well-temperedforum.groupee.net The Well-Tempered Forum Off Key Hay Steve, help with this kitchen light fixture?Go | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
| Hay Steve, help with this kitchen light fixture? | Login/Join |
| (self-titled) semi-posting lurker Minor Deity  |
One additional question, what is the name of the actual fixture (the one here in this photo). When I google (searching on Lowes etc.) I am not finding anything that looks like this one, so obviously I'm not using the right name. If I search for something like "replacement led light fixture" I don't find quite the right items... 
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Beatification Candidate |
Try "2 light flush mounted ceiling light" or 3 light... https://www.menards.com/main/l...701261189889&ipos=13 Essentially, you replace the whole round part - best to find the same size or bigger so you don't need to touchup any paint! The more lights, the more flexibility you will have in choosing and playing with bulb brightness and color. Those two screws are standard size apart that allows for most any other light to screw into the same box. Once you drop it down from the ceiling, it will be obvious how the wires are connected with just twist-on and off "wire nuts". There must be a youtube out there "replace ceiling light"!
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Has Achieved Nirvana |
pj, ron, and I all suggested replacing the existing fixture with another that looks same/similar, but that has screw-in sockets that SK would put LED bulbs in. If your main source of light is the ceiling fixture, I'd like to reiterate Steve's point, which I missed initially but now I get.... The current fixture is an integrated LED, but it doesn't put out enough light. Somewhere on that fixture it tells you how much light the fixture puts out. It would be good to know that first because it gives you a baseline that you know you have to do better than. If you buy the 40 or 60 watt equivalent LED bulbs, they'll fit in the screw-on fixture fine because they're about the same size as an incandescent equivalent. When you get to the 75 and 100 watt equivalents in LED bulbs they get pretty big and while they might be what you need to put out the light you want, they might be impossible to screw into the socket because they're just too wide. Anyway, point is, you kind of need to know how much light you have now as a starting point so you know what an adequate replacement is. Here's some info comparing wattages and lumens for various kinds of lights: https://www.bulbamerica.com/pa...mens-brightness.html And Steve pointed out that the light coming from an integrated LED fixture is probably more even than the light that comes from a socket fixture with LED bulbs in it. By the way, there are some flush mounted fixtures that have three sockets: https://www.menards.com/main/l...193171569090&ipos=10 
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| Beatification Candidate |
We are more used to 40 watt or 60 watt when considering brighness, but you will want to look for lumens - which represents the light output rather than the power usage... If you can find a model # on your current fixture, then you can search for the lumens?
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| Has Achieved Nirvana |
I'm guessing there's a label on the back of the fixture with the specs. Of course that means you have to partially remove the fixture to read the label....
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| (self-titled) semi-posting lurker Minor Deity |
and
Yeah, we're going to have to take the damn thing apart to find that information. Very bad design. And arrogant, because it's like the maker/manufacturer assumes that once this light is in place, it's gonna stay there forever. 
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| (self-titled) semi-posting lurker Minor Deity |
Simul-posting with WTG! I am grateful for all of your help, everyone! Just cranky that we have to take the *^%^#^*$&^ thing apart to get any info. 
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Has Achieved Nirvana |
Your best move will go to a place where they have lights on display and pick one you like. It's so much easier than trying to describe things.
