Hi

More about my basement level ...

Spent an afternoon at John Lewis looking at pendant lighting for the
basement bedroom. Nice stuff but alot of it hangs down 55 cms or more.
My ceiling's very low - 230 cm! The room is 5m x 4m and the light is
right in the middle of the room, just at the end of the bed.

Does anyone know of any guidelines or tips on how to choose a pendant
in this sort of situation? Or is the sort of thing like this

http://www.johnlewis.com/Electrical/...4/Product.aspx

totally the wrong way to go anyway in a low ceiling situation?

Lights pointing upwards? Downwards? My favourite has a minimum drop of
40 cms but this seems far too low but I don't know anything about this
stuff. Is it too low? I'm totally design blind! I'm just trying to make
the place look sensible.

Cheers

Emma

wrote:
Hi

More about my basement level ...

Spent an afternoon at John Lewis looking at pendant lighting for the
basement bedroom. Nice stuff but alot of it hangs down 55 cms or more.
My ceiling's very low - 230 cm! The room is 5m x 4m and the light is
right in the middle of the room, just at the end of the bed.

Does anyone know of any guidelines or tips on how to choose a pendant
in this sort of situation? Or is the sort of thing like this

http://www.johnlewis.com/Electrical/...4/Product.aspx

totally the wrong way to go anyway in a low ceiling situation?

Lights pointing upwards? Downwards? My favourite has a minimum drop of
40 cms but this seems far too low but I don't know anything about this
stuff. Is it too low? I'm totally design blind! I'm just trying to make
the place look sensible.

Cheers

Emma


Did you get your door sorted out?

I've never heard almost 8' described as low before. 6', yes.

Leola will cause glare and uneven illumination. Most centre fittings in
a 4x5m room would give uneven ilumination. In a room that size I'd go
for a handful of smaller fittings around he periphery. If you arent
interested in wiring for those, either use plugins or else accept that
youre not going to get decent even illumination and fit whatever looks
nice in the middle. Lights pointing up and outwards are going to give
you the best light spread, down pointers will give worse lightspread
and lower energy efficiency.

Stay well away from mains halogens.

Also leola has an excessive number of lamps. To nmake that sensible
you'd have to fit lots of very low power lamps, giving frequent dead
bulbs, poor efficiency and elevated bills.

If youre daring you could fit something like metal guttering suspended
below the ceiling, running down the room, and put cfls in it at regular
intervals. Would give much better illumination than any central
fitting, but trying to make the fitting look good would be a fair
challenge. Perhaps cover it in velvet. I dunno!

Another push the boat out option is simply a central light with very
long arms. You could use chromed plumbing pipe giving 4 arms, perhaps
each 4 ft long, each running level 1' below the ceiling, with an
uplight on the end of each arm, globes or if youre more daring, maybe
cubes.

Fancy plumbing your own for something much better than you could buy?


NT

wrote:
Hi

More about my basement level ...

Spent an afternoon at John Lewis looking at pendant lighting for the
basement bedroom. Nice stuff but alot of it hangs down 55 cms or more.
My ceiling's very low - 230 cm! The room is 5m x 4m and the light is
right in the middle of the room, just at the end of the bed.

Does anyone know of any guidelines or tips on how to choose a pendant
in this sort of situation? Or is the sort of thing like this


I hate the dangly pendant lamps and am frustrated when viewing those on
display in shops, such as BHS, where they're hung off 'ceilings' about
ten-twelve foot off the floor.
The answer is to ask, in a decent light-supplier shop, for a 'flush'
fitting. These are available in many designs and prices but have as a common
feature(s); - the fitting fits to the ceiling; the lamps(s) are inserted
horizontally (if you see what I mean); and the lamps are 'hidden' by
translucent covers - clipped onto the fitting. The fittings tend to look
like an inverted shallow bowl which doesn't protrude downwards (by much)
. They have the 'property' of seeming to 'disappear when they're not
illuminated - whilst generating a room filling light when 'ON'. We, prefer
mood lighting from table and wall-lights and task lighting for 'tasks', only
using central lights when absolutely necessary. However I have a 'to-do
list' which will change over all pendants to 'flush-fittings' as/when rooms
are redecorated.

HTH

--

Brian

totally the wrong way to go anyway in a low ceiling situation?

Lights pointing upwards? Downwards? My favourite has a minimum drop of
40 cms but this seems far too low but I don't know anything about this
stuff. Is it too low? I'm totally design blind! I'm just trying to make
the place look sensible.

