What do you guys use for lighting your kitchen ?
My kitchen which is 3.2m High x 3.2m x 3.9m ,has had several types of
lighting over the years starting with a 5 ft fluorescent fitting ,then
a single lamp pendant ,then a bar with 4 GU10 bulbs and now a fitting
with 3 x 40 watt reflector lamps . The walls are white emulsioned.
I may be wrong but my perception of the current bulbs is that they are
not as bright as once they were and being ses fitting I think 40 watt
is the highest I can get .
I am seriously thinking of going full circle and going back to a
fluorescent fitting. I could ,I suppose fit another light although it
might need to be connected using surface trunking as the ceiling is
plasterboard fitted to battens fitted to the previous ceiling when
part of that one came down .

"Usenet Nutter" wrote in message
...
What do you guys use for lighting your kitchen ?
My kitchen which is 3.2m High x 3.2m x 3.9m ,has had several types of
lighting over the years starting with a 5 ft fluorescent fitting ,then
a single lamp pendant ,then a bar with 4 GU10 bulbs and now a fitting
with 3 x 40 watt reflector lamps . The walls are white emulsioned.
I may be wrong but my perception of the current bulbs is that they are
not as bright as once they were and being ses fitting I think 40 watt
is the highest I can get .
I am seriously thinking of going full circle and going back to a
fluorescent fitting. I could ,I suppose fit another light although it
might need to be connected using surface trunking as the ceiling is
plasterboard fitted to battens fitted to the previous ceiling when
part of that one came down .


We had a twin fluorescent fitting in our kitchen for years until recently
when my wife decided it looked dated and wanted something more modern.

She chose this modular spotlight design with 6 x 50w halogen bulbs (
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produc...ESPOTLIGHT.htm )
thinking this would be ideal.

It was absolutely awful, the focus of the lamps was far too specific and as
soon as you approached the worktop you cast a shadow over whatever you were
trying to do. It also gave off more heat than light which turned the kitchen
into a furnace whilst cooking.

I went back to basics and looked again at fluorescents but hopefully in a
more modern design.
Found this one http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/MLTFL58W.html
Brilliant!!
Looks a bit more modern than the old fluorescent, is flicker free and gives
off a great, even light.
Franko.

On Oct 13, 2:20*pm, "Franko" wrote:
"Usenet Nutter" wrote in message

...

What do you guys use for lighting your kitchen ?
My kitchen which is 3.2m High x 3.2m x 3.9m ,has had several types of
lighting over the years starting with a 5 ft fluorescent fitting ,then
a single lamp pendant ,then a bar with 4 GU10 bulbs and now a fitting
with 3 x 40 watt reflector lamps . *The walls are white emulsioned.
I may be wrong but my perception of the current bulbs is that they are
not as bright as once they were and being ses fitting I think 40 watt
is the highest I can get .
I am seriously thinking of going full circle and going back to a
fluorescent fitting. I could ,I suppose fit another light although it
might need to be connected using surface trunking as the ceiling is
plasterboard fitted to battens fitted to the previous ceiling when
part of that one came down .

We had a twin fluorescent fitting in our kitchen for years until recently
when my wife decided it looked dated and wanted something more modern.

She chose this modular spotlight design with 6 x 50w halogen bulbs (http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produc...8/Trail/search...)
thinking this would be ideal.

It was absolutely awful, the focus of the lamps was far too specific and as
soon as you approached the worktop you cast a shadow over whatever you were
trying to do. It also gave off more heat than light which turned the kitchen
into a furnace whilst cooking.

I went back to basics and looked again at fluorescents but hopefully in a
more modern design.
Found this onehttp://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/MLTFL58W.html
Brilliant!!
Looks a bit more modern than the old fluorescent, is flicker free and gives
off a great, even light.
Franko.

