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I have an ugly 4-tube fluorescent light box in my kitchen; I want to replace it but I also want the same amount of light with the new fixture(s). I want to replace it with one or more short pendant or flush mount fixtures and I will be using CFL bulbs in the new fixtures.
Is there any website that can convert the amount of light generated by different light fixtures or anyone who can give me some advice? It may sound stupid but I don't want my kitchen to be dark. I just want that ugly light fixture gone.
Four foot flourescents are 10 watts per foot, so that is probably 160 watts - that's pretty bright for a kitchen. CFL is about 4 times the brightness per watt over incandescent, so that's the equivalent of 640 watts. So, You'd want ten or so 60 watt CFLs which would also use about 160 watts. The only thing I am not sure of is whether 60 watts of CFL light is just as bright as 60 watts of the tube florescent light.
Location: Visitation between Wal-Mart & Home Depot
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To me, task lighting is important in the kitchen. If you place your recessed/pendant fixtures with functionality in mind rather than symmetry you can probably get just as much "brightness" in the kitchen with fewer fixtures. I have two lighting circuits in the kitchen: one down the center of the walkway and one with individually switched illumination directly over the sink, stove and prep areas. The funny thing is that when the sink, stove and prep areas are lit at the same time I don't really notice whether the "main" lights are on or not. I also have halogen under-cabinet lighting because I like to feel like I'm on a football field while I'm working.
Though I understand every one's conservatism, a kitchen is not the place to scrimp. Nor is it the place for "fancy-schamcy" hanging fixtures (of any kind). Lighting should be for function- and as practical as possible; i.e., keeping it clean- I hate any kind of dust bunny farm in a kitchen (thoses FL boxes are notorious for being bug/fly catchers).
I always recommend recessed fixtures for general lighting- and there's really no substitute for halogen. But you can use CFL's, LED's, and incandescents.
As jimbo mentioned- undercabinet lights are a definite, especially for prep areas. I recommend strip xenon lights (thoses lowvolt/line volt pucks are crap-don't even bother). Fluorescents are okay for the power saver, but if you want a "true natural light" go with the xenon.
Though I understand every one's conservatism, a kitchen is not the place to scrimp. Nor is it the place for "fancy-schamcy" hanging fixtures (of any kind). Lighting should be for function- and as practical as possible; i.e., keeping it clean- I hate any kind of dust bunny farm in a kitchen (thoses FL boxes are notorious for being bug/fly catchers).
I always recommend recessed fixtures for general lighting- and there's really no substitute for halogen. But you can use CFL's, LED's, and incandescents.
As jimbo mentioned- undercabinet lights are a definite, especially for prep areas. I recommend strip xenon lights (thoses lowvolt/line volt pucks are crap-don't even bother). Fluorescents are okay for the power saver, but if you want a "true natural light" go with the xenon.
I don't want can lights or halogen in my kitchen; it gets hot enough as it is. Halogen lights throw off a lot of heat and suck a lot of power.
My cabs are also 50 years old and set quite close to the counter. I am not considering under cab lighting. Overhead or nothing.
We have five can lights with CFL bulbs. 12 watts x 5 lamps = 60 watts. Not very hot, but certainly enough light. We also have a couple of pendant lights over the bar for another 30 watts or so. The caveat is that CFLs don't like to be run in the inverted position. They could, but they are made cheaply and the mfrs specify capacitors and resistors in the ballast circuitry that can't handle the heat. That means constantly being on the lookout for burned out lamps, and not leaving the house with them on, just in case of a meltdown.
In comparison, our house in FL had 240 watts of 40" tube lights and 3 50 watt halogens and white tile floor and mostly white cabinetry. It was not a tremendous amount brighter. Placement of lights is key. A lot of light where you don't need it is worthless and adds to the heat load.
We have five can lights with CFL bulbs. 12 watts x 5 lamps = 60 watts. Not very hot, but certainly enough light. We also have a couple of pendant lights over the bar for another 30 watts or so. The caveat is that CFLs don't like to be run in the inverted position. They could, but they are made cheaply and the mfrs specify capacitors and resistors in the ballast circuitry that can't handle the heat. That means constantly being on the lookout for burned out lamps, and not leaving the house with them on, just in case of a meltdown.
In comparison, our house in FL had 240 watts of 40" tube lights and 3 50 watt halogens and white tile floor and mostly white cabinetry. It was not a tremendous amount brighter. Placement of lights is key. A lot of light where you don't need it is worthless and adds to the heat load.
There's an incandescent can light over the sink that we used briefly before I loosened the bulb so it wouldn't come on with the overhead lights. It drove me nuts with the heat it was throwing off. My house was built in 1957 and has low ceilings so you can really feel the heat from a regular light bulb. There are very few incandescent lights left in the house as I have replaced the majority of them with screw-in CFL bulbs. So far none have burned out or shorted or been in any way problematic and I replaced most of them about a year ago. Most of them are inverted.
