What style lighting in kitchen?

[Sonyaclegg]

Owain, thank you. Why does putting a CFL affect LED lighting. I'm about to start buying all the LED lamp fittings and bulbs. We have 12 in the ceiling and I want 3 pendant lights over the table and don't want it to look odd.

 

[Essex]

LED's are a slightly different colour to compact fluorescents, in turn a different colour to tungsten, even though they can all be called warm white, therefore if you mix cfl's with LED's, you will see the difference, which can be annoying. So I would use one or the other.

 

[Sonyaclegg]

Thanks

 

[DJH]

We have never been able to get the lighting right in the kitchen. We tried halogens on a bar but as the joists are small and the vibration of people walking in the room above meant we were fitting new bulbs on nearly a weekly basis. We replaced those with fluorescent tubes which give very good light but look awful. Watch this space, we're trying something else soon I think!!

 

[Zebra]

Oooh, lovely kichen!

 

[Feltwell]

Old topic re-awakening.....

The previous owners of Feltwell Towers had an unhealthy obession with Ikea spotlight units - the ones that take 3 x 50w GU10 spotlights on a circular plate or an S shaped bar, they are everywhere! Even the downstairs loo boasts 150 watts of planet-warming retina-burning lighting provision.

I've finally got around to changing the kitchen fitting for 2 of these - a pain to do as it meant lifting the floor of the room above to provide support to the new fittings and wire them in.

http://www.jim-lawrence.co.uk/ProductDetail/5028/Pantry-Light

I've never bought Jim Lawrence items before, and I have to admit I'm impressed - very good quality, not especially cheap compared to some others but you get what you pay for. I've also bought some LED bulbs for the first time, from ledhut.co.uk - they're very good, but I made the mistake of buying cool white rather than warm white - the cool white is just too harsh, even for a kitchen, so they're going back in exchange. I'm impressed with the bulbs though - very bright for a mere 7 watts, and truly instant switch on with next to no warm up time, which is what I hate about CFL's.

Some of our CFL's are awful - by the time the light has warmed up to a reasnoble output, you've done whatever you needed to do and left the room! LEDs do look like the future, and they're getting cheaper.

 

[worms]

On a similar tack, has anyone found a suitable replacement for the R7 halogen bulbs used in outdoor spot lights? I think the ones in my 2 lights are each 500 Watts :shock: ! They give a tremendous light but I didn't replace them when they blew as there is a tendency to find that people forget to switch them off and you have the equivalent of a one-bar heater running outside all night!

I think there are xenon cfls available and LEDs that fit but max power equivalent seems to be so much lower that I am not sure if they are worth it.

 

[Feltwell]

The sale of cheap 500w floodlights was ridiculous really - they're far brighter than necessary for most applications. My in-laws ran a security company and fitted a lot of security lighting to both domestic and commercial premises, my father-in-law always said that he's only fit 150w maximum to a house. The key apparently was to put the light up high and shine it down - a lot of the nuisance factor from these lights was people using 500w lights and having them sited low down and aimed at a shallow angle, therefore shining into neighbouring properties.

I've never seen LED replacements for an R7 bulb, but you can get complete LED floodlights. Power consumption is low but from what I've seen they'll be plenty bright enough.

http://www.ledhut.co.uk/led-flood-lights.html

 

[worms]

Ok, I've ordered one of these and will report back.

 

[plasticpigeon]

I am labouring on this too. I recently bought a modern but period inspired brass chandelier that my girlfriend liked, but I cant stand it and can't put it up. Another waste of money. Maybe I can put it in a bedroom where it won't be sen too often!!! I have found a company I really like called classic British lighting, and all the lights are the perfect period for my house ie turn of the century slightly art nouveau inspired, and if they are as nice in real life as they look online I imagine them to be very good value. What I really want is a very simple period looking light, ie something like a hanger made from malleable iron gas pipe connected by elbows and Tees and with glass coolie shades. I would make this myself but there are so many things to do I think I will have to buy one to keep things simple.These are two I'm considering, one is a bit fancy and one is very expensive, but both are nice ideas I think.

 

[DJH]

We are going to try these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/370624970212?var=640030385384&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649 when the electrician can get here with a couple of lights which will shine down on the fire place from the side of the joist so hopefully they won't be visible.



Doug

 

[Baron de Gynes]

I really like this one! Don't know if it's in the 'expensive' or 'nice' camp (knowing my taste, it'll be the 'expensive end of nice!') but I think that's fabulous.

