Kitchen Lighting. Please help!!

8 years ago

Hi. I have just extended my regency house and am struggling to plan the kitchen lighting for my semi basement kitchen. It is 7x 6m and I want a mixture of recessed spotlights and pendants over the island. The problem is this...Building regs seem to specify led lighting to meet energy saving requirements, but I am worried about ending up with a coldly lit space. I have used warm white recessed spots in the corners of our stairwell but they still look slightly blue unless I have the central chandelier on to compensate and warm up the space, hence I am stuck! I'm trying to make a very old house flow seamlessly into a new build and this might be the one thing that ruins it ... Any ideas anyone? Thanks!

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PRO

Clever And Simple

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

Hi Lottie,

You don't need to fear LED fittings : ) I would also recommend Orluna lights (but then I am a purveyor of them so I am biased!). They are the best LED downlights that I've seen regardless of cost. To answer some of your questions, I'm going to get a bit 'techy', but I think it will help with your understanding.

Light colour temperature is measured in Kelvin. Low Kelvin numbers are 2500K and are a very warm yellowy white. High Kelvin numbers are 6500K and are a blue shade of white. Different manufacturers use different Kelvin values for colours like Warm White and Cool White. A typical Warm white range will be from 2700-3000K. Generally speaking, LEDs produce a constant colour temperature no matter what their dimming level. Normal bulbs (incandescent and halogen) vary their colour temperature depending upon dimming level. They start very warm at a low light level and then produce a cooler light as the dimming is reduced. I suspect that your existing bulbs are closer to 3000K which is why they are coming up as cooler than the pendant.

Orluna LED lights can be specified at exact colour temperatures e.g. 2700K, 2900K etc. I have found that the 2700K version is perfect for domestic use as it produces a lovely warm white colour (as Victoria states).

With the Orluna lights, you can also specify the beam angle (the larger this is, the larger the circle of light produced). For task lighting kitchen worktops etc 46 Degrees is normally ok. For picture/sculpture lighting, the beam angle can be reduced down to as low as 10 Degrees which produces a small pool of light.

The black baffle that Victoria mentions is designed to reduce glare from the fitting. This means that you can look at the ceiling and not get blinded by the lights.

Orluna make quite a few different ranges too to suit different styles. My current favourite is the Curve range which produces a soft 'halo' type affect in the ceiling. The effect is hard to photograph, but they look great in the flesh.

One other thing to be careful of with LEDs is the dimming ability of the LED driver (transformer). Lower quality LEDs don't dim down very low. This is important for when you wish to create a cosy atmosphere in the evening. Orluna LEDs will dim down to between 0.1 and 1% depending upon the driver used, some LED downlights only dim to about 20% which isn't great.

If you are able to have high quality LED fittings like the Orluna ones, they will help to integrate the new and old parts of your property more seamlessly.

I'm not sure where in the country you are based, but you should have an Orluna dealer near you where you can see the fittings working for yourself.

I hope that this helps.

Peter

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Comments (20)

Victoria
8 years ago
Get good quality LED spots. Have you looked at Orluna? I have them, warm white recessed spots with a black inner..
Not cheap but worth it. Photo makes them look less warm than they are.
lottiefenwick thanked Victoria
PRO
User
8 years ago
We bought all of our bulbs from here and they came with a 10 year guarantee ( yes really ) !! Gi-Lec I wanted daylight bulbs, so although they were expensive, they were worth every penny just for the guarantee alone.
lottiefenwick thanked User
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Hi It's difficult to tell without seeing the room, but I imagine you are finding it a little dark? These hanging pendants are a great feature and they can light up your breakfast bar surface well, but they won't be adequate lighting for the whole room. If you go straight for another central ceiling light you will probably find you still have areas of the room that are too dark for the tasks you need to do and that it will detract from the look you have created with the pendant lights. It might be a good idea to think first about which areas need the most light. For example you might put some LED strips under your wall units. These will provide good task lighting onto the counters below and give a nice glowing effect for mood lighting too. You could have these fitted properly, but we just have some simple ones from IKEA stuck beneath ours with Blu Tac. They are very user friendly and you can't tell at all that its such a quick fix job. You could even do the same beneath the cupboard doors to give a glow from underneath to light the floor. Then if you have any glass cabinets you could put some little spots inside them to highlight any glassware or decorative items you might have. You could also think about table/desk lamps to highlight dark corners. Phillips Hue, or Amazon Alexa are worth investigating as a way of controlling lots of separate lights, but if you're splashing out on an electrician I would have them do under cabinet lights and some recessed down-lights in the ceiling - then everything can be controlled with a couple of light switches and you won't have another light fitting competing with your lovely pendant feature. Hope this helps!
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Victoria
8 years ago
Yes, but building regs want LED specific fittings usually, not just retro fitted LED bulbs.
lottiefenwick
Original Author
8 years ago
Thank you very much to both of you for your advice. Victoria, I really appreciate the photo. It looks great and is exactly what I am trying to achieve here! Orluna are far more expensive than I would like, but I am coming round to the fact that you do get what you pay for with Led lighting. It seems that one 'warm white' is completely different to another depending on who manufactures it. Very confusing!
Victoria
8 years ago
We had that difficulty too, Lottie! We looked at loads of lights, you need to see them on to judge, we found recessing the bulb and having the black inner made a huge difference. They are dimmable too.
PRO
Fusion interior design
8 years ago
We have LED's at home and use them on client projects. I agree with Victoria regarding the initial cost and no doubt the money you have spent on your build, LED lighting seems a high price but they are worth it - 'Buy cheap, buy twice'. They're also cheaper to run and longer lasting, I cannot think of the last time I changed a downlight bulb. :)
lottiefenwick thanked Fusion interior design
lottiefenwick
Original Author
8 years ago
Thank you for your invaluable advice everyone!

