Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Nov 27, 2011 5:24 pm Hello, I am building a house and I am just at the stage of choosing my electrical layout. I would like your advice on which light bulbs / fittings are more energy efficient. For example: Are downlights with fluro bulbs more effecient then normal oyster light fittings with fluro bulbs? (or visa versa)? Are LED lights better then fluro? (what are the pro's and con's of LED lights - I heard they were not that 'advanced' yet)? Has anyone installed LED? My main question is this: In rooms where there is going to be 'one socket' would a downlight be better or worse? do downlights not give off enough light... and therefore people need to install more 'downlights' to get more 'light' hence the increase in the electricity bill? Thanks, Luke. Re: Energy efficient light bulbs 2Nov 27, 2011 7:17 pm Oyster light fittings with flouro bulbs are much more effecient that downlights with flouro bulbs. For instance, for a 4 x 4 metre room you'll need 4 downlights each with a 13W flouro. You can get the same light level with one oyster light with a 26 W bulb. That is, half the wattage per room. I still used downlight in my house since they look nicer and I had fans in the middle of three of the rooms. Both the oyster light and the fan want to occupy the centre of the room (and I don't like the fans with a built in light). Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Energy efficient light bulbs 3Nov 27, 2011 8:21 pm Thank you very much for providing that information Casa2 - much appreciated. So if I have one socket (for example on the porch or in a corridor) I should probably use downlights (because they use less power), however, in larger areas such as the family room, Oyster lights are much better because I can have one light instead of 4 downlights (halfing the power). What about 3mx3m bedrooms - I (like you) do not like the fans with built in lights, and I want fans in the rooms... so now i am thinking... do I put oysters in, or downlights? (from what you said, 2 downlights has the same power as one oyster... so in bedrooms, where I would usually have one oyster, I might as well have 2 downlights) ? Does anyone know how much electricity the 'sockets' use? (for example: the downlight pulb uses 13w, but how about the socket in the ceiling)? Cheers, Luke. Re: Energy efficient light bulbs 4Nov 27, 2011 9:02 pm In the bedroom, you'll need 4 downlights. (Each downlight has about a quarter of the light output of the oyster light, but uses about half the power.) Yes, for the porch a downlight would make sense. The 'sockets' use no power and can deliver much more than you'll need. I wouldn't worry about their rating. It's best to get the light points done during the build. You'll have to decide where you'll have downlights and where you'll have oyster lights. Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 go upvc window frames ensure insulation under colorbond. not just sarking, lighter color roof also not sure if you have seen this viewtopic.php?t=5823 last couple of pages… 4 110559 10 years ago was a different software than we use now. it has had a lot of changes over the past years. Improvments to the software and changes to how Nathers models need… 8 1413 Hi - thanks for your reply. Yes I think 'Ill go for whitish with very speckly bits rather than pure white something like this. PS was actually 2008 I built the… 2 11683 |