Advice on circular fluorescents

[dom]

Very high ceiling rooms (3.7 to 4.2m), so I really need wall lights that will kick out a good light level (there will also be switched lighting circuit, table lamps). Ceiling fittings would be too inaccessible and the light would be lost up there - or would need very long drop cables, which just wouldn't look right.

Tried a 28w 2-D fluorescent, still not enough light.

Finally I'm looking at G10Q circular fluorescents - these look very promising.

These are available in 22w, 32w, 40w and I think 60w (seen the tubes, but not the fittings in this size).

I've bought a Massive branded one from Screwfix this morning (a 32w one) - and I'm very pleased with the bright, even light.

?ts=61509(Model - Belinda - also branded as Philips Belinda I think)

Unlike other things I've looked at, the globe lights evenly, without an outline of the tube behind.

However 2 not so good things - it has a slight flicker from the non- electronic ballast - and the ballast runs pretty hot.

So 2 questions:

Do you know of an electronically ballasted G10Q fitting?

Can you suggest something with similar styling and high light levels (and reasonable cost - I need quite a few)?

(I've also looked at T4 straight tube miniature fluorescents to use in the kitchen - and these are excellent. Flicker-free electronic ballasts, excellent light levels - and very reasonably priced from TLC Direct)

[John]

?ts=61509>> (Model - Belinda - also branded as Philips Belinda I think)

This uses a circular T5

[dom]

tubes.

I think T5's always have electronic ballasts?

Do you know of a ceiling/wall flush fitting that uses T5 tubes?

[Bruce]

Strangely beautiful, but unlikely to be cheap.

[Owain]

What size rooms, and traditional or contemporary decor?

Could you give the illusion of dropping the ceiling using a lighting cornice to illuminate the ceiling, and then use uplighters to bounce light off the front of the cornice?

##################### | | | | 0 / cornice light |---- | \ | \ | V bounced light from uplighter on cornice front | | O / uplighter |---- |

[John]

I thought so after seeing them in a National Trust Coffee Shop and tracking down the maker - about £150 each.

Most other circular fittings seem to be left overs from the 1970's

[NT]

Light doesnt get lost if it comes from far up. What you get is a lot less glare, which is good, and more evn light spread. If you have a white ceilng then either uplighting or other lights mounted high up can light the place well. Uplights have the big advantage that relamping is easy. But stay away from the plaster uplighter type things, as uplighters they could hardly be less suitable.

One other way to light high ceilngs is to run 4 cables down to suspend a very big light fitting that throws all its light output upward. The fitting is big enough to take any type of lighting, present or future, and can be made as artistic as you like.

NT

[Andrew Gabriel]

What's the room used for?

Designers often under-run 2D lamps, because they sometimes want the extended light source but not the full power. (I have a little pile of 28W 2D electronic ballasts which run the tubes at 18W.)

I would not bet in that old range of tubes having a long life in this era of EU banning light bulbs, because they are below the efficiency which is likely to be chosen as the cut-off for banning inefficient tubes. (Same is true of 2D, but at least manufacturers seem to think it's worth producing variants which do meet EU energy efficiency rules.)

Someone already mentioned T5 circular - those are the ones which will survive longer term than the old circular range.

?ts=61509>

It's not impossible, but really G10Q is a technology from a couple of generations before electronic ballasts.

Just bear in mind T4 is not standardised, so if the manufacturer stops producing tubes (as Omicron did), you are likely to have to replace the fittings as other manufacturers tubes will be wrong length.

[dom]

Whole house! It's a chapel conversion. Hence needing to hold down costs on the large number of light fittings I need.

Thanks for the info on G10Q potentially being near end-of-life.

I've had a good hunt around for T5 circular fittings, and although the tubes are common and reasonably priced - the few fittings I can find are not far off =A3100 at the cheapest (and not in the style I want) - versus =A330 for a G10Q fitting. When that's x10 fittings just for upstairs - that's beyond my budget.

I'm looking for plain circular bulkhead lights, to be used in conjunction with large table lamps. So table lamps only for lower light levels, or plus bulkheads for higher light levels. For a bunch of reasons I won't go into here, ceiling pendants (or other ceiling fittings) would be "difficult", hence me looking for a solution based around circular fluorescents in wall-mounted, plain bulkhead fittings.

I've tried out the one I linked to earlier, and it's producing the light effect I want - I'm really looking if there's a *better but the same* alternative before I buy a bunch of them. The same fitting but with a circular T5 in it would be ideal. I'm sure they'll come along eventually, but I can't yet find anyone selling a cheap, basic fitting in a plain style, with a T5 circular in it.

[NT]

If circline is what you want, you can easily buy a handful of tubes to run it for the next however many decades. Do get decent tubes though,

2700K - 3500K, not nasties like 4000K and up. 32/33w linear tube electronic ballasts exist, and would improve efficiency and probably power output.

If you get the circline fitting theres nothing to stop you putting another tube type & ballast in in the future.

NT