If I were putting lighting in today I'd go for concealed linear
fluorescent.
http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?...scent_Lighting


NT

"Franko" wrote in message
...
"Usenet Nutter" wrote in message
...
What do you guys use for lighting your kitchen ?
My kitchen which is 3.2m High x 3.2m x 3.9m ,has had several types of
lighting over the years starting with a 5 ft fluorescent fitting ,then
a single lamp pendant ,then a bar with 4 GU10 bulbs and now a fitting
with 3 x 40 watt reflector lamps . The walls are white emulsioned.
I may be wrong but my perception of the current bulbs is that they are
not as bright as once they were and being ses fitting I think 40 watt
is the highest I can get .
I am seriously thinking of going full circle and going back to a
fluorescent fitting. I could ,I suppose fit another light although it
might need to be connected using surface trunking as the ceiling is
plasterboard fitted to battens fitted to the previous ceiling when
part of that one came down .


We had a twin fluorescent fitting in our kitchen for years until recently
when my wife decided it looked dated and wanted something more modern.

She chose this modular spotlight design with 6 x 50w halogen bulbs (
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produc...ESPOTLIGHT.htm )
thinking this would be ideal.

It was absolutely awful, the focus of the lamps was far too specific and
as soon as you approached the worktop you cast a shadow over whatever you
were trying to do. It also gave off more heat than light which turned the
kitchen into a furnace whilst cooking.

I went back to basics and looked again at fluorescents but hopefully in a
more modern design.
Found this one http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/MLTFL58W.html
Brilliant!!
Looks a bit more modern than the old fluorescent, is flicker free and
gives off a great, even light.
Franko.


Looks good - what is it like for cleaning? Is the reflector robust?

I would like a modern circular but the choice is almost nil. One that I saw
in a National Trust Cafe was this - with a T5 tube. But alas too costly to
have two of them:
http://www.hacel.net/pages/product-r...us-surface.php

On Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:29:40 +0100, "John"
wrote:


"Franko" wrote in message
...
"Usenet Nutter" wrote in message
...
What do you guys use for lighting your kitchen ?
My kitchen which is 3.2m High x 3.2m x 3.9m ,has had several types of
lighting over the years starting with a 5 ft fluorescent fitting ,then
a single lamp pendant ,then a bar with 4 GU10 bulbs and now a fitting
with 3 x 40 watt reflector lamps . The walls are white emulsioned.
I may be wrong but my perception of the current bulbs is that they are
not as bright as once they were and being ses fitting I think 40 watt
is the highest I can get .
I am seriously thinking of going full circle and going back to a
fluorescent fitting. I could ,I suppose fit another light although it
might need to be connected using surface trunking as the ceiling is
plasterboard fitted to battens fitted to the previous ceiling when
part of that one came down .


We had a twin fluorescent fitting in our kitchen for years until recently
when my wife decided it looked dated and wanted something more modern.

She chose this modular spotlight design with 6 x 50w halogen bulbs (
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produc...ESPOTLIGHT.htm )
thinking this would be ideal.

It was absolutely awful, the focus of the lamps was far too specific and
as soon as you approached the worktop you cast a shadow over whatever you
were trying to do. It also gave off more heat than light which turned the
kitchen into a furnace whilst cooking.

I went back to basics and looked again at fluorescents but hopefully in a
more modern design.
Found this one http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/MLTFL58W.html
Brilliant!!
Looks a bit more modern than the old fluorescent, is flicker free and
gives off a great, even light.
Franko.


Looks good - what is it like for cleaning? Is the reflector robust?


Remember it is £45 in total plus you need to buy tubes for it
....probably best locally

John
wibbled on Tuesday 13 October 2009 15:29

I would like a modern circular but the choice is almost nil. One that I
saw in a National Trust Cafe was this - with a T5 tube. But alas too
costly to have two of them:

http://www.hacel.net/pages/product-r...us-surface.php

That looks really nice. How much?

I've wondered why circular tube fittings all seem to look like this:

http://www.qvsdirect.com/Circular-Fl...-pr-16736.html

It's *so* 1960's.

