Kitchen Lighting

[Usenet Nutter]

What do you guys use for lighting your kitchen ? My kitchen which is 3.2m High x 3.2m x 3.9m ,has had several types of lighting over the years starting with a 5 ft fluorescent fitting ,then a single lamp pendant ,then a bar with 4 GU10 bulbs and now a fitting with 3 x 40 watt reflector lamps . The walls are white emulsioned. I may be wrong but my perception of the current bulbs is that they are not as bright as once they were and being ses fitting I think 40 watt is the highest I can get . I am seriously thinking of going full circle and going back to a fluorescent fitting. I could ,I suppose fit another light although it might need to be connected using surface trunking as the ceiling is plasterboard fitted to battens fitted to the previous ceiling when part of that one came down .

[Franko]

We had a twin fluorescent fitting in our kitchen for years until recently when my wife decided it looked dated and wanted something more modern.

She chose this modular spotlight design with 6 x 50w halogen bulbs (

this would be ideal.

It was absolutely awful, the focus of the lamps was far too specific and as soon as you approached the worktop you cast a shadow over whatever you were trying to do. It also gave off more heat than light which turned the kitchen into a furnace whilst cooking.

I went back to basics and looked again at fluorescents but hopefully in a more modern design. Found this one

a bit more modern than the old fluorescent, is flicker free and gives off a great, even light. Franko.

[NT]

If I were putting lighting in today I'd go for concealed linear fluorescent.

[John]

thinking this would be ideal.

Looks good - what is it like for cleaning? Is the reflector robust?

I would like a modern circular but the choice is almost nil. One that I saw in a National Trust Cafe was this - with a T5 tube. But alas too costly to have two of them:

[Usenet Nutter]

> thinking this would be ideal.

Remember it is £45 in total plus you need to buy tubes for it ...probably best locally

[Tim W]

John wibbled on Tuesday 13 October 2009 15:29

looks really nice. How much?

I've wondered why circular tube fittings all seem to look like this:

's *so* 1960's.

I did contemplate some circular fittings - tubes are cheap enough, with modern phosphors and electronic ballasts they ought to be quite pleasant for hall and kitchen usage. But the fittings are so naff.

Cheers

Tim

[Franko]

> thinking this would be ideal.

Haven't had it up for that long so the idea of cleaning it hasn't occurred yet :-) The reflector comes in four (I think) parts and simply snap in and out so will be easy to clean in the sink. Forgot to say in earlier post that the reflector is like a long grid so not bright to look at unless you're directly underneath looking up .... if you understand what I mean... Franko.

[John]

> That looks really nice. How much?

About £140

[Tim W]

John wibbled on Tuesday 13 October 2009 16:57

Ow. Looks the part though...

[Jules]

8 x 60W incandescents in two (oil-rubbed bronze) fixtures which point the bulbs at around 45 degrees to the horizontal. They give a nice even light around the kitchen, and the heat's handy at this time of year ;)

There's another single-bulb fixture in one corner of the kitchen above some worktops which I've never even tried since moving in, and another bulb built into the cooker hood which gets used quite often when someone's actually standing there.

We did ours in a fairly-dark sandy-red colour, but our counter-tops are almost white - we want to re-do the cupboards and counters sometime, but I think we might replace counters with white marble; the light colour seems to work well, whilst the darker walls cut down on glare from the lighting.

I'm not quite sure if I like the light - too white and clinical, somehow...

cheers

Jules

[Jules]

That's pretty much what I tore out of ours and replaced. Fun sorting the ceiling after something that wide's been on there for years and painted around many times (the replacement lights have bosses less than half the diameter of the old lighting)

I still need to rewire though as many of the lighting circuits in our place are still on the original 1940's stuff, and have seen better days - I might end up dropping the kitchen ceiling by an inch or so to do that room, as it'll be a lot easier than lifting boards above... not gonna happen this year, though :-)

cheers

Jules

[Jules]

Check building recyclers/reclaimation yards. I've got some amazing deals on lighting stuff in the last year...

[Usenet Nutter]

Well at least you can see by them ..lol

[Stuart Noble]

A 5ft fluorescent tube (electronic ballast) on top of the wall units,

2-3 LV downlights over the sink, and under cupboard strips work quite well with a white ceiling IME.

[ARWadsworth]

I guess that it is because you Grandparents has some fitted in the 60s and they were still in use when they passed away! Mine did. But at £140 for the modern equivalent I would stick with undercupboard lighting.

Cheers

Adam

[Bill]

In message , Franko writes

Hi Franko, I have just fitted two of those in my kitchen, end to end with a

12" gap between them. They replaced two rather dated, 15 year old, twin fluorescent's. I was worried that they may be a bit OTT but they have worked out well. >

[Franko]

Great lights aren't they Bill ! I'll be getting a couple for our office communal areas soon as the GU10 halogens that are there now blow at an alarming rate and give off crap light.

Franko.

[Jonelle]

( 3.2M high?!? Victorian house I guess?)

Anyway: I went back to a twin 4' fluorescent a couple of years ago, bought for about 35 quid at Homebase. It looks smart enough, but the most noticeable feature - especially at this time of year - is that it turns night into day, winter to summer.

Screw your fancy "contemporary design" fittings: give me LIGHT!

Cheers John

[Usenet Nutter]

Victorian Glasgow Tenement Flat .:-)

Yeah .that's what I say as well.!!! I noticed a few days ago that 3 x

40 watt bulbs doesn't hack it when the light starts to go in the afternoon.

[js.b1]

I was thinking that - if cold it is high enough to use a "sun infra red lamp".

Marks and Spencer seem to use a good IP rated one (Dimplex?) in their "indoor" plant area over the checkout, certainly brings a taste of summer... I came out bronzed :-)