Frankly I would rather leave the ugly fluorescent box light on the ceiling than replace it with halogen or incandescent recessed or track lighting. I loathe can lights and they are expensive to have installed, and to me they do not look right in this age and style of house. Mine is not an MCM, it's a traditional ranch. I don't want my house to be a time capsule because that's silly, but I also don't want to put fixtures in my house that clash with its very obvious 1950s look and feel. Very little has been done to this house since it was built in 1957; the kitchen has its original cabinetry and built-ins, for example, and I want to maintain the 50s feel. Not in a cheesy red-white-and-black diner way, but in a nice sophisticated way.
The kitchen has white painted solid wood cabinets with brass and white ceramic knobs and pulls and a seafoam green laminate counter that is not the original counter but has the same shape and profile as the original counter would have. The kitchen has a "peninsula" and the end of it is rounded with half-moon shelves down the end of the bank of cabinets. That is very 50s. I saw an article on a retro blog where a woman dropped thousands on a kitchen renovation to make her kitchen look almost exactly like mine. So I'm working with something valuable and desirable (to some, anyway) and I want to proceed carefully.
Location: Visitation between Wal-Mart & Home Depot
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BigDGeek
There's an incandescent can light over the sink that we used briefly before I loosened the bulb so it wouldn't come on with the overhead lights. It drove me nuts with the heat it was throwing off. My house was built in 1957 and has low ceilings so you can really feel the heat from a regular light bulb. There are very few incandescent lights left in the house as I have replaced the majority of them with screw-in CFL bulbs. So far none have burned out or shorted or been in any way problematic and I replaced most of them about a year ago. Most of them are inverted.
Frankly I would rather leave the ugly fluorescent box light on the ceiling than replace it with halogen or incandescent recessed or track lighting. I loathe can lights and they are expensive to have installed, and to me they do not look right in this age and style of house. Mine is not an MCM, it's a traditional ranch. I don't want my house to be a time capsule because that's silly, but I also don't want to put fixtures in my house that clash with its very obvious 1950s look and feel. Very little has been done to this house since it was built in 1957; the kitchen has its original cabinetry and built-ins, for example, and I want to maintain the 50s feel. Not in a cheesy red-white-and-black diner way, but in a nice sophisticated way.
The kitchen has white painted solid wood cabinets with brass and white ceramic knobs and pulls and a seafoam green laminate counter that is not the original counter but has the same shape and profile as the original counter would have. The kitchen has a "peninsula" and the end of it is rounded with half-moon shelves down the end of the bank of cabinets. That is very 50s. I saw an article on a retro blog where a woman dropped thousands on a kitchen renovation to make her kitchen look almost exactly like mine. So I'm working with something valuable and desirable (to some, anyway) and I want to proceed carefully.
Do you have a pink bathroom?
I have a semi-traditional ranch with some craftsman influences and some really bad MCM eccentricities built in 1955. When I killed the pink bathroom (the seafoam green bathroom is next) I was going to leave the pink, 30 gallons-per-flush toilet on the curb for heavy-trash pickup. A woman in my neighborhood walking her dog asked if she could have it. I felt as though this was very unusual and almost indecent but said "sure". She informed me that she would take her dog home and come back for it. "no problem"
While she was gone another neighbor asked if she could have it. I told her it was promised to the other gentlelady down the street. She said "Oh well, I guess I'll see if she'll sell it to me." I said "You know, you could always just buy it from ME."
She said $40, I said $50, she got mad and gave me $50 (something about "you were about to throw it away" and something else about "that's before I knew you would pay $50 for it"). The interesting part was when the first neighbor returned with her pickup truck to get the toilet. She did a fine job of keeping everything bottled up but was still clearly p@ssed. I told her what happened and she drove off to that neighbor's house in a huff. A few minutes later I saw her driving back to her house with the toilet in the back of her truck. I wonder how much she paid for it and I wonder how much it was really worth. Needless to say, I haven't gotten any Christmas cards from either of them.
I have a semi-traditional ranch with some craftsman influences and some really bad MCM eccentricities built in 1955. When I killed the pink bathroom (the seafoam green bathroom is next) I was going to leave the pink, 30 gallons-per-flush toilet on the curb for heavy-trash pickup. A woman in my neighborhood walking her dog asked if she could have it. I felt as though this was very unusual and almost indecent but said "sure". She informed me that she would take her dog home and come back for it. "no problem"
While she was gone another neighbor asked if she could have it. I told her it was promised to the other gentlelady down the street. She said "Oh well, I guess I'll see if she'll sell it to me." I said "You know, you could always just buy it from ME."
She said $40, I said $50, she got mad and gave me $50 (something about "you were about to throw it away" and something else about "that's before I knew you would pay $50 for it"). The interesting part was when the first neighbor returned with her pickup truck to get the toilet. She did a fine job of keeping everything bottled up but was still clearly p@ssed. I told her what happened and she drove off to that neighbor's house in a huff. A few minutes later I saw her driving back to her house with the toilet in the back of her truck. I wonder how much she paid for it and I wonder how much it was really worth. Needless to say, I haven't gotten any Christmas cards from either of them.
Should have sold that thing on Craigslist.
I was offered thousands for my pink bathtub if I could extract it intact but I am not going to demolish my pink bathroom.
I would look into LED lights. They throw off a lot of light without getting warm. We have 3 2 bulb box lights in our kitchen and I do love the amount of light they throw off but they are ugly. At least they tried to make ours look ok by adding some decorative trim. .
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