I've seen other similar lights that have echoes of gas lighting. Not suitable for us here, (think they went straight from candles to electricity in the 20s!) but lovely all the same.

 

[plasticpigeon]

Surprisingly that was the cheaper of the two I put up. It costs around £180, which to me seems pretty good for a solid brass British made item of such a nice design. The other one was around £350!!!! I am trying to price up a simple frame made from malleable iron gas fittings and some aged brass bulb holders. I think it would come in at around £20 without shades. The cheapest glass shades are around £18 so less than £100 all in. Here is my inspiration for such a design. I know it is a gas light, but my house originally had gas lights. It is little more than a few pipes held together by slightly fancy unions. I think a similar thing using simple iron unions wouldn't look out of place in a small house like mine.

What kind of look are you going for Zebra???

 

[Zebra]

What kind of look are you going for Zebra???

I wanted to know what might work so that I could wire it, insulate the ceiling, then plasterboard and plaster it, decorate it, and when that's all done, get the lights. I've got the first two items on that list done. Since then I've moved on to various other things, completely not related to kitchen lighting. So I'll let you know in about, ohh, a year's time?

 

[masochists-r-us]

Showing Cranfield Spot Light in Antiqued Brass

We had the same problem of insufficient space in the void to install down lights so decided to go for surface mounted Rutland Spotlights from Jim Lawrence. However, having rigged one up, due to ceiling height and beams no matter how we positioned it most of the light was washing up the walls instead of highlighting the work surfaces. So, we've gone for the Cranfield, designed precisely to overcome this issue, looks neat and simple and giving the superior lighting needed in a kitchen.

 

[Feltwell]

I made the mistake of buying cool white rather than warm white - the cool white is just too harsh, even for a kitchen, so they're going back in exchange.

The "warm white" arrived today - what an improvement, it's surprising just how much difference it makes. I wouldn't recommend the cool white to anyone, it's far too harsh a light.

I imagine these bulbs will drop in price quite dramatically over the next 3-4 years. A piece from the BBC is below:-

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/9782116.stm

 

[MdB]

I imagine these bulbs will drop in price quite dramatically over the next 3-4 years.

They already have though I'm sure they will fall further.

I'm fairly sure these will be rubbish but it is a fantastic price for this sort of output in LEDs.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GU10-MR16-LED-light-bulb-4-5W-COOL-WHITE-WARM-WHITE-/140781500276?pt=UK_Light_Bulbs&var=&hash=item20c73b3774

 

[DJH]

We've finally fitted our new lights in the kitchen although we're not entirely sure we've done the right thing, however they are there to stay now. We plan now to sheet the exposed joists with tongue and groove painted eggshell cream paint. I'm toying with the idea of fixing the boards into a geometric pattern of sorts which is a traditional finish in some older properties here in Ireland. My only concern with this is that I didn't do in the sitting room which historically would have been the room where a pattern would have been used rather than in a kitchen.....

We need lower wattage bulbs at some stage.



Will you ever turn those lights off I'm trying to sleep here!!!..................Here's Tipsy in his usual place. (Tipsy is the cat Penners )



Doug

 

[dans]

I've not read through all this thread, so forgive me if these recommendations have already been made!

Upon our extensive lighting search, we've bought from various sources. These were the best we found!

http://www.skinflintdesign.co.uk/
Refurbished antique lighting. We bought some gorgeous solid brass Japanese naval lights for our bathroom!

http://www.lightingmatters.co.uk/index.php
Stockists for BTC and Davey lighting. Industrial styles great for kitchen lighting! We bought a great copper pendant for our landing! John Lewis stock the range.

http://www.jim-lawrence.co.uk/top/lighting
Mentioned here plenty of times. We bought a few different styles. The cottage wall lights look lovely between beams.

 

[mivec]

http://www.skinflintdesign.co.uk/
Refurbished antique lighting. We bought some gorgeous solid brass Japanese naval lights for our bathroom!

I love the Skinflint site, great for inspiration but I every time I look my jaw drops at the prices.
I bought a similar shade to this http://www.skinflintdesign.co.uk/store/ceiling_lights/english_factory_shades_by_thorlux.html
at a salvo fair last year for £35, I was told it came from the workshops at Kings Cross Station. I even managed to get an Identical ceiling hook on ebay for £2.50.

I've recently bought a pre 1950's caged inspection lamp with an oak handle that I'm going to use as kitchen light.
Even with a new cord, holder, bulb and hook it will be less than £50.