I did contemplate some circular fittings - tubes are cheap enough, with
modern phosphors and electronic ballasts they ought to be quite pleasant
for hall and kitchen usage. But the fittings are so naff.

Cheers

Tim

--
Tim Watts

This space intentionally left blank...

"John" wrote in message
...

"Franko" wrote in message
...
"Usenet Nutter" wrote in message
...
What do you guys use for lighting your kitchen ?
My kitchen which is 3.2m High x 3.2m x 3.9m ,has had several types of
lighting over the years starting with a 5 ft fluorescent fitting ,then
a single lamp pendant ,then a bar with 4 GU10 bulbs and now a fitting
with 3 x 40 watt reflector lamps . The walls are white emulsioned.
I may be wrong but my perception of the current bulbs is that they are
not as bright as once they were and being ses fitting I think 40 watt
is the highest I can get .
I am seriously thinking of going full circle and going back to a
fluorescent fitting. I could ,I suppose fit another light although it
might need to be connected using surface trunking as the ceiling is
plasterboard fitted to battens fitted to the previous ceiling when
part of that one came down .


We had a twin fluorescent fitting in our kitchen for years until recently
when my wife decided it looked dated and wanted something more modern.

She chose this modular spotlight design with 6 x 50w halogen bulbs (
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produc...ESPOTLIGHT.htm )
thinking this would be ideal.

It was absolutely awful, the focus of the lamps was far too specific and
as soon as you approached the worktop you cast a shadow over whatever you
were trying to do. It also gave off more heat than light which turned the
kitchen into a furnace whilst cooking.

I went back to basics and looked again at fluorescents but hopefully in a
more modern design.
Found this one http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/MLTFL58W.html
Brilliant!!
Looks a bit more modern than the old fluorescent, is flicker free and
gives off a great, even light.
Franko.


Looks good - what is it like for cleaning? Is the reflector robust?

I would like a modern circular but the choice is almost nil. One that I
saw in a National Trust Cafe was this - with a T5 tube. But alas too
costly to have two of them:
http://www.hacel.net/pages/product-r...us-surface.php

Haven't had it up for that long so the idea of cleaning it hasn't occurred
yet :-)
The reflector comes in four (I think) parts and simply snap in and out so
will be easy to clean in the sink.
Forgot to say in earlier post that the reflector is like a long grid so not
bright to look at unless you're directly underneath looking up .... if you
understand what I mean...
Franko.

"Tim W" wrote in message
...
John
wibbled on Tuesday 13 October 2009 15:29

I would like a modern circular but the choice is almost nil. One that I
saw in a National Trust Cafe was this - with a T5 tube. But alas too
costly to have two of them:

http://www.hacel.net/pages/product-r...us-surface.php

That looks really nice. How much?

I've wondered why circular tube fittings all seem to look like this:

http://www.qvsdirect.com/Circular-Fl...-pr-16736.html

It's *so* 1960's.

I did contemplate some circular fittings - tubes are cheap enough, with
modern phosphors and electronic ballasts they ought to be quite pleasant
for hall and kitchen usage. But the fittings are so naff.

Cheers

Tim

--
Tim Watts

This space intentionally left blank...


About £140

John
wibbled on Tuesday 13 October 2009 16:57


About £140

Ow. Looks the part though...

--
Tim Watts

This space intentionally left blank...

On Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:20:37 +0100, Usenet Nutter wrote:
What do you guys use for lighting your kitchen ?

8 x 60W incandescents in two (oil-rubbed bronze) fixtures which point the
bulbs at around 45 degrees to the horizontal. They give a nice even light
around the kitchen, and the heat's handy at this time of year

There's another single-bulb fixture in one corner of the kitchen
above some worktops which I've never even tried since moving in, and
another bulb built into the cooker hood which gets used quite often when
someone's actually standing there.

The walls are white emulsioned.