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| Has Achieved Nirvana |
a few more things... I've never been able to figure out from store displays how something will look at home. And I would have a really tough time determining if the store fixture was brighter than the one that's already in the kitchen. I need some kind of numeric baseline. YMMV. Just to get some idea of baseline without taking the existing fixture down...I'm guessing the existing fixture is a standard home improvement store light, nothing fancy. I looked at a bunch of integrated LED fixtures on Lowes and HD that are similar in style to what you have. They seem to be around 1100 lumens, though I did find this one that's about 1400 lumens: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Co...L8011L-ORB/206814820 And this one pushes 1700 lumens: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ha...Y8011L-ORB/206667104 I also looked at a handful of 60W equivalent LED bulbs. They are typically about 800 lumens, so two of them screwed into a socket fixture would give off about 1600 lumens, and if you went with a wider 3 socket fixture, you'd be up to 2400 lumens. Here's what I would do: Do some searches on Lowes and Home Depot for "integrated led flush mount" and "2-light flush mount" and "3-light flush mount". The three light versions will be wider, but that's not a problem for you. You don't have to stick with the same style light if you see something else that tickles your fancy. Just keep in mind what ron said about it being at least as wide or wider so you don't have to touch up paint. If you find an integrated LED fixture that meets your needs, be sure the color temperature is what you want (2700K, 3500K, or up to 5000K). Steve talked about that a few posts back. Happy hunting!
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| (self-titled) semi-posting lurker Minor Deity |
Although, here, I agree with WTG, it's really hard to judge the lighting in the store, we noticed that for both bulbs and fixtures. So I do want to get some actual numbers of the light we have now. First we need to bring up the big ladder from the basement...
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| Pinta & the Santa Maria Has Achieved Nirvana  |
If it were me (and it's not, duh) I'd just go buy a fixture that will manage a lot of lumens, with a dimmer. We've struggled a bit in the past with getting LED lights that actually work on dimmers--you need to get the right dimmer as well. Then just swap 'em out. Also check out this table. I'm familiar with watts (because I'm old), so I toggle over to the watts-to-lumens calculator. Then I figure, well, I want a lot of light so perhaps two 100 watt bulbs, e.g., 200 watts, and go from there. | |||
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| Serial origamist Has Achieved Nirvana  |
Very very approximately, multiply the lumens by 10 for the incandescent equivalent. One thing is that the number on an incandescent bulb is the watts it consumes. The actual amount of light you get depends a lot on the frosting or coating on the bulb. You get more light out of a clear bulb than a white one. A huge part of your problem with the current fixture is the diffuser — the glass that goes over it. To diffuse all those little bright spots the glass is so thick and milky that it probably absorbs more light than it lets pass through. Most LED bulbs that look like traditional light bulbs also have thick white diffusers. I have significantly increased the amount of light coming out by modifying the diffusers on LED bulbs. IKEA now carries “opal” bulbs with clearish diffusers. If you’re putting the bulb into a fixture with a diffuser or behind a shade, they pass more light than the white ones. But that chunk of fake alabaster you have there is stealing a lot of your light. I recently replaced two 1950s ceiling fixtures with some open ones that just have a square plate of frosted glass for a diffuser. Still a dated style, but a heck of a lot more light comes into the room. And I put LED bulbs in. The fixtures were about $10 each. IKEA has a number of ceiling fixtures that could replace the one you have but I don’t know if they have the same US style box mount holes. The ones I wanted were recalled because the glass could fall and injure someone. Home Despot or other big home stores will have lots of fixtures on display. As far as brightness goes, I still recommend a fixture with traditional bulb sockets. Then you can fine tune the light to what you want. I bet you can find some yootoob vids on replacing a ceiling light fixture.
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| Serial origamist Has Achieved Nirvana |
I have seen a lot of kitchens where the ceiling fixture had four swiveling sub-fixtures and those small reflector bulbs. They allow you to steer the light where you want it. I find them very harsh and make the “I can’t see what I’m doing because I’m in my own firkin’ shadow!” problem worse.
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| Serial origamist Has Achieved Nirvana |
Look at the pictures here for comparison of light colors. They are referred to as temperature in degrees Kelvin because they represent the color of the various parts of a flame. https://www.batteriesplus.com/...in-a-different-light
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Minor Deity |
SK, speaking of under the cabinet lighting, I put in battery opperated LED strip lights from IKEA. I bought the $12 model.  Stotta Lights from IKEA
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well-temperedforum.groupee.net The Well-Tempered Forum Off Key Hay Steve, help with this kitchen light fixture?