new lighting in the kitchen

[kay]

We have old florescent lighting in the kitchen. It buzzes and I can barely stand to be in the kitchen when the over head lights are on. So, my boyfriend has decided that it's past time to change them to something I can tolerate. The question is do we go with LED or will the newer florescent bulbs be ok? It seems that the ballast in the older fixtures are magnetic and the newer ones, something else but not the same. Not buzzy. I still am not sure about glare, possible flickers, ect. Was wondering if anyone here has been around newer florescent bulbs and LEDs and have an opinion on which is best. And have I asked about this before? This isn't he first time we have discussed changing the lights in there, just seems like it may be the first time we have time to actually do it. Also, any thoughts on how many lumens are too many?

 

[Gritches]

I have been around both. LED all the way. Comparing an LED bulb to a newer florescent in the same lamp: the LED is brighter, the light is..."cleaner", by which I mean it doesn't have that sickly yellow tint florescents have. I've only had one LED bulb ever burn out, after about 5 years of near-continuous use. It never flickered, never made a sound, not that the florescent does, I'm just sayin'. I'm an LED fan.

No idea how many lumens are too many. I just stick light bulbs in things. Probably how I'm going to die lol.

 

[the_tortoise]

I avoid CFLs at all costs.....my main problem with fluorescent lights is the flickering but apparently CFL's are not supposed to flicker the same way. I always found CFL's uncomfortable but for all I know it is for a different reason. I can't say I can consciously see flickering like I can with old-school fluorescents, they just make me feel weird and like I can't see properly.

I love LEDS -- they come in a nice range of color "temperatures" and I haven't had problems with any of them (from the dim and very blue-tinted string of white mini-led lights that I used to have in lieu of the overhead lights in my bedroom many years ago to the much brighter "warm" LED bulb that approximates a 40W incandescent that I have in my bedside lamp today).

I like light that is dimmer, personally, so.....probably for anything overhead I would not go higher than 800 lumens (less if there is no light-softening cover over the bulb.....I think that the LED bulbs I bought for my ceiling lights are 800-something lumens and I find the exposed bulbs especially blinding). But then my idea of perfect light (all the LED bulb-provided light in my home is brigher than my idea of perfect light) usually has other people asking "How can you even see anything ?" (because to them it is too dark).

 

[Katleya]

Oh yes, LED, definitely LED!
We have some in the kitchen, 5 little bulbs that can only be changed by the real estate agency because of some weird way it's set up (and we have super high ceilings). I've also replaced all of the bedrooms' lightbulbs with LED bulbs, and I wouldn't go back. There's usually a range of light temperatures and intensity that should enable you to find what's right for you.
I've also recommended them to my parents after their cats started knocking down a particular lamp all the time, and they'd had to replace the lightbulb 3 times in just one week. They don't have that problem with the LED bulb, it's strong enough to survive the lamp being knocked down by crazy cat chases.

 

[Judge]

Replaced mine in my little kitchen with LEDs....at 5000 kelvin color temperature. Four 5.5 watt bulbs. All the light without any real glare and no jaundiced look.

One cool thing- pun intended. These bulbs don't get hot. I could unscrew them even having been on for a long time. Go figure.

I think I picked them up at Lowes.

 

[kay]

It seems that the LEDs are popular. Thanks for the opinions. My boyfriend has found some sorta LED panel for $200 that would work where we want to install it. It is around 4600 lumens, quite a bit less than what we have now. He can over do almost anything though and admits that we really don't need as many lumens as we currently have, which is approaching 10000 lumens in a very average size kitchen.

Though I prefer incandescent I seem ok with CFLs . As long as they are warm CFLs. I have one fixture with a very cool bulb and it makes me feel icky. I'd rather have natural lighting but at night that's not working so well.

 

[Judge]

I'm just hoping the LEDs will last considerably longer than most of the CFLs. I had really poor luck with the CFLs in general. They never lasted anywhere as long as advertised.

 

[kay]

I'm just hoping the LEDs will last considerably longer than most of the CFLs. I had really poor luck with the CFLs in general. They never lasted anywhere as long as advertised.

Our CFLs haven't all done very well either. An LED I was just looking at online says it will last 46 years, if it only makes it half that it will most likely outlive my boyfriend so that would do us quite well. Though it feels like too much of a commitment, do we really want to live with these bulbs the rest of our lives? If I were to live here 46 years and the bulb still good I'll be, well I'm nearly 46 myself so someone else do the math. Perhaps I better move before they need replaced. This is getting depressing.

