Replace Halogen downlighters?

[Aldrich]

Hi

We have two 100W 240V 80mm halogen downlighters in our bathroom. I know little about lighting and would welcome some advice about whether or not to replace the bulbs or the units. My goal would be to minimise running costs while maintaining an adequate lighting level. Specifically, my questions are:

1) Are 240V energy saver bulbs available to directly replace the halogen lamps?

2) Are Extra Low Voltage lighting units available that would fit the existing apertures in the ceiling and, if so, would such lighting be more economic than the existing mains voltage units?

I will be grateful for any recommendations of equipment and suppliers.

David

[Mike]

Yes - but they will be not as bright. Also I expect your existing downlighters are not halogens though I may be wrong. All our RO80s are normal incandenscents and after trying a CFL we went back to them.

Not that I've seen. And if they did they would probably use more power, not less.

[Andrew Gabriel]

The GE Genura 23W is designed as an R80 replacement lamp. It is rather unusual in being an electrodeless fluorescent lamp. This means its life is not at all reduced by frequent switching -- actually its life is pretty much dictated by the life of the integral control gear which in turn is dependant on the running temperature, but can easily exceed the life of most other compact fluorescents if adiquately ventilated. It does however have a rather noticable run-up time of a couple of minutes, with initial light output only about half the final level. The GE Genura is not cheap, but if you do the calculations verses a 100W R80, the savings are still substantial.

[The Natural Philosopher]

In tems of bulb replacement certainly.

Its no as though the massive amont of time you spend having a shower is going to adversely affect the worlds CO2 levels is it?

Get bathroom capable 50W LV units and small transformers to go with

Try Newey And Eyre - usually in your nearest town,

[N. Thornton]

Aldrich:

questions

halogen

suppliers.

Halogens are very high run cost, CFLs low run cost. Uplighters are cheaper to run than downlighters if you have a white ceiling. The 2 can be mixed if wished.

CFL downlighter units are larger than the mini halogens, and you might need 3 instead of 2, as quoted cfl power equivalents are almost always misleadingly optimistic. Real equivalence is 3.5x to 4x.

R80 CFLs are available at high price, but even then they still save money overall. But they dont come on bright.

If I were fitting CFL lighting I'd make sure it came on at or near full brightness, as bathroom lights are switched freuqently.

CFLs come in various colour temperatures, 2700K is the same version of white as trad filament bulbs, other colour temps are less well accepted by consumers. Certainly avoid anything like 4000K, 6800K, or similarly horrid high colour temp ones.

About time I wrote a FAQ!

NT

[Andrew Gabriel]

The GE Genura which I mentioned earlier in the thread is brighter than the 100W lamp it replaces. Electrodeless fluorescents are more efficient than traditional compact fluorescent tubes, and do better than the normal 4x equivalence rule.

That is one problem with the Genura -- it has a quite noticable run-up time. However, it handles frequent switching with no problem.

I have found the 2D compact fluorescent lamps tend to be quite good for initial light output. I bought a couple of light fittings for my bathroom and converted them to take 21W 2D lamps with separate electronic control gear.

[Mike]

I'm afraid that's the one we tried. It's now in the conservatory where the leisurely turn on is actually quite relaxing :-)

[Nick Atty]

In some ways that sounds quite attractive - it will get up to full brightness while you run your bath, allowing you to read while you soak; but will be dim when you nip in in the middle for the night for a quick wee and so won't wake you up as much.

[N. Thornton]

Put in light fitting(s) with more than one bulbs, and a double light switch. Now youve got 3 light levels for 24-7 comfort, a bulb failure wont be any problem, and you reduce run costs and save energy as well. I estimated once it paid its extra cost back in something like 9 months - that will vary depending on details.

NT

[David M]

I can't understand why anyone puts in standard 50W halogens, stick with 35W max. and you will not notice any significant difference.

The only reason to go with 50W bulbs is if you go for the ones with an extra wide beam spread ,upto 60degrees IIRC.

cheers

David

[Lurch]

On Wed, 05 Jan 2005 16:37:09 +0000, David M strung together this:

Well, 50W's are 15 brighter. ;-)

[The Natural Philosopher]

Precisely. The bulbs are IIRC cheaper as well.