My mother had her kitchen ceiling light/fan replaced. The idiot “electrician” did not consider the amount of light available and replaced the old one with one that has two less sockets and chandelier bulbs. My elderly mother didn’t know enough to question it when it was installed but has since realized that she now has much less light than she did before. Her eyes aren’t the best so this has to be remedied.
It has three chandelier type sockets which can take 40 watt bulbs. If the sockets were normal sized I’d simply replace them with 80 or 100 watt equivalent CFL or LED lights, which would give plenty of light while drawing less than the 40 watt maximum that the fixture would handle.
The problem is that I can’t find such lights with a chandelier base. Worst case, we can get adapters that will screw into a chandelier base and accept a regular base. The problem with this is that the bulbs will stick way out of the fixtures which won’t be very attractive. She says she’ll accept that if necessary so that she can see in her kitchen, but I’d prefer not to do it if possible.
So, anyone know of any high Lumen CFL or LED lights with a chandelier base? Anyone have another solution I’m not thinking of?
chandelier fixtures don’t give enough for good task lighting, they give enough to see your food or light a hallway.
replace the fixture, use bulb adapters or add task lights where needed (led pucks or bars under counter. CFL bulbs have a direction for which they work best.
Adapterswould be the simplest thing and LED’s of 100 equivalent would be expensive if they even exist. Get a compact version of the 100 watt equivalent CFL. I use a pair or really short ones for a hall light that wouldn’t take the standard size CFL.
Yeah, no LED’s in any reasonable prices at that level. Basiclly, for LED you’re only talking 40- 60 watt equiv in a price that is anywhere close to reasonable. I do suggest them for areas where it’s hard to change the bulb.
We just bought candelabra-base lamps for our porch fixtures, but the highest was a 60W equivalent. Interesting note for you, though, that the 60W LED is much dimmer than the 40W CFL. Not sure why that is, but it’s very noticeable.
I’ve been deeply disappointed in what I’ve seen so far with LED’s for home use. I absolutely love them for flashlights and they’re becoming popular for use in car lights.
I just looked at a 40 watt equivalent at the store the other day and was surprised that the base was too hot to touch. WTH? If the bulbs don’t generate a lot of heat that means there’s a transformer and a bridge circuit doing something that looks like a future fire to me. I’ve already had CFL’s zap into the next world like something out of a old science fiction movie. I really don’t want to burn my house down in the name of efficiency.
I just finished a layout for a 120v / 5W LED driver board, designed for embedding in a lamp socket. The driver circuit is very efficient, but the LED still needs to dissipate its rated power. So, a 5W LED is going to get pretty warm. A 20W LED (100W equivalent) is going to get hot, which is why they have those big heatsinks.
Given the fires that have occurred with CFL’s I hope the LED’s aren’t going to follow suit. Maybe we should gravitate towards a DC lighting system in new houses that feed off a central converter that can sit in a nice fire proof housing outside. It would be really easy to retrofit a one story house with an attic.
The board I just finished was designed to be 100% potted in a thermally-conductive, fire-retardant epoxy. It also had an integral fuse, so I think it was probably pretty fire-safe.
Well that makes me feel a little better. I’m still fearful of my CFL’s. the last one that burned out created a serious draw (enough to dim other lights) before it went bzzzzt poof.
What do you think of the idea of standardizing a low voltage LED system for houses? Would it be a reinvention of the wheel or an economical realignment of power supplies?
I think it would only be practical for off-grid houses. Also, the IR drop of low voltage DC might make it inefficient, even for relatively light loads.
Sorry for hi-jacking your thread. If you have Mennards near you they have an excellent choice of CFL and LED lights. That’s where I got my short CFL units.
You also might try complaining to the electrician and see if he can install a replacement for your mother. His bad, so he should make it good. At the least, you could buy a new fixture and he should install it for free.
I’ve been considering that, but she hate’s complaining. The other issue is that the two control chains are ridiculously short. It’s like the thing was intended for a small room with a low ceiling.
I can replace the chains and put in brighter bulbs, but I shouldn’t have to.