Cottage Lighting - Killing me!

[Sue Wilkinson]

Hello!

I've been absent for ages again. The good news is my business is doing really well and I'm about to move into a warehouse (period of course, built as an armaments store at the time of Napoleon), which means I can finally get my cottage back to being a home again after 7 years of trashing it with work and stock etc (and thoroughly stressing and depressing myself with it all as a result). Bad news is that the lighting is really killing me.

We both think our sitting room, always "subdued" at best is now dimmer than ever.

We have no way to install lights in or on the ceiling (it's just the underside of the floor boards above and loads of beams) because it's only inches above my head. We only have 3 areas of wall where we can put a wall light fitting. We have double 40wt candle bulbs with shades in these lights. But it's depressingly dark. I hate the colour of light from low energy bulbs so I won't use them. I just tried really expensive led bulbs but they are a funny colour too, slightly too yellowish for me. I love halogen lighting. I can't find a way to light the room so that I can actually see to do anything.

Anyone else have a similar issue and come up with a solution that works?

I hope all the oldies are well and keeping doing what they do so well and that the newbies are enjoying the excitement of the ride that is an old property.

 

[Feltwell]

Sue, you can get different temperatures of LED bulbs - cool is very white and warm is more yellow.

I bought some cool ones from this site and hated them, replaced them with warm and they are great - but each to their own!

LED's are infinitely superior to the "old" low energy bulbs in my opinion, and are getting cheaper all the time.

http://www.ledhut.co.uk/

 

[Sue Wilkinson]

I think I mean has anyone found any innovative ways to get light into low rooms with little windows. I probably need to think outside of the box, but I'm not sure which box.

http://www.periodproperty.co.uk/forum/posting.php?mode=reply&f=1&t=14623#

 

[88v8]

I think I mean has anyone found any innovative ways to get light into low rooms with little windows. I probably need to think outside of the box, but I'm not sure which box.

http://www.periodproperty.co.uk/forum/posting.php?mode=reply&f=1&t=14623#

Do your windows have splay reveals?

Ivor

 

[Penners]

Hello Sue (after a very long time!) and welcome back.

One of the obvious ways of maximising light in a room during daytime is to make maximum use of whatever light can get in.

A heavily beamed ceiling can considerably darken a room, but limewashing the beams can make a considerable difference to this, without losing the period character of the place. Pale décor also improves the situation, as does one or more strategically placed mirrors, to reflect light around the room.

If you can get a nice light ceiling, another technique that can be effective after dark is to use wall- or floor-mounted uplighters to wash the walls or bounce light off the ceiling. Make sure they are of a design that fully conceals the light source (or put the floor-mounted ones behind the sofa!) and you can push quite a lot of light upwards without causing any direct glare.

 

[fluffytail10]

Hello, we have exactly the same problem with very low ceilings and one little window which makes it dark all the time. In the end we have resorted to standard lamps. We can move them to wherever we are working and with the halogen bulbs they are bright as anything. I was stunned when I first turned one on. I could see everything for the first time in years! Has ended up in us redecorating though.

 

[Sue Wilkinson]

Hello Penners!

Yes, we have window reveals and we have 2 windows and glass external door in this room, plus 2 internal doors. But the windows are small and the heavy wooden beams of the ceiling, the stairs and the inglenook to contend with. On the whole it's OK in the day. It's after dark the problem bites home. I think we have less bright lights now than we used to have. It's odd. Both of us think it's got darker.

We can't put mirrors anywhere, no wall big enough that hasn't got a light fitting in the middle of it. We already have 2 task lamps, one behind each sofa, which is the only way we can try to see what we are doing. We have the inglenook lit from inside, which is nice. I have a table lamp on the only side table we can fit in and a small lamp on a plant stand up a dark corner. There just isn't anywhere else to put lamps or up lighters. Our beams are stained dark and the ceiling is lime washed between them. The ceiling is really pretty, I can't bring myself to paint the beams white, even with lime. The wall lights are really low too, because the room is so short. I think I need to find different fittings with fuzzy glass shades perhaps, to get more light out of them. I've even wondered if I could do anything imaginative with rope lights. Perhaps it's just us. Jaded after 7 years of slowly stuffing the house to the gunnels with my business. One day a few weeks ago we had 5 people working in it!!!! I wanted to scream.

