LED lights in a bedroom - Any advice/recommendations?

[NeilF]

We're having our bedroom refitted and the designer suggested we put in (six) LED downlights on a dimmer. Now I've little experience of them so wonder if anyone here has any advise or opinions on them?

The model the designer recommended are Aurora Sola - 110-240V LED Aluminium IP65 Fixed 9W Downlight Fire Protection Aurora Lighting AU-FRL903PC/30

The model that looks appealing to us as you can change the beam size easily are LEDLite - LED Fire Rated Downlight - Dimmable - IP66 - Warm White

We'd be getting "warm" versions to try and keep that warm halogen feel.


Anyone have LED downlighters? Any opinion/feelings?

Thanks....

 

[telectrix]

you don't need IP66 fittings in a bedroom. i'd stick with the designer's recommendation.

 

[NeilF]

The spec of the designers ones are IP65, so basically the same? I suspect they're just made like that these days (IP65/66) be default?

Is your recommendation down to the IP rating, or assuming the designer knows his stuff? Which is fair enough of course!


Note: We're looking to put a pair in a small shower room too, so I IP65/IP66 would be fine in there too!

 

[telectrix]

you're right inasmuch as these complete with lamp fittings have IP rating. aurora have a good rep for quality. just wondering if 6 will be enough. i tend to work on spacing them no more than 3ft. apart.

 

[NeilF]

you're right inasmuch as these complete with lamp fittings have IP rating. aurora have a good rep for quality. just wondering if 6 will be enough. i tend to work on spacing them no more than 3ft. apart.

The room is approx 5x3 meters... Smaller if anything...

So six lights could be put across the middle area of the room with each about 1m apart?

Are you able to comment on putting alot of them on one dimmer? I read somewhere that this is tricky?

 

[telectrix]

as long as the dimmer is compatible with the LEDs , then no problem. sometimes you can get induced voltage, esp. on 2 way switching which makes the LEDs glow faintly even when off. this can be overcome, though if it arises. for that size of room, i'd be inclined to fit 8 or 10 in 2 rows. better to have too much light than not enough.

 

[NeilF]

as long as the dimmer is compatible with the LEDs , then no problem. sometimes you can get induced voltage, esp. on 2 way switching which makes the LEDs glow faintly even when off. this can be overcome, though if it arises. for that size of room, i'd be inclined to fit 8 or 10 in 2 rows. better to have too much light than not enough.

You have to start wondering when you need 8 lights to replace a single bulb in the middle of the room :/

We're also considering having 2 narrow beam spot lights for reading too on dimmers, and a dimmer light above the dresser...

Just starting to sound silly when we get to 11+ downlighters+spots Might think about cutting back and losing the reading spots and just having traditional bed side lights (with dimmers).

 

[crow11]

i'd agree with tel chuck 8 in, if you find it's to much light for you, you have your dimmer

 

[Richard Burns]

Because of the narrow beam and limited luminosity downlights are not efficient for lighting a room, though they can present an uncluttered effect, this is why you would need more fittings.
The ones you specify appear to be almost twice as bright as the aurora ones, but your electrician may be aiming for ease of installation. Aurora are a good manufacturer and he would be able to rely on them, though LEDlite are also OK from that point of view.

The selection of downlights is very subjective but whichever you get (so long as they are at least reasonable) you will probably not notice them after a while (until they go wrong!).

 

[NeilF]

And any first hand opinions on the how "warm" feels? ie: It doesn't appear too unnatural? I remember trying some regular LED white bulbs in the kitchen and it make everything look a little odd/unnatural. I would hope "warm" would feel more "normal".


And people recon we could get 8/9 of these Aurora units on one dimmer? This is what I read somewhere:-

Maximum: The amount of bulbs that you can connect to a dimmer is not always as simple as dividing the wattage of your dimmer by the wattage of each bulb. Although each LED bulb consumes far less power than an incandescent bulb, they put the same amount of stress on a dimmer. Because of this, we do not recommend putting more LED bulbs on a dimmer than you would incandescent. For example, putting more than 6 LED bulbs on a 600 watt dimmer would not be advisable.

 

[telectrix]

regarding "warm" IMO the best light for bedrooms is a warm white. colour temp. 2700K - 3000K.

 

[telectrix]

regarding "warm" IMO the best light for bedrooms is a warm white. colour temp. 2700K - 3000K. and i don't know where the last bit came from. the last install i did had 12 LEDs on 2 way dimmers in lounge and 8 on dimmers in the bedroom, with no issues.

 

[Richard Burns]

Both the fittings you link have a colour of 3000K (depending on model) halogens are about 2400K so would be a bit yellower but as Tel says 3000K is fine for a bedroom, LED lamps have improved in colour very quickly and are much closer to haolgen now if they are warm white.

For dimmers this is very manufacturer specific, most have compatibility lists indicating how many lamps can be on one dimmer. six is a common maximum but this does vary a lot both with lamps and dimmers.

