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Pretty much everyone who hasn’t been living in a cave lately is aware that traditional incandescent light bulbs are being phased out (this was news to you? go to your local store and try buying a regular 100w light bulb, oh and try to get out the cave a bit more). This is also starting to affect halogen spot lamps of the sort so popular in kitchens.

So what are the alternatives then? Well there are CFL lamps which replace regular light bulb shaped lamps, but these are way too bulky for spot light fittings and anyway they are limited to normal bayonet and screw type bases, whereas almost all halogen spots use GU10 (mains twist and lock) or GU5.3 (low voltage push fit bi-pin) bases.

But there are increasingly a range of LED lamps that look exactly the same as halogen lamps and thus fit into existing recesses and fittings. So how well does say a GU10 LED perform as a replacement for a normal halogen spot light?

Taking my own kitchen as an example, the ceiling has 10 recessed spots evenly spaced in 2 rows of 5 (it’s long and fairly narrow). Using halogens I found that 35 watts per lamp was considerably more than bright enough; in fact I installed a dimmer switch to bring the light level down to something a little more comfortable.

So that gives a maximum brightness of 350 watts all told, but realistically about 250 watts is what I would aim for to attain the amount of brightness I prefer. As an aside, I don’t rely on overhead kitchen lighting but, like many people, have additional lighting under cabinets, inside display cupboards and for specific task areas.

So we need to look at using 10 LED lamps that each has luminosity roughly equivalent to a 25W conventional light bulb. Using the rough and ready calculation that LEDs consume about 10 times less power than incandescent equivalents this means we need GU10 LEDs rated at about 3W.

LED spots of this power are now starting to become quite common in DIY and general stores, but for preference I still recommend finding reputable specialist suppliers (there are many online) in order to be sure of quality and also to specify characteristics such as color temperature and beam angle. Key to getting a good match with existing halogen lighting is using a similar angle (or preferably slightly wider) and picking a warm rather than cool white.

So in summary, yes, the latest LEDs are well suited to kitchen lighting and quite soon you may have little choice in the matter anyway!

Read more of Will LED Kitchen Lighting Work?…

The quality of any recipe is only going to be as good as the weakest ingredient that goes into it.  The same concept applies when you are designing a kitchen, regardless of the final design.  Modern kitchens, with their heavy emphasis on aesthetics on design, are particularly susceptible to problems related to one such component being of lesser quality.  People get excited about their kitchen tiles, the appliances, colors, and things like that, but one component tends to be forgotten more than any other – the quality of the lighting that goes into your kitchen.

If you ask a photographer about what is the most important component of any scene, lighting will almost always be the response.  Even the most beautiful scene can be ruined if there is a problem with the lighting that is used.  This is why so much time and effort is put into getting the lighting just right before the picture is taken.  Now, since you are remodeling your kitchen, you know that you are putting a good deal of money and effort into the job.  Don’t you want to do everything you can to show it off just as much as you can?  Of course you do.

A combination of artificial and natural lighting works best when it comes to modern kitchen design.  Wide open windows break down the psychological barriers between your kitchen and the world outside, making even a tiny kitchen seem much larger than it really is.  You are going to want to supplement this soft natural light with a hard artificial light to not only accentuate any particular part of your kitchen that you are looking to show off, but also to provide you with a solid source of work lighting so you can be sure to work safely.  The combination of these two light sources is what can take a beautiful kitchen and really put it over the top.

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