Fluorescent lighting help

[Nicolas Mailhot]

Hi,

Please excuse me if my question is a bit naïve. I know little about
lighting science, only that I like compact fluos that do not spend their
time dying (like incandescents) or frying passing insects (like halogen).

I bought some years ago a 55W Luce Plan Light Disc
(http://www.luceplan.com/catalogo/product.asp?id=83&f=90&t=7
http://www.luceplan.com/upload_doc/prodotti/schede/40.pdf) to light my
living room. It's a wonderful product and it totaly met my expectations
(I needed a thin ceil-hugging beautiful light source)

Now I'm toying with the idea of endearing this Christmas another room
with a Luce Plan product. The spherical Agave 26 seems about right
design, size and price-wise
(http://www.luceplan.com/catalogo/product.asp?id=71&f=95&t=3
http://www.luceplan.com/upload_doc/prodotti/schede/D49_susp.pdf)

However I'm totally lost at the lamp selection stage : should I go
21W FTB E27 ? 26, 32 or 42 W GX24 Q3/4 ? What other things should I pay
attention to (Kelvin rating ?)

The target room measurements are :
L = 3,7 m
W = 2,8 m
H = 2,6 m

It's a quiet room with light blue walls.

Opinions on sizing the lamp would be very welcome!

Regards,

 

[Jeff Engel]

I've seen this fixture in a showroom, and would
advise going with the EL ballast / GX24 lamp.
I'd ask the seller to confirm which lamp(s)
work with the EL ballast. The way the catalog
page is written, it might be that the same
ballast powers all 3 wattage lamps. In any
case, go with the 42 Watt, This is not an
efficient fixture; your light emerges through a
great expanse of acrylic. Plus you can add a
filter, which absorbs light also. A filter will
forestall the inevitable discussion of Corrected
Color Temp. and CF lamps. This newsgroup is
well prepared to blast that subject.

 

[Nicolas Mailhot]

Thomas Paterson a écrit :

I agree that the GX base is the better option, but I'd suggest that you
consider lower wattage than the 42W if the room is for chilling out in.

Ok, if everyone agrees GX it is. Seems most dealers only propose the E27
option though

I would be inclined to a 3000K or 2700K lamp, and make sure you get
one with a high CRI (at least 80).

3000K with high CRI. Won't this part be useful only if no colour filter
is used ?

Luceplan make good and very cool lights.

Looking at their catalog seems to be a wallet killer

If you want to look more
widely, consider poking through www.y-lighting.com which has a great
range of products and sells direct to the public. They represent at
least a dozen similar manufacturers in many styles.

Wrong continent there unfortunately

Thanks for the advice !

 

[Nicolas Mailhot]

Jeff Engel a écrit :

I've seen this fixture in a showroom, and would advise going with the EL
ballast / GX24 lamp. I'd ask the seller to confirm which lamp(s) work
with the EL ballast. The way the catalog page is written, it might be
that the same ballast powers all 3 wattage lamps. In any case, go with
the 42 Watt, This is not an efficient fixture; your light emerges
through a great expanse of acrylic. Plus you can add a filter, which
absorbs light also.

Well this is a quiet room, I don't want too much light in there too. If
I wanted another powerful fixture I'd buy another Light Disc

Unfortunately the Luceplan site does not seem to sent the registration
mails necessary to access the technical data on their lamps, I'd love to
know what the actual attenuation is.

Regards,

 

[Nicolas Mailhot]

Thomas Paterson a écrit :

The E27 option would work fine, it would just be a little less
efficient and every time you throw out the lamp, you'll be throwing out
the control gear as well.

Not that this will happen every year

The GX option is the more environmentally
friendly one.

Some people have measured consumption of GXs and found that bad quality
bases can eat quite a lot of energy. On average E27s were more efficient
(but I do expect Luceplan tu use quality bases).

Also in my particular case, I have access to insane electricity prices,
and I only care on general grounds.

As little as forty or fifty euros should pay for the
control gear.

At that price I don't want to mess with the product (horror recoil)

Where are you located?

In the city of lights (Paris, France). Where rent prices make light
fictures about the only economical design statement, because they hang
on the ceiling and do not consume expensive space (unfortunately
prevalent furniture style was already too old for my grandma when she
furnished her flat, I can't stand it, and finding modern design is not easy)

The source color of light will still affect the output through a
filter, although in different and not terribly predictable ways. The
2700K lamp will be better with a warm (orange, yellow, amber, red)
filter, the 3000K better with a cooler color. The exact match will be
the question.


The premium brands typically start at 200 euros and rapidly upwards for
even the most basic product, so most of these brands are killers for
regular people's expectations.

Well regular people have the space to buy lots of furniture, I don't.
Though I agree on the spiralling upwards bit.

Now while browsing for Agave ELs I've found the Artemide Edge which
looks very nice too
http://www.architonic.com/1009735

I'm wondering if the Edge simple design won't pass the test of time
better (looking at the fixture dimensions I need the small one with a
20W E27 – every site but architonic says that's how it's intended to be
used).

However I'm afraid the white version + blue walls will be awfully
gloomy, and the variant with multicolour faces clash horribly. What do
you think ?

Actually, almost all the brands on y-lighting (except WAC I think) are
available in Europe.

Actually comparing y-lighting and european sites, big brands are the
same but the actual models are often different.

(you can also look on Lightology and a number of the big retailer's
sites).

Going there...

Any time.

Shouldn't have written this, you earned a few new questions now

Regards,