My loft bedroom has a finished height of 2.25m. Rather than using pendants,
we have lighted the room using table lights. Table lights are ideal for
bedrooms, as they provide less glare when trying to read in bed. They are
run off 5A round pin sockets distributed around the room to discourage
inappropriate appliances being used in the sockets.

In fact, the lighting is split into 3 circuits, for general lighting and 2
bedside lights and all can all be switched at the door, or by the bed.

Christian.

wrote:
wrote:
Hi

More about my basement level ...

Spent an afternoon at John Lewis looking at pendant lighting for the
basement bedroom. Nice stuff but alot of it hangs down 55 cms or
more. My ceiling's very low - 230 cm! The room is 5m x 4m and the
light is right in the middle of the room, just at the end of the bed.

Does anyone know of any guidelines or tips on how to choose a pendant
in this sort of situation? Or is the sort of thing like this

http://www.johnlewis.com/Electrical/...4/Product.aspx

totally the wrong way to go anyway in a low ceiling situation?

Lights pointing upwards? Downwards? My favourite has a minimum drop
of 40 cms but this seems far too low but I don't know anything about
this stuff. Is it too low? I'm totally design blind! I'm just trying
to make the place look sensible.

Cheers

Emma


Did you get your door sorted out?

I've never heard almost 8' described as low before. 6', yes.

Leola will cause glare and uneven illumination. Most centre fittings
in a 4x5m room would give uneven ilumination. In a room that size I'd
go for a handful of smaller fittings around he periphery. If you arent
interested in wiring for those, either use plugins or else accept that
youre not going to get decent even illumination and fit whatever looks
nice in the middle. Lights pointing up and outwards are going to give
you the best light spread, down pointers will give worse lightspread
and lower energy efficiency.

Stay well away from mains halogens.

Sorry for the terse question, but why?

snip

Stay well away from mains halogens.

Sorry for the terse question, but why?

Because they are very inefficient and produce a poor illumination pattern
for space lighting purposes.

Christian.

Stay well away from mains halogens.

Sorry for the terse question, but why?

Halogens have issues and arent really recommended, but if you do use
them, mains ones just add further issues:

lower efficiency than 12v halogen
shorter lifetime
fragile in use
cost more

mains halogen only offers downsides. The reduced purchase cost fo the
fitting is trivial compared to extra run costs. Theyre a sales
sociopaths delight.


NT

Christian McArdle wrote:
Stay well away from mains halogens.

Sorry for the terse question, but why?

Because they are very inefficient and produce a poor illumination
pattern for space lighting purposes.

But aren't they more efficient than normal incandescent bulbs?
I don't have ANY halogen indoor lights at the moment, but the only light
fittings that I find attractive seem to use halogen (I need two wall lights
very soon).

Because they are very inefficient and produce a poor illumination
pattern for space lighting purposes.

But aren't they more efficient than normal incandescent bulbs?

They are able to produce more photons per watt. However, they also tend to
have very directional lighting patterns, which makes them very suitable for
car headlights, but hopeless for space lighting, meaning that they perform
badly against incandescent lighting.

A typical room lighted by different methods to the same perceived level of
ambient lighting might require 20W of CFL, 100W of incandescent and 200W of
halogen spot lighting.

Comparing against incandescent lighting is neither here nor there, either. I
would favour a ten pound tax per incandescent or halogen light bulb, so
those who are obsessed with destroying the planet can be made to pay for it.

Christian.

wrote:
wrote:
Hi

More about my basement level ...

Spent an afternoon at John Lewis looking at pendant lighting for the
basement bedroom. Nice stuff but alot of it hangs down 55 cms or more.
My ceiling's very low - 230 cm! The room is 5m x 4m and the light is
right in the middle of the room, just at the end of the bed.

Does anyone know of any guidelines or tips on how to choose a pendant
in this sort of situation? Or is the sort of thing like this

http://www.johnlewis.com/Electrical/...4/Product.aspx

totally the wrong way to go anyway in a low ceiling situation?

Lights pointing upwards? Downwards? My favourite has a minimum drop of
40 cms but this seems far too low but I don't know anything about this
stuff. Is it too low? I'm totally design blind! I'm just trying to make
the place look sensible.

Cheers

Emma


Did you get your door sorted out?

Door is on hold. It's all spec'd out though and ready to order!

I've never heard almost 8' described as low before. 6', yes.

