Kitchen lighting/wattage question

I'm planning on replacing the flourescent fixture in my kitchen with some kind of track lighting. Right now I have 2 4-foot tubes.

Any suggestions as to how much wattage I need to produce a similar amount of light?

TIA, JSH

Reply to
Julie
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2-4ft tubes 40 watt , output the equivilant of 320w incandesant but track lighting is directed not dispersed , you may find you need ceiling light . I kept the flourescent and added can spot lights, kitchens need alot of light. In a 12x15 kitchen I ended up with 12 4ft flourescent tubes directed up in wood beams and 5 can lights and 6 mini spots all even flourescent on 3 separate dimmers equal to 2800 watts if needed, kitchens need light
Reply to
m Ransley

Well, light output wise (lumens), multipy the wattage of the two bulbs by 4 and that's approximately the wattage you'll need in the track lighting. But ...

-- Hype says multiply by 5, some sources say 6; NOT! - empirically its a lot closer to 4.

-- Track lighting is good, but ... what kind? Most track lighting gives more of a "spot" dispersal of light; they won't flood the entire room like a 4 foot tube of light. Some track fixtures are better than others, but they still are directional by design, IMO.

I'd say best thing to do is SEE some track lighting in use where you can see an actual installation, not the nice displays in the stores. If you can't do that, pick out what you feel you want to use, bring it home, put a plug on it temporarily, and tack/tape/whatever it to the ceiling and see what you think of it. Then you can decide better. IMO, flourescent light PLUS track lighting makes a great combo - soft light wash all over, and useful spots that'll cover the sink, under cupboards, etc better than the flourescent will.

If you're a big light using house, kitchen always lit, you'll also see a visible change in your electric bill. When I removed out track lighting, I took the fixtures to the garage and mounted them, taping off dust access, etc. once I had them set where I wanted them, and put flourescent screw-in 100W equivalent flourescents (14 watts I think they are, or 17; somewhere in there). It adds just enough to the ancandescant lighting to make it good for finishing work, etc. Then I add halogen at a low angle to see defects in the final finish. Non-flourescent lighting also is worse for shadows; they're a lot more distinct and less washed out because ot the "directionality" of the source for the light.

Pop

Reply to
Pop

"Pop" wrote

I apologize for the ignorance, but I don't know (can't seem to find out!) the wattage of the tubes. From m.ransley - 40 W per linear foot?

I'm thinking of getting creative with several hanging pendants from (generally) the space the flourescent box now occupies, spread apart a bit to mitigate the "spotlight" effect. The pendants I've seen seem to come in 35-50 W. increments.

It's a smallish kitchen (7x12ish), but open to a larger area and natural light. Unfortunately, the under-the-cabinet space is too shallow - maybe 1/2" - for lights. The (mounted) microwave has counter lights that help.

Thanks for your thoughts - much appreciated.

JSH

Reply to
Julie

probably a 40 watt tube, 2 equal 320 incandesant,or regular bulbs

Reply to
m Ransley

The whole thing can get rather complex. It is easy to come up with the same total light output, but the distribution may be far different. Generally the track lighting is going to produce much less light per watt, and I see Ransley already gave you that figure, but you may be more interested in how much light is delivered to ???? You likely want to light a counter area, but how about the rest of the room. The track lighting is likely to focus more of it's lower output on the work area, and maybe deliver the same light with not many more watts, but then other areas are going to be darker.

Experience is helpful to get it right the first time. If you get a good track system, you will be able to add more lights, change wattage, and types of lights to customize the results after the first try. A cheap unit is going to offer very little change capability.

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

slight correction 40 watts per tube for T-12 lamps. 32 watts for T-8 lamps 2 tubes 80 watts, lumens can vary by lamp manufacture slightly.

T-12 are the standard ones that are 1 1/8 inch in dia. The T-8's are 1 inch in diameter.

Reply to
SQLit

SQ she was refering to output equivilance right. Incandesant output 17

-LPW Lumen per watt. standard T-12, 40 watt apx 70 LPW and up to

  1. Im sure she doesnt have electronic ballast H0 T8 which go to 115 LPW more than 6.5 times as efficient as incandesant bulbs. I just figured generic T-12
Reply to
m Ransley

So I replaced the standard fluourescent box in my kitchen with a track of halogens, and fitted out the box with metal panels. It came out pretty decent. Thought I'd share the pic and the idea ...

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JSH

In "response" to my how-many-watts question, I replaced 4x40W tubes with

4x50W track floods and a 3x35W set of hanging pendants (mostly decorative). It seems fine.
Reply to
Julie

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