Browse Forums What's New Re: Led downlighting 2Apr 09, 2014 12:39 pm Need hints, tips and inspiration? Join me on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ournewhomecoach Who am I? See my LinkedIn page: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/jennifer-crawford/1a/429/296 Re: Led downlighting 4Apr 10, 2014 6:22 pm One downlight per room does seem very low. In saying that, I'd try to limit the use of downlights anyway (even the LED ones), as they definitely are not a green product. This is because for each downlight a hole must be left in your ceiling insulation, to prevent fires. Lots of holes in your ceiling insulation results in a colder house in winter, a warmer house in summer, & increased heating & cooling costs. As for determining the amount of light required in each room, some lights are better at turning electricity into light, so there is a better measure than wattage (power consumption). Even for LED's, a good quality 7W LED may produce more light than a poorer quality (or older) 10W LED. So wattage is not a great indicator. A better measure is the luminous intensity (measured in lumens) - think brightness. Old 50W halogen downlights have a luminosity of around 800 to 900 lumens. So look for LED's with similar values, if this is the brightness you are after. Just to throw a spanner in the works, luminosity decreases over distance (so to be accurate you really must consider LUX over an appropriate distance). This decreases quicker for a wider beam angle. So standing directly below an LED with a narrow beam will be brighter than standing below an equivalent LED with a wider beam angle. So consider if you want narrow beams (around 30 degrees) for working areas like the kitchen, studies & reading areas, & wider beams (60 degrees) in living areas, then consider the brightness you'd require. Finally, there's the LED's colour temperature. We're all familiar with that warm white light light from incandescent lights. But LED's can produce lighting of various colour. This is rated by the temperature (Kelvin) of the colour. If you're after a warm white light similar to halogens, look for a colour temperature around 2700K. For a cooler white light, look for a colour temperature around 5000K. It's all personal preference, some people prefer warm white, & find cool white cold & sterile. Others prefer the brightness of cool white in modern homes. A compromise can be made, having warm white in living areas, & cool white in bathrooms & working areas like the kitchen & studies. There are certainly still some crummy LED's out there. But it's certainly possible to find LED's than match or better the brightness of halogens. This technology is certainly moving very fast, resulting in cheaper & better LED's. Last month CREE announced LED technology that produced 300 lumens per watt, this compares to just 15 lumens per watt for the old halogens. Re: Led downlighting 5Apr 10, 2014 8:21 pm Wow ddarroch, I didn't realise there were a lot of factors to consider when buying led downlights. That being said, I'm thinking of just sticking with the regular downlights! Thanks for your reply. It was really helpful. Re: Led downlighting 7Jul 06, 2014 11:39 pm ddarroch One downlight per room does seem very low. In saying that, I'd try to limit the use of downlights anyway (even the LED ones), as they definitely are not a green product. This is because for each downlight a hole must be left in your ceiling insulation, to prevent fires. Lots of holes in your ceiling insulation results in a colder house in winter, a warmer house in summer, & increased heating & cooling costs. As for determining the amount of light required in each room, some lights are better at turning electricity into light, so there is a better measure than wattage (power consumption). Even for LED's, a good quality 7W LED may produce more light than a poorer quality (or older) 10W LED. So wattage is not a great indicator. A better measure is the luminous intensity (measured in lumens) - think brightness. Old 50W halogen downlights have a luminosity of around 800 to 900 lumens. So look for LED's with similar values, if this is the brightness you are after. Just to throw a spanner in the works, luminosity decreases over distance (so to be accurate you really must consider LUX over an appropriate distance). This decreases quicker for a wider beam angle. So standing directly below an LED with a narrow beam will be brighter than standing below an equivalent LED with a wider beam angle. So consider if you want narrow beams (around 30 degrees) for working areas like the kitchen, studies & reading areas, & wider beams (60 degrees) in living areas, then consider the brightness you'd require. Finally, there's the LED's colour temperature. We're all familiar with that warm white light light from incandescent lights. But LED's can produce lighting of various colour. This is rated by the temperature (Kelvin) of the colour. If you're after a warm white light similar to halogens, look for a colour temperature around 2700K. For a cooler white light, look for