Hi,

My new house has lots of ceiling downlighters (12V) all with 50W bulbs.
Consequently, my electricity bill is sky high compared with my old house -
where every room had a low energy bulb! Turning on one room of lights here
uses more electricity than the entire house of lights in the old place!

I plan to replace the bulbs with 35W fairly soon, as this will reduce the
running costs by 30%. But in the long term, are there any low energy
fitting that could replace these power hungry fittings, using the holes that
would be left in my ceilings if I took them out?

Michael

"Michael Hopkins" wrote in
message ...
Hi,

My new house has lots of ceiling downlighters (12V) all with 50W bulbs.
Consequently, my electricity bill is sky high compared with my old house -
where every room had a low energy bulb! Turning on one room of lights
here
uses more electricity than the entire house of lights in the old place!

I plan to replace the bulbs with 35W fairly soon, as this will reduce the
running costs by 30%. But in the long term, are there any low energy
fitting that could replace these power hungry fittings, using the holes
that
would be left in my ceilings if I took them out?

Michael



You can get a low energy fiting made by JCC, the only thing you will need to
check is the diameter of the hole. Is your house brand new, if so you should
have low energy lamps some where in it

"Stephen Dawson" wrote in message
...

"Michael Hopkins" wrote in
message ...
Hi,

My new house has lots of ceiling downlighters (12V) all with 50W bulbs.
Consequently, my electricity bill is sky high compared with my old
house -
where every room had a low energy bulb! Turning on one room of lights
here
uses more electricity than the entire house of lights in the old place!

I plan to replace the bulbs with 35W fairly soon, as this will reduce
the
running costs by 30%. But in the long term, are there any low energy
fitting that could replace these power hungry fittings, using the holes
that
would be left in my ceilings if I took them out?

Michael



You can get a low energy fiting made by JCC, the only thing you will need
to
check is the diameter of the hole. Is your house brand new, if so you
should
have low energy lamps some where in it

Thanks. It's not brand new, but was extended and renovated by the previous
owners. However, there are several standard fittings which I have converted
to low energy bulbs immediately.

"Michael Hopkins" wrote in
message ...
Hi,

My new house has lots of ceiling downlighters (12V) all with 50W bulbs.
Consequently, my electricity bill is sky high compared with my old house -
where every room had a low energy bulb! Turning on one room of lights
here
uses more electricity than the entire house of lights in the old place!

I plan to replace the bulbs with 35W fairly soon, as this will reduce the
running costs by 30%. But in the long term, are there any low energy
fitting that could replace these power hungry fittings, using the holes
that
would be left in my ceilings if I took them out?

Michael



I'd be inclined to fit electronic dimmer switches and trim the level of
illumination to suit.
Jaymack

"John McLean" wrote in message
...

"Michael Hopkins" wrote in
message ...
Hi,

My new house has lots of ceiling downlighters (12V) all with 50W bulbs.
Consequently, my electricity bill is sky high compared with my old
house -
where every room had a low energy bulb! Turning on one room of lights
here
uses more electricity than the entire house of lights in the old place!

I plan to replace the bulbs with 35W fairly soon, as this will reduce
the
running costs by 30%. But in the long term, are there any low energy
fitting that could replace these power hungry fittings, using the holes
that
would be left in my ceilings if I took them out?

Michael



I'd be inclined to fit electronic dimmer switches and trim the level of
illumination to suit.
Jaymack

Thanks - I understand, though, that dimmer switches don't reduce the amount
of electricity drawn, just how much gets to the bulb, and my concern is as
much about running costs as excess light.

Michael Hopkins wrote:

Thanks - I understand, though, that dimmer switches don't reduce the amount
of electricity drawn, just how much gets to the bulb, and my concern is as
much about running costs as excess light.


Your understanding is at fault.

Thanks - I understand, though, that dimmer switches don't reduce the
amount
of electricity drawn, just how much gets to the bulb, and my concern is
as
much about running costs as excess light.

Your understanding is at fault.

Indeed, although the effect is the same. The inefficiency is taken up in the
bulb, rather than the dimmer. To halve the light output of a bulb, you have
to drop the power only by a fraction. Also, halogen bulbs don't like being
dimmed, as it reduces the redeposition of filament material, dramatically
shortening bulb life. This was why they abandoned the dim-dip regulations
for cars. The light bulbs kept popping, which was considered a safety risk.

Christian.

On Sun, 20 Aug 2006 08:04:54 UTC, "Michael Hopkins"
wrote:

I'd be inclined to fit electronic dimmer switches and trim the level of
illumination to suit.

Thanks - I understand, though, that dimmer switches don't reduce the amount
of electricity drawn, just how much gets to the bulb, and my concern is as
much about running costs as excess light.

If that were the case, your dimmer switches would be radiating a large
amount of heat....

