Advice for dimly lit lounge

[EFLImpudence]

I would say that is a bad idea. You need to illuminate the ceiling and walls.

 

[cooa99]

I would say that is a bad idea. You need to illuminate the ceiling and walls.

I don’t understand. Is that not what a downlight is doing?

 

[EFLImpudence]

No.

The clue is in the name - downlight.

 

[JP_]

Could you put one of those big daylight LED lights on the ceiling?
Like this

https://panelhut.co.uk/products/72w-surface-mount-led-panel-6500k-cool-white-light-1200-x-600

OK, not very homely looking, but it will make it brighter!

 

[ericmark]

In mothers house used something like this

up lighter to supplement the ceiling lights, reflecting off the ceiling did give a good spread of light. Can do the same with standard lamps

we use zigbee hub and devices so it auto comes on in the evening. In the main down lights need a high ceiling my son fitted them in the kitchen you can see how high the ceiling is there is enough room for the bike above your head, he fitted 16 and the power used is more than the original 65 watt fat fluorescent tube, it is more a fashion statement than a lighting method.

 

[JohnD]

IMO, if you want holes in your ceiling with lamps shining down, the best thing is to lie in a darkened room until the desire goes away.

 

[ericmark]

Even in a chandelier having bulbs facing up, or down can make a huge difference, it clearly also depends on colour of ceiling and floor, but the spread of light from bulbs facing up seems far better than with bulbs facing down, and also the base where all the electronics is runs cooler so likely lamps last longer too.

 

[mikeey84]

Maybe worth trying a cool white bulb rather than a warm white. Pretty cheap, simple and made a huge difference in my similar situation

 

[cooa99]

No.

The clue is in the name - downlight.

Got it. However the downlight in the hall way do a perfect job of lighting up the walls, granted not the ceiling. I did purchase an uplighter lamp as mentioned earlier in the thread which lighted up the ceiling but did not do no much for the rest of the room. I remember seeing a halogen uplighter 20year ago in the US which I bought from Costco on the way back. It was absolutely unbelievably bright! Only issue was the spinning disc in my electric meter was spinning unbelievable fast so I just threw it away.

Could you put one of those big daylight LED lights on the ceiling?
Like this
OK, not very homely looking, but it will make it brighter!

I'll be lucky if the wife does no fling it at me!

Maybe worth trying a cool white bulb rather than a warm white. Pretty cheap, simple and made a huge difference in my similar situation

I have a warm white at the moment but I honestly can't find a 100watt equivalent cool white in the shops

 

[mikeey84]

I have a warm white at the moment but I honestly can't find a 100watt equivalent cool white in the shops

https://www.energysavingonline.co.uk/15w-led-bayonet-gls-light-bulb-cool-white-jcb

They are not easy to find. I got mine from Wilkos which has one of the best selections on the high Street

 

[cooa99]

https://www.energysavingonline.co.uk/15w-led-bayonet-gls-light-bulb-cool-white-jcb

They are not easy to find. I got mine from Wilkos which has one of the best selections on the high Street

Thanks, I can see the wilco ones are not in stock. ordering some from amazon now for delivery tomorrow so will use in uplighter and ceiling . Lets see if this makes a difference.

 

[SimonH2]

We have a lounge of a similar size - but it has a high ceiling. Lighting was by 4 uplighters, each with 120W R7s tungsten (so 480W total) SWMBO liked them, but you can imagine what it does to the lecky meter.
I found some 14W dimmable R7 LEDs from Phillips - so I replaced the R7s holders with R7 holders (in the days just before Maplins imploded). ore light, less power consumption - except that SWMBO doesn't like they way they dim without going orange like "real" lights.

But for the OP, I would suggest you experiment with some free standing lights before doing anything permanent. Uplighters are good as they use the ceiling as a reflector and give a good diffuse light that's easy on the eyes without hard shadows - provided you have a fairly light ceiling.
And I'd echo an earlier comment - avoid downlighters, they give the worst light possible unless your criteria for "good" is "lights up circles on the floor without providing much useful light", and you have to hack big holes in the ceiling which are a PITA to repair when you realise how cra...err rubbish they are. On my list of jobs is to replace the lighting in the kitchen - FOURTEEN downlighters and crap lighting. As an experiment I replaced just one of them with a 10W LED circular fitting and on it's own it transformed that end of the kitchen. When I replace teh rest, there's be a lot of 3"(ish) dia holes to fill in.

 

[cooa99]

I went into Wilko over the weekend and picked up a couple of bulbs. So settled with 120w equivalent warm white for the ceiling and a 100w warm white in an uplighter. Good lighting but may need another uplighter.

The laptop is still rubbish for video calls even with the lights so looks a new camera is required or may try a halogen uplighter

 

[EFLImpudence]

Ok. What was/is the actual Wattage of the bulbs?

 

[bernardgreen]

Can do the same with standard lamps

I have two of those standard lamps but after breaking one of the translucent glass shades I replaced them with copper shades. These shades were sold as pendent shades but work just as well in the role of uplighters