 

[the_tortoise]

This is random but did you know there is an incandescent lightbulb at a firestation somewhere in the US (can't remember where, it's internet-searchable, though) that has been burning continuously for over a hundred years?

I think it's cool if products outlive the average human being. Instead of throwing them out, we could trade them when we wanted something different.

 

[FreeDiver]

I'm just hoping the LEDs will last considerably longer than most of the CFLs. I had really poor luck with the CFLs in general. They never lasted anywhere as long as advertised.

CFL's don't like being cycle on an off frequently. If you turn your lights on and off frequently. It greatly shorten the life of CFLs.

 

[FreeDiver]

This is random but did you know there is an incandescent lightbulb at a firestation somewhere in the US (can't remember where, it's internet-searchable, though) that has been burning continuously for over a hundred years?

I think it's cool if products outlive the average human being. Instead of throwing them out, we could trade them when we wanted something different.

 

[Major Tom]

I definitely prefer LED lights compared with fluorescent lights. The quality of light seems better, and they last a really long time. They also are cheap to run. So I would say LED all the way.

 

[Progster]

Though I prefer incandescent I seem ok with CFLs . As long as they are warm CFLs. I have one fixture with a very cool bulb and it makes me feel icky. I'd rather have natural lighting but at night that's not working so well.

I agree with this. I CAN"T STAND blue or white light, they have to be a 'warm' colour or I just can't use them. I prefer to have a room illuminated by natural light when possible, and don't like lights shining directly into my eyes.
I also have a flourescent light fixture in the kitchen which I never use - I hate it.

 

[Chance]

LED all the way. They run cooler (nearly cold), make no noise for the most part, have good color options. I don't like the bluish looking ones myself. Its kind of confusing to me. I would think "daylight" would be the more white or yellow hued, but the brand I am buying, its the "cool white" that has the regular light bulb look?

I really dislike CFL lighting, I have zero and never plan on having them if at all possible.

The LED bulbs I have been buying "claim" to last 22 years... So, being the stubborn guy I am... The one in the garage above my work bench has now been on 24 hours a days for 3 years.

They now have the old "Edison bulbs" in LED. I have them in the dining room and they are dimmable and everything just like a normal bulb... If you do dim them down really low they emit a low frequency hum, but its not super awful.

 

[Judge]

I would think "daylight" would be the more white or yellow hued, but the brand I am buying, its the "cool white" that has the regular light bulb look?

I'm a fan of 5000K color temperature myself. "Daylight" is much closer to "blue" as you can see:

 

[the_tortoise]

The LED bulbs I have been buying "claim" to last 22 years... So, being the stubborn guy I am... The one in the garage above my work bench has now been on 24 hours a days for 3 years.

If you read the fine print they probably specify "under regular/average use" or something like that and ones I've seen will give you some idea of how many hours a day they have in mind for "regular/average use" or else total hours of use they expect the bulb to last for.

 

[kay]

I'm a fan of 5000K color temperature myself. "Daylight" is much closer to "blue" as you can see:

I've been busy reading and reading about lighting today. The color I'm trying to avoid is whatever lights up the meeting rooms at the local libraries. Makes me think of formaldehyde.

 

[watersprite]

I will add a vote for LED's too. Just replaced our lamps with a couple of nice ones from Verilux Co., and another light for working, from Daylight Co. Both sell lights with balanced color so as to he really pleasing on the eyes. If I was staying at this house I'd have someone install an overhead light in the kitchen as well.

The desk lamps have adjustments on them for warmer or cooler light. Super nice. They also have dimmers.

Best of luck with the lights installation and let us know how it turns out.

 

[pjcnet]

Even though newer fluorescent bulbs have greatly improved, I still definitely agree with others that LEDs are the best for various reasons already stated. You can also optionally add dimmer switches to many LED lights (always check before buying if you intend to do this), personally I prefer semidarkness and dimmers switches are great, although less often used in the kitchen.

 

[kay]

Changing lights is so complicated even after picking the type of bulb, color, and lumens. There are so many options and this is the time to decide if we want to drastically change the placement. I'm pretty much leaning toward something warm for color, my boyfriend likes things bright so we will be needing a lot of lumens but a dimmer sounds like it might be good so when I'm in the kitchen it can be a bit less bright. Anyhoo, maybe in the next few days I'll ask everyone opinion on fixtures. It's going to be confusing and we may need a mediator. How many relationships end over kitchen lighting?