really have no desire to make it easy for intruders.
What I will do is fit a box, so renewing lamps in the future will be easy, and no twin and earth exposed to sun light.
The point is lighting has moved on, the cost of running the light has reduced, so today if expecting visitors I have no worried about having the lamp on dusk to dawn, and some zigbee bulbs can be programmed to do that, the problem is to work out what can be done, I had intended to use a remote control for one light, only to find it would only work with a bulb, not a relay.
What we thought we knew all about has changed so much, hard to keep up.
You have a "Light" (luminaire) which is activated by a PIR (Passive Infrared Detector)
If they are not contained within the same "unit" (and they should not be so) the "Light" can be anything that you wish.
LED "Par" lamps (and their ES fittings) are a good choice.
If they are not contained within the same "unit" (and they should not be so) the "Light" can be anything that you wish.
LED "Par" lamps (and their ES fittings) are a good choice.
I'm not really sure why you say that "they should not be so", provided that the lamp/bulb is replaceable, since a 'combined unit' is really no more than a PIR detector plus a lampholder (and many people probably favour {aesthetically} having only one 'unit'). I agree that units combining a PIR detector with a non-replaceable lamp/bulb are not very sensible, since one then has to throw away the PIR detector if/when the lamp/bulb fails.
I agree. I use PAR38 LEDs (usually 15W-18W or thereabouts) in my garden.
Kind Regards, John
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