Sorry, I forgot to add that it's low at 230cm compared to the other
floor which is 320cm. It just feels a lot lower down in the basement.

Leola will cause glare and uneven illumination. Most centre fittings in
a 4x5m room would give uneven ilumination. In a room that size I'd go
for a handful of smaller fittings around he periphery. If you arent
interested in wiring for those, either use plugins or else accept that
youre not going to get decent even illumination and fit whatever looks
nice in the middle. Lights pointing up and outwards are going to give
you the best light spread, down pointers will give worse lightspread
and lower energy efficiency.

In another thread I mentioned about my dodgy refurbishers. They spent
two weeks languishing doing a bedroom and I had to get rid of them.
They were supposed to be replacing underneath a staircase next and
after they turned up late every day, kept nipping off to do other jobs,
drinking and smoking gear on the job I couldn't face letting them
continue, what with hairs on the woodwork, carpet not taken up
properly, underneath a radiator painted two different colours, wall
paint on skirting and ceiling etc etc. All a bit sad really. I did one
bedroom myself last year and the finishing was better and that was my
first time. Waste of money. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that the
bedroom is sort of painted so I don't think I'm going to channelling
any holes in the wall in the near term!

Thanks for the advice about the main light.

Actually, I have some 'boxing in' on one side of the room where the gas
and water pipes travel so maybe I could put some lights on that. The
fusebox is in the room too so it must be possible :-)

Stay well away from mains halogens.

Also leola has an excessive number of lamps. To nmake that sensible
you'd have to fit lots of very low power lamps, giving frequent dead
bulbs, poor efficiency and elevated bills.

If youre daring you could fit something like metal guttering suspended
below the ceiling, running down the room, and put cfls in it at regular
intervals. Would give much better illumination than any central
fitting, but trying to make the fitting look good would be a fair
challenge. Perhaps cover it in velvet. I dunno!

Another push the boat out option is simply a central light with very
long arms. You could use chromed plumbing pipe giving 4 arms, perhaps
each 4 ft long, each running level 1' below the ceiling, with an
uplight on the end of each arm, globes or if youre more daring, maybe
cubes.

Fancy plumbing your own for something much better than you could buy?

This last idea sounds really good fun and I have a friend who could
help me knock it up I reckon. I'm not sure how you'd support four, four
foot arms though! I've seen those cubes and so on; I quite fancied this
on the walls at one point

http://www.johnlewis.com/Electrical/...8/Product.aspx

but went for one like this instead:

http://www.thelightingsuperstore.co....ar_2lt_C-O.jpg

But how do you get hold of the parts for making your own light
fixtures? Any suppliers you know of cubes or opaque glass end or the
multitude of other bits needed?! Or am I going to have to go into
lighting jobs unscrewing various bits from their displays :-)

Cheers

Emma

Brian Sharrock wrote:
wrote:
Hi

More about my basement level ...

Spent an afternoon at John Lewis looking at pendant lighting for the
basement bedroom. Nice stuff but alot of it hangs down 55 cms or more.
My ceiling's very low - 230 cm! The room is 5m x 4m and the light is
right in the middle of the room, just at the end of the bed.

Does anyone know of any guidelines or tips on how to choose a pendant
in this sort of situation? Or is the sort of thing like this


I hate the dangly pendant lamps and am frustrated when viewing those on
display in shops, such as BHS, where they're hung off 'ceilings' about
ten-twelve foot off the floor.

Yes, it's ridiculous - you can't get a feel for how it would look at
all. I felt the same at my last wander around the shops.

The answer is to ask, in a decent light-supplier shop, for a 'flush'
fitting. These are available in many designs and prices but have as a common
feature(s); - the fitting fits to the ceiling; the lamps(s) are inserted
horizontally (if you see what I mean); and the lamps are 'hidden' by
translucent covers - clipped onto the fitting. The fittings tend to look
like an inverted shallow bowl which doesn't protrude downwards (by much)
. They have the 'property' of seeming to 'disappear when they're not
illuminated - whilst generating a room filling light when 'ON'.

Is it normal/OK to put these in bedrooms though? I've only ever seen
them in a bathroom but then I'm not sure of the range and haven't been
in too many bedrooms. It's a good idea - I'll have to have a look
around for something bedroomy.

For instance, is this OK in a bedroom?

http://www.thelightingsuperstore.co....roductid=18310

We, prefer
mood lighting from table and wall-lights and task lighting for 'tasks', only
using central lights when absolutely necessary. However I have a 'to-do
list' which will change over all pendants to 'flush-fittings' as/when rooms
are redecorated.