We did ours in a fairly-dark sandy-red colour, but our counter-tops are
almost white - we want to re-do the cupboards and counters sometime, but
I think we might replace counters with white marble; the light colour
seems to work well, whilst the darker walls cut down on glare from the
lighting.

I am seriously thinking of going full circle and going back to a
fluorescent fitting.

I'm not quite sure if I like the light - too white and clinical,
somehow...

cheers

Jules

On Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:02:27 +0100, Tim W wrote:
I've wondered why circular tube fittings all seem to look like this:

http://www.qvsdirect.com/Circular-Fl...-pr-16736.html

It's *so* 1960's.

That's pretty much what I tore out of ours and replaced. Fun sorting the
ceiling after something that wide's been on there for years and painted
around many times (the replacement lights have bosses less than half the
diameter of the old lighting)

I still need to rewire though as many of the lighting circuits in our
place are still on the original 1940's stuff, and have seen better days -
I might end up dropping the kitchen ceiling by an inch or so to do
that room, as it'll be a lot easier than lifting boards above... not gonna
happen this year, though :-)

cheers

Jules

On Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:39:20 +0100, Tim W wrote:

John
wibbled on Tuesday 13 October 2009 16:57


About £140

Ow. Looks the part though...

Check building recyclers/reclaimation yards. I've got some amazing deals
on lighting stuff in the last year...

On Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:24:54 -0500, Jules
wrote:

I am seriously thinking of going full circle and going back to a
fluorescent fitting.

I'm not quite sure if I like the light - too white and clinical,
somehow...

cheers

Jules

Well at least you can see by them ..lol

Jules wrote:
On Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:20:37 +0100, Usenet Nutter wrote:
What do you guys use for lighting your kitchen ?

8 x 60W incandescents in two (oil-rubbed bronze) fixtures which point the
bulbs at around 45 degrees to the horizontal. They give a nice even light
around the kitchen, and the heat's handy at this time of year

There's another single-bulb fixture in one corner of the kitchen
above some worktops which I've never even tried since moving in, and
another bulb built into the cooker hood which gets used quite often when
someone's actually standing there.

The walls are white emulsioned.

We did ours in a fairly-dark sandy-red colour, but our counter-tops are
almost white - we want to re-do the cupboards and counters sometime, but
I think we might replace counters with white marble; the light colour
seems to work well, whilst the darker walls cut down on glare from the
lighting.

I am seriously thinking of going full circle and going back to a
fluorescent fitting.

I'm not quite sure if I like the light - too white and clinical,
somehow...

cheers

Jules


A 5ft fluorescent tube (electronic ballast) on top of the wall units,
2-3 LV downlights over the sink, and under cupboard strips work quite
well with a white ceiling IME.

"Tim W" wrote in message
...
I've wondered why circular tube fittings all seem to look like this:

http://www.qvsdirect.com/Circular-Fl...-pr-16736.html

It's *so* 1960's.

I guess that it is because you Grandparents has some fitted in the 60s and
they were still in use when they passed away! Mine did. But at £140 for the
modern equivalent I would stick with undercupboard lighting.

Cheers

Tim

--
Tim Watts

Cheers

Adam

In message , Franko
writes

I went back to basics and looked again at fluorescents but hopefully in a
more modern design.
Found this one http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/MLTFL58W.html
Brilliant!!
Looks a bit more modern than the old fluorescent, is flicker free and gives
off a great, even light.
Franko.


Hi Franko,
I have just fitted two of those in my kitchen, end to end with a
12" gap between them. They replaced two rather dated, 15 year old, twin
fluorescent's. I was worried that they may be a bit OTT but they have
worked out well.




--
Bill

"Bill" wrote in message
...
In message , Franko
writes

I went back to basics and looked again at fluorescents but hopefully in a
more modern design.
Found this one http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/MLTFL58W.html
Brilliant!!
Looks a bit more modern than the old fluorescent, is flicker free and
gives
off a great, even light.
Franko.