Perhaps when I've moved it all out and cleared out the resultant personal clutter that's built up around it, I'll feel differently. Both of us felt it was almost unbearably dark last winter. It was really depressing. Could be a state of mind I guess as we hadn't realised until someone pointed it out in January, just how oppressed we were feeling with the business having taken over all our space. The walls are a yellow lime wash, the carpet is pale gold, the doors are creamy white, not much could be lighter on that front.

 

[Flyfisher]

It sounds like there are two issues here; suitable light fitting for a period ambience and adequate lighting for a working environment. Not an easy situation. Assuming business involves desk working, would desk lighting be of any help? Perhaps not 'period' but modern desk lamps can be fairly unobtrusive while providing very localised, but bright, lighting to the working area.

The light colour really shouldn't be too difficult to solve as there are a wide variety of colour temperatures available these days and I tend to agree with Feltwell that LEDs are the way forward, but it can be a very psychological issue. For example, many people dislike 'cold, clinical' lighting yet daylight is the brightest and 'whitest' of all normal sources.

Some comparison information here: http://www.lightbulbs-direct.com/article/colour-temperature/

One other thought, if the business is employing people then there will almost certainly be some statutory considerations in terms of adequate lighting for the working environment.

 

[Sue Wilkinson]

Hello Flyfisher

Sorry, you misunderstand me so I must have been muddled. No one works in the sitting room. They pass through it up the stairs, but that's all. The issue is for my hubby and me when we try to relax and unwind in the evening. For example I used to read magazines and embroider easily enough, now I can't do that without the task lamps on. It's so odd. As if the power to our lights is just reduced in some way.

The work areas are all well light. My favourite room for light is the landing, which is a full room in it's own right and used to be our library. That has a high ceiling and so we have recessed halogen spots up there, it's great. But we ruined the library by packing all the books up and stacking those in boxes so that we could use the shelves for the products to make picking and packing easier! At least it's pretty and shiny. I sell all sorts of different tape.

Has anyone found a way to add lights to a beamed ceiling that's very low and has no cavity?

I think I'm going to call out a lighting designer and see what they suggest.

 

[88v8]

How low is your ceiling?

Might take some pics of the lighting in our dim cottage tomorrow if I can find the energy.

Your input voltage may be down. Stick a meter on a power point or summat and see. That would reduce the light output. I believe some suppliers are now delivering nearer 230V than the 240V of yore. The legal min is 216V. Not that you can do anything about it, but at least you'd know you're not developing cataracts.

As I write, my UPS tells me we have 244V coming in, but the local transformer is on a pole 15ft from our boundary, so we're all right Jack.

Ivor

 

[Flyfisher]

Hello Flyfisher

Sorry, you misunderstand me so I must have been muddled. No one works in the sitting room. They pass through it up the stairs, but that's all. The issue is for my hubby and me when we try to relax and unwind in the evening. For example I used to read magazines and embroider easily enough, now I can't do that without the task lamps on. It's so odd. As if the power to our lights is just reduced in some way.

Ah, fair enough, my misunderstanding.

I suspect that the biggest lighting challenge for low-beamed, cosy period rooms is that dim lighting is required to maintain that cosy atmosphere. After all, authentic period lighting would have been candles or oil lamps, perhaps gas lights - none of which are particularly bright. Even if there was some magical unintrusive lighting technology that could flood such rooms with bright light, the effect would not be quite so cosy as settling down to relax and unwind in front of an open fire with subdued lighting (and perhaps an LED head torch for reading and embroidery? :wink: ).

 

[plasticpigeon]

What about a standard lamp or two?

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Welcome back Sue, been wondering how you are!
So pleased the business is working well and your cottage is going to become your space again.!

maybe Zebra will be along with some ideas for you!
keep us posted

 

[Sue Wilkinson]

How low is your ceiling?

