Hi, Dull Bathroom Light. Sparkle Needed.

Susan · Oct 31, 2013

Hello to all!
I am looking for some advice:

I'm treating myself to a new bathroom ... going from boring beige, to white and chrome, bright, shiny and new.
Lovely.

My old bathroom light unit was completely illegal: 1980s ceiling spotlights, directly over the shower etc. But it was bright - which is what you need in a bathroom.

I ideally wanted downlights but they weren't possible as I have a concrete ceiling with no option of adding a false one.
I was hoping I'd find something that was the same as recessed downlights, but mounted, however, despite trawling lighting websites, I couldn't find any that weren't too big or industrial.

So I bought this:
7214cc Mars 4 Light IP44 Bathroom Ceiling Light from Lights 4 Living

The new light has arrived and is up and I like the look of the unit but the light it emits is flat, cream and dull.
I'm extremely disappointed.

I have thought about putting up wall lights to add brightness and to give it texture, but because of the layout, wall lights are not an option.

The bulbs the new ceiling unit takes are halogen, G9, 25w.
And so to my question:
Would it be possible to up the wattage? Could I get away with putting, for example, 50w bulbs in? And if I could, would this give me the bright sparkling light I'm looking for?

If the above is not an option or it won't work, can anyone point me in the direction of where I can find mounted downlights? As the lights need to be proud of ceiling, they would ideally be glass - nice, bright and sparkly!
The glass ones I have seen, still need to be recessed so I'm either not looking in the right place or they don't exist.

Any help and advice would be fantastic and gratefully received.

Many thanks,
Sue.

Paul.M · Oct 31, 2013

"My old bathroom light unit was completely illegal: 1980s ceiling spotlights, directly over the shower etc. But it was bright - which is what you need in a bathroom."

What were the old spot lights mounted in or on??? It may be possible that you have galv steel tube in the concrete ceiling for the old cables that may be used on your new install. This needs to be looked at by a local electrician to investigate your possibilities BUT the end result will be well worth the money you pay for him/her. Once it is installed, its there for 25 years, well worth the money.

HandySparks · Oct 31, 2013

You could try replacing the bulbs in your existing fitting with cool white LED lamps. For example:
Megaman 4W G9 Capsule LED - Cool White - Megaman LED G4 & G9 Range
These are just an example, I'm not recommending these in particular.

If you want 'bright', the number to look for is the Lumens figure. 'Cool' means that they'll be a blue-white rather than a warm yellow-white.

Susan · Nov 1, 2013

Thank you, a good tip.
I understand that you are not particularly recommending the Megaman 4w LED light. Is the wattage from a LED light different than that from a halogen? For example, inside the unit, it states that the maximum wattage is 20 per bulb (there are four in total). However, the bulbs supplied are halogen 25. If I tried the 'cooler' LED, what's the maximum wattage I'm looking for (in LED 'language' does 4w translate into something different when it refers to a halogen)?

On the other hand, if the unit states 20w but the bulbs supplied are 25, could I go higher? - a 28w < 40w (lumen 370) or even a 42w < 60w (lumen 630)?

Handysparks, I would really value your opinion and advice.
Sue.

Andy78 · Nov 1, 2013

Hi Susan

LED bulbs are a lot lower wattage than halogens. An LED G9 lamp will usually state the halogen wattage it is equivalent to.
You can see what I mean on this site. The lamps here are replacements for 15W, 20W, and 40W.
G9 LED Bulbs - LED Spotlights

If the fitting you bought states a max of 20W per lamp and has supplied 25W lamps, I would be asking questions to the seller as to why this is.

Cool white and warm white is the colour of the LED as Handysparks said. A warm white will be similar to a halogen light.

Google image search for pictures of comparisons between the colours

HandySparks · Nov 1, 2013

Andy78 has pretty much covered it, but just to add a bit of general info to help your understanding.

The wattage is the amount of power consumed and, to a large extent, the amount of heat produced by the lamp. Don't get this confused with 'equivalent wattage' or 'replacement wattage', this is just to give an indication of the brightness of new technology LED lamps, compared to traditional lamp types.

The recommended maximum wattage of the light fitting will be based on how well the fitting can get rid of the (waste) heat to prevent it all getting too hot and potentially failing or catching fire. So, whatever the type of lamp (bulb), don't use one with a greater wattage than specified for the fitting.

Since LED lamps are more efficient than traditional lamps, they produce significantly more light for a given wattage. So, if you could find one, you could put a 20W LED lamp in the fitting you have. (A 20W LED would be VERY bright.) There is another consideration however. The life of LED lamps is reduced if they are too hot, so you may find that high power LED lamps in a small, enclosed, glass shade are not very long lasting. It may be worth getting one only and trying it for a few days or weeks in the fitting before shelling out on the rest.

Be wary of buying LED lamps too cheaply. This is a fairly new technology for general lighting and poor quality lamps are readily available. Look for a guaranteed lamp life.