Hi Franko,
I have just fitted two of those in my kitchen, end to end with a
12" gap between them. They replaced two rather dated, 15 year old, twin
fluorescent's. I was worried that they may be a bit OTT but they have
worked out well.




--
Bill

Great lights aren't they Bill !
I'll be getting a couple for our office communal areas soon as the GU10
halogens that are there now blow at an alarming rate and give off crap
light.

Franko.

In article ,
Usenet Nutter wrote:

What do you guys use for lighting your kitchen ?
My kitchen which is 3.2m High x 3.2m x 3.9m ,

( 3.2M high?!? Victorian house I guess?)

Anyway: I went back to a twin 4' fluorescent a couple of years ago,
bought for about 35 quid at Homebase. It looks smart enough, but the
most noticeable feature - especially at this time of year - is that it
turns night into day, winter to summer.

Screw your fancy "contemporary design" fittings: give me LIGHT!

Cheers
John

On Tue, 13 Oct 2009 22:49:47 +0100, Jonelle
wrote:

In article ,
Usenet Nutter wrote:

What do you guys use for lighting your kitchen ?
My kitchen which is 3.2m High x 3.2m x 3.9m ,

( 3.2M high?!? Victorian house I guess?)


Victorian Glasgow Tenement Flat .:-)

Anyway: I went back to a twin 4' fluorescent a couple of years ago,
bought for about 35 quid at Homebase. It looks smart enough, but the
most noticeable feature - especially at this time of year - is that it
turns night into day, winter to summer.

Screw your fancy "contemporary design" fittings: give me LIGHT!

Cheers
John
Yeah .that's what I say as well.!!! I noticed a few days ago that 3 x
40 watt bulbs doesn't hack it when the light starts to go in the
afternoon.

On Oct 13, 10:49*pm, Jonelle wrote:
( 3.2M high?!? * Victorian house I guess?)

I was thinking that - if cold it is high enough to use a "sun infra
red lamp".

Marks and Spencer seem to use a good IP rated one (Dimplex?) in their
"indoor" plant area over the checkout, certainly brings a taste of
summer... I came out bronzed :-)

In message

ID, Jonelle writes

uess?)

Anyway: I went back to a twin 4' fluorescent a couple of years ago,
bought for about 35 quid at Homebase. It looks smart enough, but the
most noticeable feature - especially at this time of year - is that it
turns night into day, winter to summer.

Screw your fancy "contemporary design" fittings: give me LIGHT!

Cheers
John

Too right, I'm slowly winning my wife over to having a few fluorescent
tubes in the bedroom.
Sign of old age I suppose, rather see what's in the wardrobes than have
seductive lighting...............

--
Bill

In article ,
Tim W writes:
John
wibbled on Tuesday 13 October 2009 15:29

I would like a modern circular but the choice is almost nil. One that I
saw in a National Trust Cafe was this - with a T5 tube. But alas too
costly to have two of them:

http://www.hacel.net/pages/product-r...us-surface.php

That looks really nice. How much?

I've wondered why circular tube fittings all seem to look like this:

http://www.qvsdirect.com/Circular-Fl...-pr-16736.html

It's *so* 1960's.

A cautionary note, that the 32W, 40W and 60W T9-T12 circular
fluorescents are below the minimum efficiency level that the
EU intends to permit to be sold in a few years time, so you
should expect their sale to be banned. These were all old
halophospate tubes, although the ones you buy today might be
triphosphor (I've not looked), but will still be lower
efficiency due to the tube geometry.

There are some new efficient T5 circular tubes, but they aren't
retrofits for the old fittings - they must use electronic
control gear (like all the new T5 tubes), so the old fittings
will be useless unless you get a stock of old tubes (and their
filament lamp ballasts if you have real 1960's ones;-).

