I have a 40W fluorescent ring type for an 18x9 foot kitchen which is nice and bright but perhaps a little OTT since I have an 11W energy efficient bulb lighting a similar sized room, the down side being it's very dim to start with.
In article , blackhead writes: |> I have a 40W fluorescent ring type for an 18x9 foot kitchen which is |> nice and bright but perhaps a little OTT since I have an 11W energy |> efficient bulb lighting a similar sized room, the down side being it's |> very dim to start with. |> |> So what do you use to power your kitchen?
In article , Colin Wilson writes: |> |> > I have a 40W fluorescent ring type for an 18x9 foot kitchen which is |> > nice and bright but perhaps a little OTT since I have an 11W energy |> > efficient bulb lighting a similar sized room, the down side being it's |> > very dim to start with. |> > So what do you use to power your kitchen? |> |> 550W of halogen :-p (11*50W lamps)
I've done lighting in 3 different kitchens as follows. Each line below is a separately switched circuit.
Kitchen 1.
4 x 16W T4 + 1 x 20W T4 fluorescent tubes on cupboard tops (general lighting).
3 x 16W T4 under cupboard + 11W TL in cooker hood (task lighting).
5W 12V halogen capsule as an emergency light on ceiling (mains fail only).
Kitchen 2.
5' 58W T8 + 21W 2D on cupboard tops, plus 26W TL wall uplighter (general).
1149mm 35W T5 + 8W T4 fluorescents under cupboard lights (task lighting).
Kitchen 3. (Constrained by someone else's requirements, not my ideal choices) Central light designed for 100W GLS. Can now only just fit an 18W CFL[1].
3 10W downlighters [2] for worktop with no cupboard over (includes sink).
6 10W halogen capsules (task lighting), plus 11W TL fluorescent (cooker hood).
[1] Only in last few months have CFL's with enough light output got short enough to fit this fitting. Tended to use GLS shaped 60W or 100W halogens until then. CFL still not as bright as 100W GLS.
[2] Home made, see
formatting link
(The 13W T5 fluorescent on that page was an undercupboard light in Kitchen 2 until it was refitted in 2002.)
You'll probably find the room is better lit with a single bare 100W, or even 60W, light bulb hanging in the middle of the room. Not that I'm suggesting this, but it's a useful comparison to show how inefficient downlighters are for general lighting.
How are you using it? Upligher bouncing off ceiling?
I've got a 250W metal halide, but it's a 10,000K lamp which does really horrible things to food (and most other things too;-)
I have a halogen uplighter in the living room which I don't think I've used for a good few years now. It was designed for 500W lamps, but it's had a 225W (300W equiv) lamp in it. I had thought about converting it to a 70W or
15 x GU10 down lighters, fitted with 11w Megaman lamps
4 x 20w 12v under-cupboard lamps
4 x 10w 12v down lighters in the cooker hood
They are switched as follows
1 switch controls every other light over the worktop areas
1 witch controls the other set over the worktops
1 switch for any lamps not over worktops
1 switch for the under cupboard lights
1 switch on the cooker hood for those lights
We tend to have the non worktop ones on, and half of the over worktop ones on, generally.
Possibly thinking of having a PIR sensor in there to turn them off when the room is empty, as the get left on quite often!
We used to have a couple of 4 foot fluorescent lamps in there - they were "passable" but not particularly pretty.
There's something about single-source illumination I really dislike - for instance I did away with the centre lamp in the living room, and it's lit via 3 wall lamps (2 single 60W, one double 60W).
20 x 35W Decostar 51 Halogens (50W equivalent)
4 x 20W Halogens (in the cooker hood)
3 x 35W Halogens (in an uplighter)
3M + 4M length of cold cathode (above the soffit) All run of a Lutron 4 channel lighting controller
About 1.2KW in total although we never, ever have any of it on at full brightness.
It looks stunning and is shadow free... I know a lot of people who post here prefer frugality over design - but in my case, I would have rather eaten a bag of rusty nails than put CFL's in...
formatting link
the clothes and tools... Must take some better pictures at some point.
I agree it looks modern and designer (I guess the .mac bit in the following link gave it away ) but (respectfully) with the dark floors and work surfaces and units it doesn't look 'bright' as I understand it? Maybe you don't have all the lights on and that's in 'mood' mode?
Functionality (not necessarily the most frugal) over design here yes. It's also a function of size / space. With a small kitchen like ours we couldn't have any lighting above the units or we would lose valuable storage space. We don't have a cooker hood because we have a free standing gas stove with eye level grill (my eyes are 6' from the ground, not in my pelvis) and with under-worktop dishwasher, fridge and freezer in there isn't an awful lost of space for 'fancy'?
Plus if I had a kitchen like yours I would feel bad about fiberglassing my motorcycle panels or our Daughter turning a school design project in there! ;-)
CFL's maybe not, and I guess in *that* style of kitchen even FL's might look out of place unless 'concealed' but then there goes a lot of light again .. :-(
I can't see any tools or clothes, could you take some pictures with the lights on please? I did expect to see a MacBook Air on the side though?
All the best ..
T i m
It looks like nice work and equipment, do it all yourself Steve?
I think the main lights were on at about 10% in that shot - it's like an operating theatre with them at 100%. When cooking we have them set to about 60%
I do need to take some more photo's though - they were done in a big rush for someone else.
I'm a big fan of hidden lighting and have used it elsewhere in the house too. Are you saying you have stuff stacked on top of your units? If you don't, then you could put some fluorescent lights on the top of the cupboards hidden behind a baffle. As long as your ceiling is bright white, you will then get a large amount of pleasant looking diffuse light which you could then supplement with task lighting.
Its not too bad to be honest - takes a good deal less looking after than our old kitchen. I don't think I'd go as far as repairing a motorbike in there though!
The problem I have with CFL's is that I don't like the colour temperature and I don't like the fact that they cannot be properly dimmed. As soon as something comes out which is the right (in my mind) colour temperature and can dim down to 5% without flickering, then I'll be more than happy to adopt it.
I was mainly referring to the clothes airer in front of one of the windows. The pictures were taken before the MacBook Air was launched - must take some fresh ones. I would certainly love an Air but at 1200 quid, it will need to wait until the house is finished *and* the credit cards have been paid off :)
Every last bit... Nearly killed me but I learnt lots whilst doing it!
Here are a handful of work in progress pictures:-
formatting link
I finished the kitchen, I attacked the living room. This was completed the day before Christmas. It has some nice hidden lighting...
formatting link
room is next, then I am hanging my DIY hat up for the forseeable future! It's quite draining when you can only do it on evenings and weekends although I have saved an absolute fortune by doing it all myself.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.