Place with good variety of fluoro/LED bulbs/tubes

[telstrareg]

I have 2 circular ceiling lights but a I need more light than the 32 watts each standard tube puts out.

Options:

1) Double circular fluoro (havent seen any in Chiang Mai)

2) LED circular (I'm not even sure if these exist. I've only seen LED linear for replacing linear fluoros)

The advantage of LED would be dimmable.

3) If the above are not available, replace circular fitting with 2 or 3 Edison type sockets.

[masuk]

The best range of LED lights I have seen has been in some IKEA stores. I know that they're not in Chiang Mai as yet, but might be worth going through their on-line catalogue.

They certainly have some good lighting idea for kitchens.

I find that the Thai system of a single lamp in the middle of a room dates from the 1950s, kitchens being the worst.

[telstrareg]

The best range of LED lights I have seen has been in some IKEA stores. I know that they're not in Chiang Mai as yet, but might be worth going through their on-line catalogue.

They certainly have some good lighting idea for kitchens.

I find that the Thai system of a single lamp in the middle of a room dates from the 1950s, kitchens being the worst.

I just had a look. No luck with LED tubes (just bulbs) and they don't list fluoro tubes of any kind. Thanks though.

[Sparkles]

The lighting store on the Saturday Walking Street Market (Wualia Rd) might be the go.They seem to have huge range of stock

[masuk]

I plan to get LED strips which go under shelving and so on. I hate working in my own shadow.

I read recently that fluoros are out of fashion now, and LEDs have a greater light output.

[kaptainrob]

Wualai road electrical have a good range although HomePro sell LED downlights which are quite unique.

Unique in that they pivot + there is very little gap for insect/gecko ingress and they come in ~ 3 brightnesses and either soft white or daylight. We put a general round fluro in kitchen + 2 x 5watt down lights - 1 points at sink, the other at prep area. A perfect solution.

[telstrareg]

Thanks to all. I will follow up some of the leads today and report back.

[CMKiwi]

Yes the led down lights are magic. You can hunt around and find the swivel type fittings as Rob mentioned. It use to be that most led bulbs for these were 12 volt. Which in itself is no longer a problem as small transformers are now widely available. The bulbs are the halogen shape ones that had the 2 pins that plug into 2 small holes. ...sorry I don't know the correct term for this type of led/bulb. But there is a lot to choose from nowadays. Gd luck.

[Gonsalviz]

I been buying LED's at Global house and HomePro. Global by far has the lower price for LED's.

Good to know LEDS are dimmable. I thought the circuitry in the bulb would prevent that.

Considering the wattage difference. I would consider changing sockets. Those wonderful curly tubes that the UN forced upon us use more power and are more unreliable than the incandescents.

[quidnunc]

I been buying LED's at Global house and HomePro. Global by far has the lower price for LED's.

Good to know LEDS are dimmable. I thought the circuitry in the bulb would prevent that.

Considering the wattage difference. I would consider changing sockets. Those wonderful curly tubes that the UN forced upon us use more power and are more unreliable than the incandescents.

Curly flourescent tubes use more power than incandescents? So all the corporations that switched over to this lighting in order to save money were delusional? And the UN forced us to do this? Did sharpshooters located on black helicopters start taking out incandescent light bulbs?

[masuk]

I been buying LED's at Global house and HomePro. Global by far has the lower price for LED's.

Good to know LEDS are dimmable. I thought the circuitry in the bulb would prevent that.

Considering the wattage difference. I would consider changing sockets. Those wonderful curly tubes that the UN forced upon us use more power and are more unreliable than the incandescents.

Your final paragraph sounds a bit hysterical to me.

Almost all of the Energy Saver bulbs, whether twisted or straight, consume around 80% less power than the old incandescent.

Ye Olde 80watt incandescent bulb has a twisted Energy Saver bulb rated at 14watt. That's a huge saving, especially if you had a house full of the old type bulbs.

The added bonus is that you're up the step ladder to change bulbs about once in 2 or 3 years, with a rated life of 8000hours.