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:27:03 +0000 (UTC), Andrew Gabriel wrote:

In article ,
Tim W writes:
John
wibbled on Tuesday 13 October 2009 15:29

I would like a modern circular but the choice is almost nil. One that I
saw in a National Trust Cafe was this - with a T5 tube. But alas too
costly to have two of them:

http://www.hacel.net/pages/product-r...us-surface.php

That looks really nice. How much?

I've wondered why circular tube fittings all seem to look like this:

http://www.qvsdirect.com/Circular-Fl...-pr-16736.html

It's *so* 1960's.

A cautionary note, that the 32W, 40W and 60W T9-T12 circular
fluorescents are below the minimum efficiency level that the
EU intends to permit to be sold in a few years time, so you
should expect their sale to be banned. These were all old
halophospate tubes, although the ones you buy today might be
triphosphor (I've not looked), but will still be lower
efficiency due to the tube geometry.

There are some new efficient T5 circular tubes, but they aren't
retrofits for the old fittings - they must use electronic
control gear (like all the new T5 tubes), so the old fittings
will be useless unless you get a stock of old tubes (and their
filament lamp ballasts if you have real 1960's ones;-).

Thanks for the tip-off.
I bought the 32W version from Argos. It is a good light but is heavy so I
assume old-fashioned gear.
It's re-packed to be returned; it kept cutting out due to weight on the
batten holder and buzzed occasionally. The diagram shows it in a pendant
fitting - on your own head be it!
--
Peter.
The head of a pin will hold more angels if
it's been flattened with an angel-grinder.

In article ,
Tim W writes:
John
wibbled on Tuesday 13 October 2009 15:29

I would like a modern circular but the choice is almost nil. One that I
saw in a National Trust Cafe was this - with a T5 tube. But alas too
costly to have two of them:

http://www.hacel.net/pages/product-r...us-surface.php

That looks really nice. How much?

I've wondered why circular tube fittings all seem to look like this:

http://www.qvsdirect.com/Circular-Fl...-pr-16736.html

It's *so* 1960's.

One style I saw a lot of in the US in the 1960's was a nest of 2 or 3
different sized circular tubes inside each other with the inner ones
slightly lower forming a cone of tubes. I rather liked those at the
time, but I've never seen them here. Only other place I ever saw them
was in a bar-come-cafe in France. The US circular tubes go one size
smaller than we have here -- I think their smallest is 20W -- which
makes such a design more practical. They also have single ballasts
which are desiged to run multiple different power circular tubes too.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

Andrew Gabriel
wibbled on Saturday 17 October 2009 10:57

In article ,
Tim W writes:


http://www.qvsdirect.com/Circular-Fl...-pr-16736.html

It's *so* 1960's.

One style I saw a lot of in the US in the 1960's was a nest of 2 or 3
different sized circular tubes inside each other with the inner ones
slightly lower forming a cone of tubes. I rather liked those at the
time, but I've never seen them here. Only other place I ever saw them
was in a bar-come-cafe in France. The US circular tubes go one size
smaller than we have here -- I think their smallest is 20W -- which
makes such a design more practical. They also have single ballasts
which are desiged to run multiple different power circular tubes too.


That's interesting.

I think it's time to start googling around the EU - and take advantage of
harmonisation. Someone on 230V must have a decent design available as it's
patently possible to get creative with the tubes...

--
Tim Watts

This space intentionally left blank...

On Sat, 17 Oct 2009 09:57:40 +0000 (UTC), Andrew Gabriel wrote:

The US circular tubes go one size
smaller than we have here -- I think their smallest is 20W

In B&Q there was a 40W(? - looked at too many to remember exactly) that
seemed to be IP44 (not on box but bathroom zones mentioned) and round the
corner there were a couple of cheap ones that had enclosed tubes of, IIRC,
40W for 1 and 16W for the other. No mention of IP again, or of bathrooms,
but I've noticed that IP44 comes at a price that isn't justified as there's
very little difference in manufacturing.
--
Peter.
The head of a pin will hold more angels if
it's been flattened with an angel-grinder.