a colour temperature around 5000K. It's all personal preference, some people prefer warm white, & find cool white cold & sterile. Others prefer the brightness of cool white in modern homes. A compromise can be made, having warm white in living areas, & cool white in bathrooms & working areas like the kitchen & studies. There are certainly still some crummy LED's out there. But it's certainly possible to find LED's than match or better the brightness of halogens. This technology is certainly moving very fast, resulting in cheaper & better LED's. Last month CREE announced LED technology that produced 300 lumens per watt, this compares to just 15 lumens per watt for the old halogens. Great summary... well explained! Re: Led downlighting 8Aug 13, 2014 4:09 pm Hi there I know this thread is a little old but I'd be keen to see if anyone has any update on their experiences with getting LED lighting throughout their house. I am intending to get LED (if initial outlay is affordable) in my house with 31c (2.7m ceilings). maybe some star lights in theatre and some task orietnated lights under the overhead kitchen cupboards. - costs? - look (bright enough? Does the light have sufficent spread and brightness? - where you sourced your globes? - did you get this done with your build or after handover? - if afterhandover, did you get any lighting done by the builder? (e.g. one per room and was that LED or a normal downlight that was later changed to an LED? what did that cost?) thanks! Re: Led downlighting 9Dec 23, 2014 1:54 pm I had a look at the downlight display at tillys showroom in Osborne Park a couple of weeks ago. The salesman I struck was very helpful and he spent time turning on and off and explaining the different lights. Unfortunately the lights I'm interested in (cri > 90) are still quite expensive. .. around $70 each. And that adds up pretty quickly with a large home. I'd also like to try and install some indirect lighting such as wall sconces and spotlights directed at artwork. But it doesn't seem like there are many good leds that can be directed. I think the light I was looking at was this http://m.brightgreen.com/index.php?product=d900-curve My New Home Build with Dale Alcock - https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=66662 Landscape Design Thread - https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=71784 Re: Led downlighting 10Apr 06, 2015 8:54 pm Hi Splash-back 78 , Some very good advise so far and possibly a little confusing im sure . My perspective is as a lighting designer and product developer in LED for commercial lighting for nearly 20 years so as a rule of thumb keep it simple . So I'll keep it brief also , where possible take your plans if you can to a lighting specialist /retailer and they can pinpoint your lights FREE for you and possibly do a deal on a house lot of lights also. If you are looking for uniform lighting not too many shadows and balanced light a very general rule is symmetry, in a square room 4 down lights are more than enough and possibly too much if of high light output. For domestic applications most lights sold by a reputable retail store will do a great job in your home , do chose a wide beam for general lighting 60 degrees to 90 degrees and for ambience a warm colour 2700K-3200K range and make sure dimmable so you have some control to set a mood as required.(make sure your dimmers used are matched and suited to the brand of lights you buy) Now LEDs are measured in wattage (so power consumed if efficiency is of importance to you the lower wattage the less power consumed) and if not so much a reasonable quality LED down light will produce about 60-70 or more Lumens (a light measurement)per watt of energy used. So a reasonable assumption is 10W down light is about 600-700Lumens output fair and reasonable for 2.4/2.7 meter ceilings and don't forget if too bright you can dim them. Now CRI of 70-80 is more than acceptable for a domestic installation unless you do a lot of colour matching or reading fine prints or similar work requiring more precise colour renderings of fabrics and such, and yes higher CRI (colour rendering Index)products will cost a lot more at this stage. For heat loss or fire issues as someone mentioned before or raising your house energy efficiency rating and stopping draft heat loss from the gaps in down lights if you don't need to tilt them (gimbal down lights) get fixed sealed units or Gimbal units within a fire rated canister or sealed casing just ask your friendly retail lighting person. Yes lighting can be a complex project if you get caught up in all the technical hype that is sometimes used to show how smart the sales person is rather than trying to find the right solution for your application. Lighting done right can set so many moods and frame your home to be a comfortable retreat . Re: Led downlighting 11Apr 06, 2015 11:09 pm I decided on this product for the downlights I intend to install. I can insulate right up to the housing and the downlight still gets ventilation. http://www.arrowform.com.au/downlight-c ... ight-guard |