 

[NeilF]

I think those LEDLite ones are brighter because they have 4 LEDs instead of Aurora's 3. You also have the option to change the lens so the beam can be from 25 degrees to 90 degrees... If you could get away with 6 of those, instead of 8 Aurora's that's appealing!

 

[telectrix]

the only problem with these all-in-one fittings, is that you can't change the lamps (bulbs) if you want a change or don't like the particular light. personally i prefer SMDs as they have a wider spread.

 

[NeilF]

the only problem with these all-in-one fittings, is that you can't change the lamps (bulbs) if you want a change or don't like the particular light. personally i prefer SMDs as they have a wider spread.

Well, with the LEDLite ones you can change teh lens covers to change the beam ranging from 25 degrees to 90 degrees. This seems a good idea surely?


The only thing that concerns me about them is how they don't seem as common as Aurora? But they seem exactly the same animal, just brighter, and have the beam changing option!?

 

[telectrix]

at the end of the day, it's your choice.

 

[NeilF]

at the end of the day, it's your choice.

It is... But unfortunately I'm flying somewhat blind on this matter


It does seem clear that people suggest fitting more than you think of them... But again, if the LEDLite ones are nigh on 30% brighter than the Aurora would 6 suffice instead of 8.... Argh! Guess fit 8 no matter what. Three down each long end of the room (near the cupboards), and two down the middle maybe (The bed is in the middle of the room).

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[telectrix]

i'd do 2 rows of 4. bear in mind that your ceiling joists are spaced at 18" and you aim to fit the lights central between joists. that's one reason i suggested a 3ft. spacing. (all depends on which way the joists run).

 

[NeilF]

Two rows of 4 running along the width of the room?

The bed is in the middle of the room against the wall, so in effect the bed will be getting nigh on 4 downlighters, where as each row of cupboards at each side will only be getting 2?

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I think fitting four along there might be tight. Longest distance is 5.2m, but given cupboards at both ends sticking out nigh on 70-100cm... That reduces the room to about 4m or less in effect.

I'll have a chat with Mr Electrician!


Infact here is a plan of the bedroom for exact layout- http://imageshack.us/a/img826/1636/planfinaldesign3rdjune.jpg

 

[telectrix]

well, obviously , you need to plan the layout to suit the furniture arrangements, but make sure you're not going to be drilling into a joist.

 

[NeilF]

make sure you're not going to be drilling into a joist.

Even I know that's bad

As the room is uneven it's tricky getting the lights in there symmetrically though...

 

[NeilF]

Out of interest... How much access do you need from above? The reason I ask is how on earth do you do this sort of project on a ground floor? Do you have to lift all the floor boards above up?

In the case of my bedroom, with the loft above, will they need access in the loft to where every single light/hole is going?

 

[Richard Burns]

Out of interest... How much access do you need from above? The reason I ask is how on earth do you do this sort of project on a ground floor? Do you have to lift all the floor boards above up?

In the case of my bedroom, with the loft above, will they need access in the loft to where every single light/hole is going?

Ground floor at least two floorboards up along the line of the lights, loft at least access to get a cable to every light location.

If you were very lucky then it may be possible to rod the cabling into place, but without knowing where the joists are would cause difficulty and normally it is better to have the best access possible.

 

[NeilF]

Ground floor at least two floorboards up along the line of the lights, loft at least access to get a cable to every light location.

If you were very lucky then it may be possible to rod the cabling into place, but without knowing where the joists are would cause difficulty and normally it is better to have the best access possible.

OK! So access to each light pos in loft is needed. That makes sense! I'll make sure the 3.5million empty boxes up there are out of the way

 

[telectrix]

And get the itchy-poo away from each location.

 

[applemac]

you only need ip65 lamps in the bedroom if watersports are practiced :]

 

[trev]

This thread just reminded me of a joke.....To The Arms!!!!!

 

[NeilF]

Incase it's of interest to anyone. Aurora have a new unit coming out supposedly this month, which is about 10% brighter...

220-240V IP65 Fixed 10W MV LED Dimmable Downlight Fire Protection - Aurora

Annoying thing for me is it's not out quite yet...

 

[trev]

You got shares in Aurora? Forgive my cynicism mate

 

[NeilF]

^^ Nope... Never even tried them... Hence the request for any first-hand experience/insight.

- - - Updated - - -

you only need ip65 lamps in the bedroom if watersports are practiced :]

Care to recommend an alternative then?

 

[trev]

I've tried em and liked em. Better than some not as good as others but worth what you pay for em imho

 

[Jaycee]

Google the Ansell Titan led downlighting range, 9watt ip65, white as standard, but you can twist off the bezel, and replace with a choice of bezel finishes.

 

[DL electrician]

Have used the LEDlite fittings recently and have been very impressed....the springs are a little on the cheap side but the look and feel of the bezel and lens is very very smart!

Aurora have always been a good unit but haven't seen the ones in the link.

The TLC ones come with a 5 year guarantee too!

Only used the daylight versions so far...