Replace all lighting with LED's

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DamageInc

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#252949 18-Jul-2019 12:39

Hello,

I am looking to go through and replace all of our lighting with LED's.

Has anyone had this experience of going through the whole house and replacing all current lighting with LED's?

Not looking for any home automation, just swap out old for new - bulb out LED in.

Does anyone have any recommendations on this topic?

Thanks

Joe

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#2278888 18-Jul-2019 12:48

good timing! I'm quite literally doing this now. all the old cans out while the ceiling is painted

Went with the ambius range. retrofit option.

http://www.ambiuslighting.co.nz/product-catalogue/indoor-lighting/recessed-down-lights

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z2k

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#2278890 18-Jul-2019 12:50

I swapped out all our lights, just went with the cheapest option which were the ones from Bunnings that come up to ~$2 a bulb(here).

Main decisions you need to make are:

Do you have bayonet or edison fittings?
What colour temperature do you prefer? Common option is warm white(3000K), or cool white(6500K).

I originally bought the cool white as it's better for visibility but in the end changed it to a warm white because the cool white was too harsh on the eyes at night.

timmmay

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#2278891 18-Jul-2019 12:50

Just replacing bulbs or replacing fittings? We've moved to mostly Philips LED bulbs and have had about 10% failure rate. In the bathroom we have LED downlights, Ledlux brand I think, 2/5 failed early on but the lighting store sent an electrician to replace and since then they've been fine.

Just be sure if you replace the whole fitting you put the driver on top of insulation, and your lights are rated for insulation cover.

DamageInc

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#2278899 18-Jul-2019 12:56

hsvhel:

good timing! I'm quite literally doing this now. all the old cans out while the ceiling is painted

Went with the ambius range. retrofit option.

http://www.ambiuslighting.co.nz/product-catalogue/indoor-lighting/recessed-down-lights

lol great timing indeed. Have you gone with warm, natural or day light?

Thankfully I'm just after the bulb i.e. bayonet and screw-in types. Best of luck and thanks for your help.

Pop! OS

DamageInc

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#2278900 18-Jul-2019 12:58

z2k:

I swapped out all our lights, just went with the cheapest option which were the ones from Bunnings that come up to ~$2 a bulb(here).

Main decisions you need to make are:

Do you have bayonet or edison fittings?
What colour temperature do you prefer? Common option is warm white(3000K), or cool white(6500K).
I originally bought the cool white as it's better for visibility but in the end changed it to a warm white because the cool white was too harsh on the eyes at night.

Wow the Bunnings option looks up our alley.

We have a combo of bayonet and screw-in. Thanks for the tip on warm white.

Pop! OS

DamageInc

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#2278901 18-Jul-2019 13:00

timmmay:

Just replacing bulbs or replacing fittings? We've moved to mostly Philips LED bulbs and have had about 10% failure rate. In the bathroom we have LED downlights, Ledlux brand I think, 2/5 failed early on but the lighting store sent an electrician to replace and since then they've been fine.

Just be sure if you replace the whole fitting you put the driver on top of insulation, and your lights are rated for insulation cover.

Definitely just the bulb, not wanting the extra of the fittings, electricians etc.

Thanks for the tip.

Pop! OS

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hsvhel

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#2278902 18-Jul-2019 13:01

DamageInc:

hsvhel:

good timing! I'm quite literally doing this now. all the old cans out while the ceiling is painted

Went with the ambius range. retrofit option.

http://www.ambiuslighting.co.nz/product-catalogue/indoor-lighting/recessed-down-lights

lol great timing indeed. Have you gone with warm, natural or day light?

Thankfully I'm just after the bulb i.e. bayonet and screw-in types. Best of luck and thanks for your help.

Gotcha! i sped read and thought it was replacing the fittings, you can choose the warmth via dip switches at any point. only purchase the one generic fitting and go from there.

depending on how many you need, its not all that expensive

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DamageInc

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#2278944 18-Jul-2019 13:05

hsvhel:

DamageInc:

hsvhel:

good timing! I'm quite literally doing this now. all the old cans out while the ceiling is painted

Went with the ambius range. retrofit option.

http://www.ambiuslighting.co.nz/product-catalogue/indoor-lighting/recessed-down-lights

lol great timing indeed. Have you gone with warm, natural or day light?

Thankfully I'm just after the bulb i.e. bayonet and screw-in types. Best of luck and thanks for your help.

Gotcha! i sped read and thought it was replacing the fittings, you can choose the warmth via dip switches at any point. only purchase the one generic fitting and go from there.

depending on how many you need, its not all that expensive

Warm seems to be a common choice. Read elsewhere daylight and white is too harsh but that must depend on the room its in.

Pop! OS

jonathan18

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#2278955 18-Jul-2019 13:16

DamageInc:

z2k:

I swapped out all our lights, just went with the cheapest option which were the ones from Bunnings that come up to ~$2 a bulb(here).