Peter, thank you for taking the time to give me such a detailed explanation. You are right, my staircase landing LEDs are 3000k and cost £25 each so it is no wonder that I am not happy with them. They have also cracked two varilight led dimmer switches across the facia, presumably because of overheating.

I am certainly interested in Orluna and after Victoria mentioned them I had a look on the web and the 'curve' did appeal. I will try to find a local stockist near Southampton, where I can see them in person before I spend a small fortune. We are over budget so I suppose I have been trying to cut corners in the wrong places.

Could you tell me, I will need task lighting for the island and some to highlight the area between the island and the back run of the kitchen, but I have a large area of clear floor space in front of this that will need general lighting. Is it better to use a minimal amount of very wide beam angle spots to light this area or will this just give me a very flat, uninteresting space? I am trying to avoid that horrible grid pattern look at all costs.
PRO
Clever And Simple
8 years ago
Hi Lottie,

Do you have any drawings/pictures of the room? This would help working out how many lights you need. With the wide angle fittings, you can use less fittings and still illuminate the area well. One of the advantages of the Orluna fittings is that you can change the beam angle retrospectively as the lens can be swapped over. For the open areas, the 46 or 60 Degree fitting should be fine. For the task lighting depending upon the size of the table, these angles should work too. If you want to create a pool of light then use a narrower beam (20 or 30 Degrees).

I agree with you about avoiding grids. Position the lights where they will be needed rather than in a pattern. If you end up with a grid pattern, it is not so obvious with the Orluna lights as they do blend into the ceiling. I'm assuming that the ceiling hasn't been plastered yet? If it hasn't, you can use the Curve 'Jigsaw' fitting that has a ring plastered into the ceiling. This means that when the ceiling is finished, the light sits completely flush and is very discrete.

I can contact Orluna tomorrow to find your nearest dealer. Failing that, I could pop down to you with some of the fittings to show them to you and try them out in the room.

Thanks,

Peter
stevebroadbent
8 years ago
Buy Philips hue bulbs and Philips hue Phoenix spotlights. Worth every penny and you can change to any color you like on the bulbs and any type of white your heart desires in the spotlights. Never worry about a cold feeling house again!
PRO
Clever And Simple
8 years ago
The Philips Hue bulbs are great, I have recently used the colour changing ones in some garden planters. However, as the Philips Hue bulbs are retrofit, I suspect that the fitting wouldn't comply as the Philips hue bulb could be replaced with a 50W halogen bulb and therefore fail the energy requirements.
charlie_bill
8 years ago
Hi all. Just researching lighting for our renovation and Orluna looks like the one for us. Trying to get an idea of Orulna LED pricing. How much per LED downlight am I looking at please?
PRO
Clever And Simple
8 years ago
Hi Charlie,

The Orluna LEDs vary in cost depending upon the style and the dimming method used. The Curve fitting starts with a retail price of £55.14 +VAT with a non-dimming driver. The fitting with a mains dimming driver retails for£65.14+VAT. Depending upon the lighting layout, you will normally need less Orluna fittings than other brands as the beam angles go up to 60 degrees so there is a greater spread of light around the room. If you have some fittings in mind and you'd like a cost on them or you would like some help with a lighting plan, then just send me a message through my contact page on Houzz.

Thanks,

Peter
charlie_bill
8 years ago
that's great Peter, thanks. Just a bit more than what we had budgeted. Will discuss with our builder and get him to contact you if he doesn't already have a supplier.
PRO
Clever And Simple
8 years ago
Hi Charlie,
No problem. Can you tell me where in the country you are based?
Thanks
Peter
charlie_bill
8 years ago
Swansea
PRO
DAZZ-LED Ltd
7 years ago
Hi Charlie, I hope you don't mind me offering another option - we are a trade supplier of LEDs and will be launching a retail website - but an option would be to use our Profession LED GU10 (very bright 540+ Lumens) with a 60 degree lens (interchangeable to 38 if required) with an Elite Fire Rated Fixture to give a nice sleek finish - one piece bezel and wide lens with low glare index (UGR<12). This combination is available at £16+VAT each (Elite fitting in white and dimmable DGP4 Professional GU10).
If you are interested just send me an email on gary.spanbok@dazz-led.com.
J C
5 years ago
Hi there, sadly I need a load of spotlights, approx 25. I can;t afford orluna, this is for a large open plan and some side return rooms. Is there a slightly cheaper option that would work? Sorry for jumping on the thread? Someone mentioned there is a light that you can change between white to warm on the same LED?
E D
5 years ago
J C, I think it's probably better to start a new thread rather than revive an old one that people may start reading and only after the the last reply realise it's no use responding.
J C
5 years ago
I didnt realise this thread was so old, apologies, only just saw the dates. Thanks,

Kitchen Lighting. Please help!!

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