PowerSwitch

[Little John]

I am saying that their novelty lights are expensive and no use as utility lights because of their low wattage/lumens. The utility lights they sell, on the other hand are also still too low in wattage/lumens and are more expensive than similar LED utility lights purchasable elsewhere.

So, for the vast majority of people who just need utility lights that are bright enough to be useful and cheap enough, this store fails. However, if their intended customer base is pretentious greenies who would like to have a fancy ass, but essentially useless novelty light, then they are possibly going to do rather well

[Little John]

[Pepperman]

[Pepperman]

[adam2]

LED lamps to directly replace GLS lamps of more than 60 watts are still a bit rare and expensive.
A true replacement for a 100 watt incandescent needs to be about 1,600 lumens, they do exist but expensive and sometimes of doubtful reliability.

For say a domestic living room I would prefer LED lamps in the 400 to 800 lumen range, making use of several lamps to achieve the required light level.
As an example, my living room is lit by 3 twin wall mounted fittings, 6 bulbs in total. Each was until recently an 11 watt CFL with a light output a bit less than a 60 watt incandescent. Recently replaced with 5 watt LED candle bulbs.

Several lower wattage lamps are often preferable, no total darkness if a lamp fails, less glare, and better light distribution.
_________________
"Installers and owners of emergency diesels must assume that they will have to run for a week or more"

[adam2]

[adam2]

I have just been assisting a neighbour with installing new light fittings and wiring due to fire and water damage.

All halogen downlights have been removed.

The main living room is large but has a very low ceiling. All new lights are wall mounted.
There are 8 wall mounted light fittings each containing 3 lamps. Total of 24 lamps, each 3 watt LED.
The outer two lamps in each fitting are on one switch with the middle lamp on another switch, this gives a choice of three lighting levels.
The middle lamps are on a UPS thus giving one third of the full lighting in a power failure.
Total loading 72 watts for a large room.
Previous loading for same room was well over 1,000 watts.

In the entrance hall, stairs and upper landing, the existing chandeliers were retained after rewiring. The lamps are now divided between two circuits so as to permit of full or reduced lighting.
Total loading is now 72 watts from 24 lamps each 3 watt LED.
The reduced lighting level uses 6 lamps only, these are supplied from the UPS.
Previously the lamps were 40 watts each for total of nearly 1,000 watts.

Unfortunately I have not been able to source a low energy equivalent for the 3 way bulbs in several floor standing lamps. 240 volt, 60/100/160 watt.
CFL and LED equivalents are available from America but are of course for 120 volts and no good here without a transformer.
_________________
"Installers and owners of emergency diesels must assume that they will have to run for a week or more"

[kenneal - lagger]

"3 way bulbs"??
_________________
As Steve Keen puts it: “Capital without energy is a statue; labour without energy is a corpse.” Economics ignores this which is why economics is broken.

[fuzzy]

Is it just 3 dimmer levels? We have bedside lamps that do that, and need filament bulbs

[adam2]

"3 way bulbs" are ones with two filaments of different wattages, a switch typically built into the lamp holder selects the larger or the smaller filament, or both thereby giving 3 light levels from a single lamp.

These lamps had a special screw cap with an extra ring shaped contact between the pip and the shell of a standard screw base.

Various wattages were available, the most common had a 60 watt filament and a 100 watt filament thereby giving three light levels, described as 60/100/160 watt.
Other choices included 40/60/100 watt, and 100/150/250 watt, this with a larger screw base.

Popular in the 1960s, once people demanded something a bit more sophisticated than "on or off" but before the general availability of cheap semi conductor dimmers.
A 3 way bulb on the lowest setting was a lot more efficient than a large bulb on a dimmer, though that was back in the days of "a penny a unit and the more you want, the better"

No one seems to sell a low energy equivalent for 240 volt circuits, 120 volt 3 way bulbs are readily available and still very popular in America.
_________________
"Installers and owners of emergency diesels must assume that they will have to run for a week or more"

[adam2]

A selection of 3 way bulbs from a major USA retailer
https://www.walmart.com/c/kp/3-way-bulbs
_________________
"Installers and owners of emergency diesels must assume that they will have to run for a week or more"

[adam2]

[cubes]

It annoys me that a lot of pubs/restaurants now those "moody" low light incandescent bulbs. Look crap and no good for lighting either imo.

[adam2]

[adam2]

Historical note, twin filament bulbs were used in France for street lighting decades ago.
A 500 watt filament from dusk until midnight, and then a 200 watt filament after midnight when a reduced light was acceptable.
Twin filament lamps are still widely used for railway signals and for vehicles.

Domestic 3 way 240 volt bulbs are now hard to find, and AFAIK no one makes a low energy replacement.

If anyone knows of a supplier, please post here.
_________________
"Installers and owners of emergency diesels must assume that they will have to run for a week or more"