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
Avenue Supplies, http://avenuesupplies.co.uk

Bob Eager wrote:

If that were the case, your dimmer switches would be radiating a large
amount of heat....

Indeed I remember the dimmers used in the lighting gallery of my
school's stage, it got mighty warm up there ...

John McLean wrote:
"Michael Hopkins" wrote in
message ...
Hi,

My new house has lots of ceiling downlighters (12V) all with 50W bulbs.
Consequently, my electricity bill is sky high compared with my old house -
where every room had a low energy bulb! Turning on one room of lights
here
uses more electricity than the entire house of lights in the old place!

I plan to replace the bulbs with 35W fairly soon, as this will reduce the
running costs by 30%. But in the long term, are there any low energy
fitting that could replace these power hungry fittings, using the holes
that
would be left in my ceilings if I took them out?

Michael

They are not halogen capsule bulbs? My wife demanded the purchase of two
rather nice lamps for our hallway, the lamps themselves looks nice but I
was flabbergasted to find them fitted with 6 20 Watt halogen capsules
each I did manage to find some 5 Watt halogen capsules somewhere, cant
remember where exactly. They were slightly more expensive than higher
wattage ones but at least it brought the power consumption of the lamps
down a bit. My wife has since forgotten about the lamps and never turn
them on as the staircase lamp illuminates the only part of the hallway
she traverses outside of daylight hours. They are rather nice lamps though.

//J

On Sun, 20 Aug 2006 08:20:16 +0100 someone who may be "Michael
Hopkins" wrote this:-

My new house has lots of ceiling downlighters (12V) all with 50W bulbs.
Consequently, my electricity bill is sky high compared with my old house -
where every room had a low energy bulb! Turning on one room of lights here
uses more electricity than the entire house of lights in the old place!

I hope you got a suitable reduction in the price for the stupid
lighting arrangements.

But in the long term, are there any low energy
fitting that could replace these power hungry fittings, using the holes that
would be left in my ceilings if I took them out?

http://www.lightbulbs-direct.com/bro...=prods&PGID=56
shows some of the bulbs you could use in mains downlighters, there
are a few more.

I suggest getting one of each and experimenting with them, before
converting room by room. You may find that in some rooms it is
better to cover the holes and use a different sort of fitting.

You also need to find out if the existing lights have individual
transformers. If they don't then you have a more complicated job.


--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54

"David Hansen" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 20 Aug 2006 08:20:16 +0100 someone who may be "Michael
Hopkins" wrote this:-

My new house has lots of ceiling downlighters (12V) all with 50W bulbs.
Consequently, my electricity bill is sky high compared with my old
house -
where every room had a low energy bulb! Turning on one room of lights
here
uses more electricity than the entire house of lights in the old place!

I hope you got a suitable reduction in the price for the stupid
lighting arrangements.

Actually the house belongs to me my employer as it's a "tied cottage"
(although actually a large 4 bedroomed house) - a Manse, in fact.

Given some local difficulties in finding a house of the right size in the
right area at the right price, the lights were a mainor consideration then -
and I didn't realise how much juice they used.

I think the previous owners had the view that they wanted the house to look
cool with the latest fashions and runnign costs were no object to them.

But in the long term, are there any low energy
fitting that could replace these power hungry fittings, using the holes
that
would be left in my ceilings if I took them out?

http://www.lightbulbs-direct.com/bro...=prods&PGID=56
shows some of the bulbs you could use in mains downlighters, there
are a few more.

I suggest getting one of each and experimenting with them, before
converting room by room. You may find that in some rooms it is
better to cover the holes and use a different sort of fitting.

You also need to find out if the existing lights have individual
transformers. If they don't then you have a more complicated job.

They do have individual transformers.

Thanks,
Michael

On Sun, 20 Aug 2006 09:08:06 +0100 someone who may be "Michael
Hopkins" wrote this:-

You also need to find out if the existing lights have individual
transformers. If they don't then you have a more complicated job.

They do have individual transformers.

Then you are lucky. You can get standard mains downlighters to
replace the low voltage ones and wire them in easily. You may need
to enlarge the hole and check there is enough space above for the
mains ones, which will probably be taller.

The mains ones can take an appropriate energy saving bulb. Check the
length as well as the diameter. Check also that the switches are not
overloaded when switching off.


--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54

On Sun, 20 Aug 2006 08:20:16 +0100, Michael Hopkins wrote:

Hi,

My new house has lots of ceiling downlighters (12V) all with 50W bulbs.
Consequently, my electricity bill is sky high compared with my old house -
where every room had a low energy bulb! Turning on one room of lights here
uses more electricity than the entire house of lights in the old place!

I plan to replace the bulbs with 35W fairly soon, as this will reduce the
running costs by 30%. But in the long term, are there any low energy
fitting that could replace these power hungry fittings, using the holes that
would be left in my ceilings if I took them out?

Have you investigated LED replacements?

--
the dot wanderer at tesco dot net