What lights to install inside rooms instead of fluorescent tubes?

[FrederikKitten]

I'm just finishing renovation of house. Each room (bedroom, living room, kitchen ... ) used to have a single fluorescent tube. I'm keeping one light per room. But what should I use as a light? Could one 5w-10w LED bulb in some fancy light cover do it? Or stick with tubes? (not very nice looking in my opinion)

 

I have no idea about lightning, if you can recommend light type/wattage/kelvins, so I can easily buy it, that would help. I prefer low cost per month and nice look, don't care much about initial cost.

[OneMoreFarang]

LED lights use little electricity and they are available in many shapes and forms.

The problem is there are many many options. I.e. which color temperature do you like/want? Something like romantic candlelight or daylight white for work?

 

If you want to look at options and details I can recommend this website. The guy has also many videos on YouTube and he knows what he is talking about.

https://quinled.info/

 

If you don't want to look at too many details then I still suggest you have a look at this and the CRI value. This is about the quality of the light. I.e. that food looks like food, etc.

https://quinled.info/2018/08/23/the-color-white-and-cri-ra/

[asiacurious]

LED all the way.

 

My suggestion is the first thing to decide is if you want a warm feeling (like old style incandescent bulbs), or a cool feeling (like daylight).  Probably best thing to do is just go buy 1 screw in bulb at 2700-3000 Kelvin (that's the color temperature) and a second screw in bulb at 5500-6500 Kelvin.  The lower the K number the warmer the light.

 

 

Then get two light fixtures and screw the bulbs in and look at the light during the daytime, then again at night.  Most people prefer the warmer color from 2700-3000 Kelvin bulbs.

 

Everything else is secondary to color temperature.  After you know the color temperature you can worry about what style of light you want (ceiling mount, wall mount, free-standing floor light, table lamp....)  Same for how much light a bulb gives off (which is measured in lumens).  You can get a higher wattage bulbs that are dimmable and put wall or ceiling fixtures on dimmer switches to control the light output.  And for floor or table lamps you can similarly get them with or without dimmer switches (or add them via a plug in adapter).

 

But my suggestion is to start with the color of the light that you want, then take it from there.

[lopburi3]

21 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Something like romantic candlelight or daylight white for work?

Daylight (cool white) is the only logical option in Thailand for many of us - candle (warm) is exactly that - too dang hot for the temps here.  

 

It is easy to replace tube with those using LED lamps these days and for most use they are fine - much more expensive would be hidden lamps around room but that is major renovation (but it can look nice).

[sometimewoodworker]

28 minutes ago, FrederikKitten said:

I'm just finishing renovation of house. Each room (bedroom, living room, kitchen ... ) used to have a single fluorescent tube. I'm keeping one light per room. But what should I use as a light? Could one 5w-10w LED bulb in some fancy light cover do it? Or stick with tubes? (not very nice looking in my opinion)

 

I have no idea about lightning, if you can recommend light type/wattage/kelvins, so I can easily buy it, that would help. I prefer low cost per month and nice look, don't care much about initial cost.

Keeping to a single light per room is what you do if you don’t want to bother with any of the many options available. The rooms we have, have no single lights so we have many options.

 

It’s virtually impossible to tell you what you should use, a good look is completely subjective. Colour temperature is also subjective but warm white is less harsh. Amount of light is also subjective, I would want at least 18W LEDs 

[OneMoreFarang]

28 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

Daylight (cool white) is the only logical option in Thailand for many of us - candle (warm) is exactly that - too dang hot for the temps here.  

 

It is easy to replace tube with those using LED lamps these days and for most use they are fine - much more expensive would be hidden lamps around room but that is major renovation (but it can look nice).

In the moment I sit in front of my PC in the dark with only a little background light. It's warm white, like candlelight, and I like it that way. I could switch on the white light. And sometimes I do that for dinner, but I definitely won't switch the white light on when I want to relax. 

[FriendlyFarang]

34 minutes ago, sometimewoodworker said:

It’s virtually impossible to tell you what you should use, a good look is completely subjective.

Not all of it. One thing that's not subjective is the "color rendering index" (just Google it for more info). A light with a high CRI just makes a better light, objectively.

The color temperature, as well as the brightness is of course subjective. I would recommend putting a bright white (daylight) light in the ceiling, for when you want lots of light, and just put some other lamp with a more yellowish light for some background lightning.

 

Fluorescent tubes are by the way not bad in general, also quite energy efficient, a bit less than LED, but not that it matters much, especially because the light will probably not be used for more than a few hours per day. Might be difficult to get tubes with high CRI and in the desired color here in Thailand, because the ones that I usually see in Thai homes are really bad.

Edited August 18, 2022 by FriendlyFarang

[OneMoreFarang]

38 minutes ago, asiacurious said:

But my suggestion is to start with the color of the light that you want, then take it from there.

Some lights are also available with a switch to change the color temperature. And some even allow a smooth transition of a range of the color temperatures.

In the moment I renovate my apartment. I install dimmable LEDs with variable color temperature everywhere. I will have always the perfect light.

 

Here are some high-quality LEDs - with many options. 

https://www.aliexpress.com/store/group/WWCW-SMD-LED-Strip/3754011_515228206.html

[unheard]

@FrederikKitten

The easiest way would be to install a smart, remote controlled ceiling light, fully adjustable for brightness and color.

That way you can adjust the lite the way you want it, and then change the settings when you need it.

 

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/toshiba-led-smart-ceiling-lamp-25-toshiba-lighting-i2575326274-s9169991996.html?clickTrackInfo=query%3Atoshiba%2Bled%2Bsmart%2Bceiling%3Bnid%3A2575326274%3Bsrc%3ALazadaMainSrp%3Brn%3Ad1e6e286a22048f62a40c5a5c47c8e73%3Bregion%3Ath%3Bsku%3A2575326274_TH%3Bprice%3A1190.00%3Bclient%3Adesktop%3Bsupplier_id%3A100192419093%3Basc_category_id%3A11934%3Bitem_id%3A2575326274%3Bsku_id%3A9169991996%3Bshop_id%3A2292463&search=1&spm=a2o4m.searchlist.list.i40.7bd45623lzWLMY