Lighting and Energy Conservation in Domestic Dwellings.

ircoha

What are people using for lights in the new energy efficient houses?

What lights are used in Passive heating houses?

Are incandesent low voltage gone out of fashion?

Are dimmers a con in so far as they use the same amount of electricity regardless?

Is the trusty neon making a comeback?

ircoha

ircoha wrote:

What are people using for lights in the new energy efficient houses?

I'm using a combination of CFL, LED and flourecent

What lights are used in Passive heating houses?

The same as above I would imagine, incandesent bulbs would heat the house

Are incandesent low voltage gone out of fashion?

i'm not using any...

Are dimmers a con in so far as they use the same amount of electricity regardless?

not sure about that one
Is the trusty neon making a comeback?

I think that one of the tricks is to make as much use of natural light as possible, I have installed sunpipes in the hall. Use more task orientated lighting, for example if you're reading you dont need a 100W bulb in the middle of the ceiling you use a 40W (of low energy equivilant) table lamp.

Don't light up the house like a christmas tree,

ok, I know we will soon have the "who can strain the ESB transmission system the most! or who can spin the disc in the meter the fastest!" competition.:D

Viking House

Hi Ircoha

We are looking for a good cost effective supplier of 2watt LED spots that give the same light as the standard 50w spots.

Best price so far is about €23 each.

CJhaughey

I have posted before about this in green issues but I will post again here.
At present there is no GU10/MR16 LED lights that will give the same light as a Halogen 50w.
There is LED lights in the GU10/MR16 that will approximate a 35w halogen and they are available in a luxeon star version that gives a 35 deg beam that is quite bright.
The problems with LED lights as I have found is that the brightest lights are a cool white (bluish tinge) and the warm white led's don't give the same amount of light.
There is another option the Cold cathode version of the GU10 the only problem is that the ones I have are slightly longer than the normal Gu10 bulb and consequently protrude from the fitting.

Mellor

How many hours usage is required before it pays for itself.

Even if leds are slightly less bright, they are normally used in clusters around a room, more bulbs used, this is a much better way of lighting a room than the trad bulb in the centre of the room.

CJhaughey

Not only are LEDS cheaper to run by a huge factor, they also have a very long life compared to Halogens.
An average halogen GU10 has a lifespan of 2000hrs most LED lights are around 50,000 hrs.
You will also save a lot of bulb changing in meantime.
I bought mine from a guy in the UK for £10stg a bulb.
I actually got a variety of bulbs from him, cold cathode, cool white, warm white, and replacement BC22 fittings I have found the warm white 42 led narrow angle the nicest to look at.

Viking House

Thank you very much for the info CJ.
Can you send on contact details for your supplier or is that privilaged info?

ircoha

Thanks CJH and VH for this.

This looks an interesting site
http://www.dotlight.de/shop/index.php/cPath/203/language/en?gclid=CPSnk__OyYcCFQ_NXgodmVZvHA


Is there anybody using Solar PV for lighting or is the tech just not there yet?

CJhaughey

I got my LEDS from ultraleds.co.uk
I found him good to deal with especially if you buy a house lot
Ircoha: re PV lighting, I think it is a worthwhile idea and definately feasible, in fact on the ultraleds website there is a little piece from a guy who is using a series of MR16 12v lights to light a stables, he just powers them off a car battery.
If you could rig up a PV panel I can't see why you couldn't use a battery bank for lighting use in the house.
I am currently in the process of wiring my shed and I may just try using this system for an experiment.

ircoha

Thanks, I guess u need a good "controller" ensure proper charging if using a bank of batteries.

Sparky

LED's are only good for background lighting at the moment and maybe for highlighing a few pictures on walls.

There is a mini GU10 2D bulb done and the light output is amazing.

What are people using for lights in the new energy efficient houses?
In my own, we are using a fair few 16w and 28w 2D fittings, all inverted for when there is a power loss. (it's a handy feature to have:))

Where we have a low ceiling we use 20watt GU10 spots.


Are incandesent low voltage gone out of fashion?
Not yet, many of the over-worktop lamps are still transformed and any lamps outside and in showers must be LV by the rules!

Are dimmers a con in so far as they use the same amount of electricity regardless?

Dimmers will reduce the current heading to a bulb, thus reducing light output, lamp life and your bill.

Is the trusty neon making a comeback?
Not to sure. I havn't had much demand to install neons, only as a display in a hotel though. High voltage components are also risky.

As far as energy conservation goes. Many have instant showers, when they can get a heat exchanger and run showers and baths all day long off their heating, be it gas or oil.
People leave immersions on for quite some time. Adjusting the stat and installing a time switch can help.

We all don't have shares in the ESB just yet, so saving it is good.

If not already, apply for a domestic nightsaver meter and avail of electricity at night for a 3rd of the cost. The ESB do this because demand drops at night and they waste juice that could be used.
Do all you tumble drying at night with this meter.

Sonnenblumen

Viking House wrote:

Hi Ircoha

We are looking for a good cost effective supplier of 2watt LED spots that give the same light as the standard 50w spots.

Best price so far is about €23 each.

2W LED = 50W Spot?????