Your input voltage may be down. Stick a meter on a power point or summat and see. That would reduce the light output. I believe some suppliers are now delivering nearer 230V than the 240V of yore. The legal min is 216V. Not that you can do anything about it, but at least you'd know you're not developing cataracts.

As I write, my UPS tells me we have 244V coming in, but the local transformer is on a pole 15ft from our boundary, so we're all right Jack.

Ivor

Ah, good idea. I will try to find a meter and test it. That would explain why we both feel it's changed.

Ceiling is about 6ft to base of joists. I just clear the main central beam. It's low.

Thanks for the heads up about the voltage.

 

[Sue Wilkinson]

What about a standard lamp or two?

Just nowhere to put them. It's a small room and busy with doors and windows and stairs etc.

I'm taken with the idea that the power company may have reduced the output. It would make sense.

 

[Sue Wilkinson]

Even if there was some magical unintrusive lighting technology that could flood such rooms with bright light, the effect would not be quite so cosy as settling down to relax and unwind in front of an open fire with subdued lighting (and perhaps an LED head torch for reading and embroidery? :wink: ).

Brilliant! I have an led head torch for going down the wood shed. I'm sorted!

http://www.periodproperty.co.uk/forum/posting.php?mode=quote&f=1&p=201126#

 

[Sue Wilkinson]

Welcome back Sue, been wondering how you are!
So pleased the business is working well and your cottage is going to become your space again.!

maybe Zebra will be along with some ideas for you!
keep us posted

Ah, Jocelyn, it can't come soon enough.

If I could work out how, I'd post a picture of my new warehouse. I love it.

It's been impossible to do anything to the house for quite some time now. Although we did manage to get the bitumen floor up out of the dining room and we love the old tiles we found under it. For Christmas I just slapped white paint on the walls, and where the plaster has come off I just ignored it. It was better than it was.

Once I've recovered from the move and set up my new shop software (I've outgrown the software as well as the house) I might once again turn to the house and garden. I'm looking forward to that.

 

[Owain]

With some reservations about having hot halogen bulbs too close to the ceiling and.or your head, you can get very small extra-low-voltage (12 volt) halogen fittings on bare wire.

If you have 600 mm between beams you can get flat LED panels, intended for modular tile ceilings but usable on ceilings sometimes with a mounting frame, with a depth of about 14 mm. With the right control gear they would be dimmable.

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Index/Lighting_Menu_Index/LEDlite_Modulars/index.html

http://www.cp-lighting.co.uk/Lamps/LED-Ceiling-Panels

http://www.ledlightsense.co.uk/product-category/led-light-panels/

 

[Keithj]

We're in a similar situation. I put 100 watt bulbs in all the wall lights on our lounge, and that improved things no end. I put a 150 watt in the standard lamp (but you can't buy those any more because the EU disapproves of them as "not green"). I bought a 300 watt halogen floor-mounted reading light with an inline dimmer - I sit under that to read books, and M sits under it to do sewing and the like. With that lot, we have a bright lounge.

My study is lit with one LED bulb, which provides the light of a 60 watt filament bulb, and you really wouldn't know it's not a conventional bulb. As others have said, they come in "cold white" and "warm white", each of which has advantages.

I also have a 10 watt LED floodlight which produces a dazzling amount of light - it looks like one of those 150 watt halogen jobs. A couple of those on a convenient beam and squirting up at your ceiling would do a job. This one wasn't expensive (around £15 as I recall).

The big advantage with LED lights is that they have a very long service life if you get reasonable quality ones. One of ours packed up after a few days and was replaced with no quibble. The rest just soldier on. The upmarket ones we're hoping to put in the church (if the faculty ever gets approved) should have an in-service life of about 200 years. I won't be around to worry.

 

[Flyfisher]

The other big advantage of LEDs is that they generate very little heat (the main reason for their efficiency), which makes the higher power ones much safer to use. Very few standard light fittings are rated for a 150w incandescent bulb.