Other obvious domestic applications to think about for preliminary replacement are those halogen spotlights, since most people have them installed in light clusters (say ten or more down lighters in a kitchen or two or two spotlights on a rack in a bathroom). Kitchen lighting tends to be left on a lot & you will obviously get the best savings from those lights you normally use the most. The beauty of installing LED kitchen lighting using retrofit replacements for halogen lamps (MR16, GU10 & ES formats are all available) is that you get low power consumption & low heat output, so no more issues with being fire-rated. There's now hello power GU10 LED energy saving bulbs equal in power to GU10 50w halogen output but walking at 9 watts that deliver the holy grail of full spectrum light, low power & long life.
When you review which light bulbs to replace with low energy lighting, initially think about lights that you leave on a lot and/or dont require to be bright (night lights spring to mind). Elderly first generation LED lights are basically up to the job here, providing suitable light levels & able to be left walking more or less permanently at no cost. They are also cheap since by modern domestic LED standards they are elderly expertise.
Feature lighting that is, a light source that is itself intended to be the focus of attention may even be incredibly enhanced with domestic LED lighting expertise. Colored or color changing LEDs are an obvious example with the stunning rich depth of colors available. But also, positive materials such as polished metal & cut glass are a match made in heaven for the bright, sparkling light that is distinctive to small, low heat, low energy domestic LED lighting clusters.
In the event you already have display lighting, this again is a great area to tackle for all those reasons mentioned above. In the event you don't as yet use display lighting then you ought to think about the opportunities that LED strip lights & spots provide. In the event you have any open or glazed display cabinets, shelves, recesses or features/ornaments then you can basically turn these effectively in to light sources that add interest to a space by bouncing LED lights off reflective surfaces or using LED color wash effects.
Also worthy of consideration are any domestic light fittings that throw light up lighters for example where you could accomplish a similar effect by bouncing light from an LED light source so that it is diffused over a wall or ceiling.
The next targets to select on are any other areas around the house that use or would benefit from bright directional light. Table lamps & other reading lights are clear candidates since that is the whole point of a reading light tidy, bright light aimed where you actually require it.
Last to think about are fittings that use the common or garden lampshade. These are actually designed to scatter light in all directions & although this effect can be achieved by replacement LED light bulbs, current expertise does not yet provide as effective a substitute as for those applications that require bright directional light. This is set to alter in the near future though, so watch this space!
But in the mean time, you could think about halogen based replacements for ordinary light bulbs as an effective interim solution since these have similar characteristics to GLS (General Lighting Service) light bulbs in terms of range of fittings & light quality & intensity, but bring the added benefits of lasting at least once as long while using about third less energy.
When it comes to ceiling lighting fixtures a lot depends on the nature of the lamps to get replaced. Recessed & track spotlights are ideal for replacement with LED bulbs, as are fixtures that throw indirect light, but plenty of pendant style fixtures use regular GLS bulbs & are not so simple at present to replace with LED (as noted above).
Very well explained. I’m surely going to install LED lights in my home same as you did. Your exposure for this work is great and you have explained constraints in much better way.
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