The Wrong Type of Light Fitting?

[TheScullster]

Hi all

Have I made a mistake in my choice of light fitting?

I wanted near instant fairly bright light for the hallway, so bought a fitting with 4 halogen spots. It has the usual 1/2in deep circular termination cover tight to the ceiling, then a shaped rod along which the spots are mounted. This thing goes through bulbs about one every 6 months. Are halogens susceptible to vibration (i.e. foot fall on the landing above)?

If so what type/style of fitting would be more appropriate in this application?

Thanks

Phil

[Chris Bartram]

I had that problem until I stopped using Ring bulbs. YMMV.

[John Rumm]

The mains ones, yes very much so. Having said that, choice of bulbs can make a big difference - finding a supplier of quality bulbs that looks after them prior to delivery also helps.

If you are using halogen, then low voltage are preferable in just about every way. The bulbs last much longer, the light is better, and they are far less vulnerable to vibration:

can give limited area coverage, but that is probably not a problem in a hallway.

[TheScullster]

> Spots can give limited area coverage, but that is probably not a problem

Thanks guys

I *think* I bought the fitting from Hull Lighting. They have a good range and tend to actually know something about light fittings, regs, low energy stuff etc. The replacement bulbs have been B&Q sourced from memory, so maybe I need to be more selective on sourcing spares!

Phil

[NT]

If its mains halogen, then yes, imho you got the wrong fitting. If its low voltage halogen, they should behave better.

If bulb life is 1500hrs, and there are 4 of them, you'd expect a failure (ave) once per 375hrs. 375hrs/6months =3D 2hrs a day. So if you run it 2 hrs a day, its working exactly as it should.

NT

[John Rumm]

These days bulb life expectancy tends to be pretty consistent (assuming one does not fail prematurely). With GLS bulbs its not uncommon to have all the bulbs fail within a few days of each other if replaced at the same time. Hence you may get a failure every 375 statistically - but in reality you should get much longer spells without failure. Mains halogens are not as consistent.

[Roger Mills]

As others have said, low voltage halogens are far better than mains - but you would then have to swap the fitting for one incorporating a transformer.

The alternative is to replace the bulbs with LED-based ones. You can get mains-powered LED bulbs with GU10-type fitting which should be a straight swap, and will save you lots of electricity. I have a fitting in my hallway which uses 3 x GU10 spots and, when one of the 50w bulbs failed, I replaced it with a (6w?) LED bulb from Lidl - and it's hard to see any difference in the brightness between that and the other two.

[TheScullster]

Thanks Roger

That sounds like a plan

Phil

[Roger Mills]

I should perhaps have pointed out that LED bulbs are not cheap. I think that when Lidl have them they're about £6 each - and some more exotic brands are dearer still.

[ARWadsworth]

Just make sure that you keep the receipt.

If they work they work, but they do have a very high early failure rate.