On Monday, November 7, 2016 at 2:59:22 PM UTC, charles wrote:
Y'know, when I was little, we had 60w bayonets and that was it, unless
you decided to go mad and get a 100w bayonet. Now I actually need to
have a written bulb inventory with which
cap/type/wattage/clear/pearl/candle/halogen/cfl/led etc for each room.
Jesus.

Anyway, I have just put up a new six-bulb ceiling lamp on the landing
(reasons of design - I am just the labourer). It has six ses halogen
clear candle 18w bulbs. That's 108w or 138w equivalent. It's a bit too
bright. Does anyone know if I can get an ses clear candle filament (pref
halogen) bulb with a lower wattage than 18w? I don't want to go down the
LED filament route at this point as I'm not rich enough.

In this case Google is not my friend, it is a Moroccan street market
trader who ignores what I say and tries to sell me what it has. "Less
than 18w? Yes my friend, I have! Look! Yes, is 42w. 42w is better! Look
it is good bulb and very cheap!"

All advice welcome. Even the advice to travel back in time and get a
lamp with fewer than six bulbs..

Fit a dimmer switch.

According to TLC's catalogue, 3w LEDs are 25% brighter than the halogen
ones you have.

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England

Thanks. The dimmer switch was mentioned and is a good idea. The only reservation was that I remember them as a knob with push for on and off and turn for brightness. Is there such a thing as a "normal" switch with a variable setting for brightness??