Sounds quite a good idea. I have a to-do list which is cover every bare
lightbulb (currently six) or do something with them!

Cheers

Emma

wrote:
wrote:
wrote:

Spent an afternoon at John Lewis looking at pendant lighting for the
basement bedroom. Nice stuff but alot of it hangs down 55 cms or more.

Did you get your door sorted out?

Door is on hold. It's all spec'd out though and ready to order!

I've never heard almost 8' described as low before. 6', yes.

Sorry, I forgot to add that it's low at 230cm compared to the other
floor which is 320cm. It just feels a lot lower down in the basement.

Some houses have doors are under 5'6". And I've seen, tho only in
pictures, doors so narrow you have to enter sideways!


In another thread I mentioned about my dodgy refurbishers. They spent
two weeks languishing doing a bedroom and I had to get rid of them.
They were supposed to be replacing underneath a staircase next and
after they turned up late every day, kept nipping off to do other jobs,
drinking and smoking gear on the job I couldn't face letting them
continue, what with hairs on the woodwork, carpet not taken up
properly, underneath a radiator painted two different colours, wall
paint on skirting and ceiling etc etc. All a bit sad really.

I'll bet they blamed you for sacking them as well.


I did one
bedroom myself last year and the finishing was better and that was my
first time. Waste of money. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that the
bedroom is sort of painted so I don't think I'm going to channelling
any holes in the wall in the near term!

yeah. its damn messy too, masses of dust everywhwere.

Depending on which way your ceiling joists run, it may be reasonably
straightforward to put a cable on top of the ceilng plaster, and drop
it down to high wall lights, 2 or 3 per side.

Theres also a less likely maybe, and thats to use enamelled copper wire
run on the surface (its almost invisible) to feed 12v lights.


Thanks for the advice about the main light.

Actually, I have some 'boxing in' on one side of the room where the gas
and water pipes travel so maybe I could put some lights on that. The
fusebox is in the room too so it must be possible :-)

may be ideal, if you can get a supply wire to the boxing.


Another push the boat out option is simply a central light with very
long arms. You could use chromed plumbing pipe giving 4 arms, perhaps
each 4 ft long, each running level 1' below the ceiling, with an
uplight on the end of each arm, globes or if youre more daring, maybe
cubes.

Fancy plumbing your own for something much better than you could buy?

This last idea sounds really good fun and I have a friend who could
help me knock it up I reckon. I'm not sure how you'd support four, four
foot arms though!

maybe use a cast metal conduit box with threaded pipe, would be strong
enough. You've not got much weight on the ends, hopefully. A slightly
less elegant option might be to use a simple cube of wood to accept all
the pipe ends at the centre, and maybe 2/3 the way along the radial
pipes put in a tee so you get a pie going upto the ceiling for support,
and visual 'complicaton'.

I've seen those cubes and so on; I quite fancied this
on the walls at one point

http://www.johnlewis.com/Electrical/...8/Product.aspx

but went for one like this instead:

http://www.thelightingsuperstore.co....ar_2lt_C-O.jpg

But how do you get hold of the parts for making your own light
fixtures? Any suppliers you know of cubes or opaque glass end or the
multitude of other bits needed?!

you just gave us the links to them - get the fittings and use the bits.
Those chrome plumbing fittings you got look ideal for plumbing in, just
cut em off at the horizontal pipe and join to your new monster. Not
sure what dia those pipes are, the look narrow. In which case cut all
the chrome pipe off those and attach the bigger half inch pipe to the
light bits.

The glass shades are not ideal, but would work. If you use silvered
bulbs to get the majority of the light upwards that would probably work
quite well. Or make some metal reflectors.and put those in the fitting
to get more light up than down.


Or am I going to have to go into
lighting jobs unscrewing various bits from their displays :-)

still thniking about that one


NT

Grumps wrote:
Christian McArdle wrote:
Stay well away from mains halogens.
Sorry for the terse question, but why?
Because they are very inefficient and produce a poor illumination
pattern for space lighting purposes.

But aren't they more efficient than normal incandescent bulbs?
I don't have ANY halogen indoor lights at the moment, but the only light
fittings that I find attractive seem to use halogen (I need two wall lights
very soon).


They are in a sense...BUT the 'beam' nature of them means that for
general room lighting you need MORE. They are spotlights, not illuminators.