Low Energy Bulbs

Our kitchen has six 60 watt R63 spotlight lamps, which of course means that the running cost is around 2-3p/h. It's a 'dark' kitchen, so the lamps are on for a considerable amount of time each day.

I'm tempted by a direct low energy replacement featured on this page:-

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anybody have experience of these particular types. Light output, time taken to reach full output, 'scatter' of beam etc ?

I realise the most practical solution is to forget the spots, and bung in a couple of bog standard Fluorescent tubes, but you know what SWMBOs are like :-)

TIA

Reply to
Mark Carver
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If you are referring to the 11W R63, I would expect its light output to be similar to a 40W lamp. They will be floodlamp rather than spotlamp beam pattern, i.e. less light on beam centre but wider spread of light. Depending on syle of fitting, you could get more glare from them than real R63's, but could also be less. Can't comment on run-up time which is going to be very manufacturer dependant. If your fittings are closed cans, the lack of ventilation could reduce the lamp life.

Will your fittings take R80 lamps? Some R63 fittings have adjustable lampholder height and a removable collar which means they can take R80 lamps. A closed can type is most unlikely to be able to do so though.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

Yes, they do what's best for the running costs of the house, offers the best practical lighting solution and most benefit to the environment ... don't they? If they don't you aren't informing them properly? ;-)

All the best ..

T i m

With 2 x 6' flouro's in the kitchen .. and because it's the best lit room in the house I'm about to get my antistatic mat out, go out there and fit a new CCFL backlight (co-incidently) to a laptop ... ;-)

p.p.s I popped round a mates yesterday and as I pulled up the bloke opposite (identical new posh house) was up his step ladders doing summat with some lights in the veranda. As my mate came out they said 'Hi' and my mate asked what he was up to. He answered he was changing some *more* mini spot lighs and was getting fed up doing the same day in / day out? My mate conceeded and asked if there was anything that they could be replaced with ... I said nothing ;-)

Reply to
T i m

Our a combination, flories to bring the light level up and spots to illuminate work places. Remebering that spots behind you don't illumate the work place as you are working in your own shadow, the more diffuse and general light from a flory doesn't suffer quite as badly.

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

On Sun, 05 Feb 2006 11:26:53 +0000 someone who may be Mark Carver wrote this:-

If you go to a B&Q big red tin shed then you should be able to find a low energy R63 replacement for just under ten pounds. They are made by General Electric as part of a range that also includes R80 replacements, sold for just under twenty pounds in B&Q. Both are only slightly longer (perhaps 10mm) than the filament bulbs they replace.

If the lamps are on all the time then startup time is not a great problem. However, they do take perhaps 5 seconds to reach full output. Light output is good, not too harsh. The beam is not as compact as a filament lamp, it could never be, but good reflector design means it is not as wide as one may think.

Reply to
David Hansen

I also solder in the kitchen. Having the cold tap handy is useful when I pick up the iron by the wrong end.

Must remember "flex end friendly, bit end burny"

Owain

Reply to
Owain

Not really, the silly bitch was sat with her face pressed against a table lamp reading a book, what did she think was going to happen?

Reply to
Phil L

Nothing,if they were proper incandescent lamps.

Reply to
F Murtz

There's a reason why MacDonalds have to have, 'WARNING - CONTENTS HOT' on the side of their coffee cups, and that's to prevent braindead mutants pouring boiling coffee straight down their throats, I can see the same thing happening with everything else, on the bulb packaging it should clearly state, 'WARNING, DO NOT EAT, OR STICK UP NOSTRILS AND TRY TO AVOID PROLONGED EXPOSURE WHEN ONLY MILLIMETRES AWAY FROM LIT PRODUCT'

Reply to
Phil L

Polycarbonate diffusers will absorb the UV, which also makes them go yellow after some time, and eventually brittle. Modern fittings don't use polycarbonate diffusers anymore because they're too inefficient (lossy) - super high efficiency reflectors are now the norm. I don't know what their perfomance is into the UV, but I would guess they probably reflect UV just as well as visible light.

Incidently, inverse square law is for a single point source. This doesn't really apply to office lighting, where a) the individual light source is linear, not a point (until you get a long way away), and b) as you move away from a tube, the contribution from other nearby tubes increases, and c) the luminare optics can act to focus the light in such a way that the intensity may even increase as you move away from the luminare in some particular cases, although not at a distance.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

It is, however, IMO a reasonable approximation when explaining why commercial fluorescent tubes do not usually present the same propblems as a low energy lamp in a table or desk lamp.

Colin Bignell

Reply to
Nightjar

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