On Mar 13, 4:51*pm, "Peter Boulton" peter@data*no-
spam*perceptions.co.uk wrote:
"mick" wrote in message

...

On Thu, 13 Mar 2008 12:23:25 +0000, Peter Boulton wrote:

We're having an extension built which will create a largish kitchen
diner (42 sq m!). *I'm interested in experiences with various lighting
options. Specifically:

- I like the light which halogen spots throw out (more 'theatrical') but
due to the ceiling arrangement cannot have a transformer. *You can get
240v halogens these days - but are they OK / safe for use in ceilings?
Halogens get quite hot!
- If I understand correctly, it will soon be impossible to buy anything
else but low-energy bulbs. *Does this have any implications for choosing
the lighting options?
- Any experiences with low energy halogen spot replacements? *I've seen
you can even get dimmable ones these days, which would be ideal - so
that we can vary the brightness between the kitchen part and the diner
part etc.. - I have a few low-energy lights of various sorts in the
existing house. Some seem to go bright pretty quickly, whereas others
(spots) start as bright as a candle and meander their way through to
acceptable brightness in up to 10 minutes! *I could not cope with the
latter in a kitchen!

I would say that if you have room for 240v halogens then you should have
room for 24v halogens with transformers. The transformers can be
remarkably small now - and you don't need to have them directly next to
the lights anyway. The life of 24v halogens with a soft-start transformer
is *way* longer than 240v types. Depending on the transformer they can be
dimmable with a standard dimmer too.

My son has a couple of GU10 based high efficiency spot replacements. They
seem to reach full brightness in about 2-3mins. As you say though, the
light isn't as "theatrical"! They are also rather bulky and not
particularly nice-looking.

--
Mick * * * * * * * * * * *(Working in a M$-free zone!)
Web:http://www.nascom.info*http://mixpix.batcave.net

Thanks Mick. The problem with the transformers is where to put them to get
access in case they fail. *My builder is trying to steer me clear of them!
The info on lo-energy spots is v helpful - the `theatrical` light thing is
quite important.

So do we all need to stockpile non-lo-energy bulbs? The lo-energy ones still
don`t seem to deliver on all fronts.

Pete

Your builder is giving you bad advice. Stick to the 12V lights - the
transformers are tiny and fit in the hole behind the lamp. If ever you
need to replace a transformer, just pull on the cable and it will come
back out of the hole.

Steve