Main decisions you need to make are:

Do you have bayonet or edison fittings?
What colour temperature do you prefer? Common option is warm white(3000K), or cool white(6500K).
I originally bought the cool white as it's better for visibility but in the end changed it to a warm white because the cool white was too harsh on the eyes at night.

Wow the Bunnings option looks up our alley.

We have a combo of bayonet and screw-in. Thanks for the tip on warm white.

Be mindful that the Bunnings bulbs linked to above are cool white - they may sell an equivalent pack of warm bulbs, but I couldn't find it in a quick search. Some like the cool white, or like it in particular room types (eg bathrooms), whereas some (including me) will avoid them completely. Suggest you be sure of which colour you want in which space before you buy all the bulbs - perhaps buy one of each to try it out. Also, not all bulbs are created equal (and price is not necessarily an indicator). As an example, we bought some LED lights for our bedroom from one of the main light shops, and the room has an eerily purple tinge to it with them on - not particularly pleasant.

As an alternative to that pack of no-brand bulbs, there's this option also sold at Bunnings - $18 for six Philips bulbs (screw, 9w, 806 lumen, warm). $3 a bulb is still damn cheap, especially for a well-known brand, and it's a decent quality light (actually a bit bright in our lounge with five of these in a central fixture).

https://www.bunnings.co.nz/philips-8w-warm-white-led-es-bulb-6-pack_p00078181

DamageInc

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#2278973 18-Jul-2019 13:27

jonathan18:

DamageInc:

z2k:

I swapped out all our lights, just went with the cheapest option which were the ones from Bunnings that come up to ~$2 a bulb(here).

Main decisions you need to make are:

Do you have bayonet or edison fittings?
What colour temperature do you prefer? Common option is warm white(3000K), or cool white(6500K).
I originally bought the cool white as it's better for visibility but in the end changed it to a warm white because the cool white was too harsh on the eyes at night.

Wow the Bunnings option looks up our alley.

We have a combo of bayonet and screw-in. Thanks for the tip on warm white.

Be mindful that the Bunnings bulbs linked to above are cool white - they may sell an equivalent pack of warm bulbs, but I couldn't find it in a quick search. Some like the cool white, or like it in particular room types (eg bathrooms), whereas some (including me) will avoid them completely. Suggest you be sure of which colour you want in which space before you buy all the bulbs - perhaps buy one of each to try it out. Also, not all bulbs are created equal (and price is not necessarily an indicator). As an example, we bought some LED lights for our bedroom from one of the main light shops, and the room has an eerily purple tinge to it with them on - not particularly pleasant.

As an alternative to that pack of no-brand bulbs, there's this option also sold at Bunnings - $18 for six Philips bulbs (screw, 9w, 806 lumen, warm). $3 a bulb is still damn cheap, especially for a well-known brand, and it's a decent quality light (actually a bit bright in our lounge with five of these in a central fixture).

https://www.bunnings.co.nz/philips-8w-warm-white-led-es-bulb-6-pack_p00078181

Good points thank you.

Pop! OS

timmmay

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#2278999 18-Jul-2019 13:50

I like the light quality from Philips bulbs better than the no-brand ones I bought. I only got the cheaper ones because my wife wanted a really warm color, but once I put them in she didn't really care.

Keep the receipt. Some may fail in the first year. I scan all mine.

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DamageInc

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#2279005 18-Jul-2019 13:55

timmmay:

I like the light quality from Philips bulbs better than the no-brand ones I bought. I only got the cheaper ones because my wife wanted a really warm color, but once I put them in she didn't really care.

Keep the receipt. Some may fail in the first year. I scan all mine.

Scan your receipts?

Pop! OS

mentalinc

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#2279006 18-Jul-2019 13:57

Those lights will be rather dim, only 60w equivilent!

What are the watt of the current lights you have and are wanting to replace?

For example I like 150w for living areas which translates to 25-28w in LED speak...

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DamageInc

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#2279015 18-Jul-2019 14:09

mentalinc:

Those lights will be rather dim, only 60w equivilent!

What are the watt of the current lights you have and are wanting to replace?

For example I like 150w for living areas which translates to 25-28w in LED speak...

I think the max i have in place is 100w(lounge) and maybe 75w in the bedrooms.

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jonathan18

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#2279019 18-Jul-2019 14:17

mentalinc:

Those lights will be rather dim, only 60w equivilent!

What are the watt of the current lights you have and are wanting to replace?

For example I like 150w for living areas which translates to 25-28w in LED speak...

It's not clear as to which bulbs you're referring to, but I assume it's the Philips bulbs I linked to.

Yes, they are about 60w equivalent. But you appear to be assuming that it's a matter of one bulb per room!

As I mentioned we have five in a single fixture in the middle of the room, so it's actually too bright. It totally depends on the location and number of the fixtures in the OP's house, so I assume they'll consider this when selecting the type and wattage of the bulbs.

The difficulty in getting the ideal match of wattage and colour for a particular space, and in the right form, is one of the reasons I am increasingly interested in 'smart' bulbs - at least then one is able to easily manipulate the brightness etc for the space, or use of the space at the time.

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