My granny used to know exactly which light bulb to buy for each room in her house: you used 100Watt for the standard lamp in the sitting room; 40Watt for bedside table; 60Watt for corridors; and got a man in to do the fluorescent tubes in the kitchen. When you left a room you turned the lights out and sometime the lamp shade got a scorch mark where the hot bulb had burnt it. A whole other area of confusion existed because there could be two circuits in the house - the one for lamps with small round pins - and the one with big round pins - and the square pins. So, it wasn't really a simpler time, just one where there was a shared understanding that the bigger the number on the bulb the bigger the plug the brighter the light and the hotter it got if you left it on (so, remember to turn the lights off!!!).
Now, if I had to explain to my Granny which lamp she needs to read her paper I am going to have to start sharing the vocabulary of Lumens - "What Watts?", I imaging her saying, "Not Watts really", I reply, "LEDs don't need many of them to get a similar result. So if you think that your 60Watt bulb in the corridor is giving out about 800 Lumens if you used an LED bulb you would need one that used about 15Watts. "I could see to read with a 15Watt bulb... you're not talking about those energy saving bulbs are you; Mavis got some in the supermarket for 10p each. They are rubbish..." hummmm
LED lighting is the light of the future - but finding the best products is not easy. Much is promised and all to often little is delivered - effective LED lighting is about the fine balance between Lumen output - energy consumed and saved - and capital investment in fittings. Our blog reflects our enthusiasm for finding the perfect balance in LED lighting.
Friday, 11 March 2011
Tuesday, 8 March 2011
Perfect LED versus cost dilemma in lighting Barn shop
There is a lovely farm conversion near us in North Norfolk at Wroxham. It comprises several shops, a garden centre and a cafe. It is quite rightly very popular throughout the year.
At the moment they are doing some development work - turning an old office into a food shop. We have been specifiying lights to make the most of the beamed ceiling while showing the food to best advantage. The Track Spot Aero we recommend comes in at £136 a unit: in a big space with some dozen units that makes it quite a big commitment. And on paper it can be hard to see what is so special about really good LED lighting.
We took a sample unit for the customer to see: and the wow! of great LED lighting at only 10W each certainly had a positive effect. He loved it... fingers crossed he makes the jump to better light.
At the moment they are doing some development work - turning an old office into a food shop. We have been specifiying lights to make the most of the beamed ceiling while showing the food to best advantage. The Track Spot Aero we recommend comes in at £136 a unit: in a big space with some dozen units that makes it quite a big commitment. And on paper it can be hard to see what is so special about really good LED lighting.
We took a sample unit for the customer to see: and the wow! of great LED lighting at only 10W each certainly had a positive effect. He loved it... fingers crossed he makes the jump to better light.
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