Lamp wattages?

..james.., Apr 3, 7:58pm
Hi , We need better lighting in our lounge for reading. The centre light from the ceiling is only rated to 60w. I put a 60w flood light beam/wide angle in there tonight and is still pretty dim. My idea is for floor lights in a couple of corners but they all seem rated from only 40 to 60w too. With recent tech bulbs can you get brighter bulbs that draw less power so they are safe in these fittings? Im sure that we had 100w bulbs everywhere when i grew up. Thanks so much.
loud_37, Apr 3, 8:05pm
Put in a 13watt or higher LED bulb as this will put out the same light as a 120watt normal bulb, and save you a little bit on power as well.
ianab, Apr 3, 8:26pm
Yup. LED lights are the way to go. Because they are only 10-20 watts (for more light than an old incandescent) they don't get as hot as even an old style 40w lamp.
..james.., Apr 3, 9:20pm
thanks for this. Solves my prob.
pauldw, Apr 3, 9:21pm
The heat in a LED bulb is concentrated in the electronics at the base. In some recessed fittings retrofitted LED will overheat.
blueviking, Apr 4, 7:11am
It's all about the lumens today. So when buying, this is what you check.
ianab, Apr 4, 7:36am
True. You do need to make sure the fitting has some sort of ventilation. The LEDs make a lot less heat, but are more sensitive to overheating if there isn't some ventilation in the fitting.
cantabman1, Apr 4, 7:43am
I haven't read any other posts, but my recommendation is go for LED and look up the Ali Express site for all of you requirements. Goods arrive in about 3-4 weeks and at a quarter of the retail price anywhere else.
gpg58, Apr 4, 9:55am
I slowly changed whole house and garage etc to 13/14 watt Phillips warm white leds 2-4 years ago, first ones were 14 watt, later ones are 13 watt, all are 1400 lumens.
No failures at all yet, unlike the other unknown (various) brand crap i tried first. Even super markets sell them now.
oh_hunnihunni, Apr 4, 10:41am
Best light for reading comes from a lamp casting light over your shoulder onto the page. Table lamps or even standards are better than central lighting for that purpose.
toni265, Apr 5, 1:42pm
This is correct. Forget the wattage when buying LED lamps. Look at the lumen output. Then make sure you got enough ventilation to suit the size of the lamp
gpg58, Apr 5, 3:40pm
Just noticed supermarket (new world) has 14.5 watt Phillips in stock at around $10, in warm white with 1700 lumen output! (easily better than 100w incandescent), think i will be updating a couple of mine now.
ianab, Apr 5, 8:10pm
There are 2 common "colours". Warm white which is a "yellowish" light, like an old style incandescent. Use that for living rooms / bedrooms etc as it's a "softer" light.

The other is "Daylight" which appears more "blueish" and a bit harsher. That's better for kitchens and work areas.

The "colour" is measured in Kelvins, and has nothing to do with Lumens (how much light), it's just the colour of the light. "Warm White" is around 3,000K, while Daylight is more like 5,000K+.
mack77, Apr 7, 8:32pm
In my opinion the best LED bulb to buy, if you require an adequate level of light, is the "Philips 19watt, 2300lumen, cool daylight" with either the bayonet base (B22) or the edison screw base.
tegretol, Apr 7, 10:17pm
So if you buy these from Ali and they go up in smoke and take the house with them, what would your insurance companys' position be?
cantabman1, Apr 8, 8:39am
Oh dear, not very know-all today are we Owen.
As an ex electrical appliance retailer I know a little about this.
For a start, whether you buy a Philips or Kung fut brand, they ALL now come out of China. They have to be of a standard to be sold under the Ali Express brand. LED doesn't get hot, and to my knowledge , there is yet to be any house fires caused by them at all!
tegretol, Apr 8, 12:31pm
If you could be bothered to read my posting, you'd note that I asked a question - I did not make a statement. There is a difference you know.
gazzat22, Apr 8, 12:53pm
Well i,ve got several in my residence. Purchased from Bunnings, Osram Brand,which is or was a well known brand. 6500k/10.5w/ Made in China.
calebmw, Apr 22, 12:23pm
As an electrician, I would never recommend purchasing electrical equipment from a company such as Aliexpress. The consistency in quality of imported led bulbs will be bad and you will have a high failure rate. Some of the fittings we get through wholesalers are bad enough.
gpg58, Nov 22, 9:09am
spotted a 24w version(phillips) in bunnings, they had cool white and in es base only, but claimed as 4000 lumens, but it is a large bulb diameter, so would only fit open fittings.