Coloured halogen bulbs to beat the bulb ban

Posted on May 21, 2012 by lampman

In september this year the ban of incandescent bulbs extends to include 15 to 40 watt bulbs so will affect coloured bulbs for the first time. We will obviously stock up but inevitably stocks will run out.

Britsh company Bell have cleverly added coloured covers to their range of halogen adaptor bulbs. They are available in Normal bulb shape, Candle and Golf ball form. You need the base which comes with the bulb and the coloured cover to match. The only part that then needs replacing is the halogen capsule which is readily available here

The other alternative is the LED Golfball Though more pricey they have a very long life, burn very little power (only 3 watts!) and they look absolutely amazing on a festoon!

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Phones working again

Posted on May 10, 2012 by lampman

We now have our phones working again.

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Phone Out of Order

Posted on April 25, 2012 by lampman

We are having trouble with our phone lines today and cannot receive phone calls. Please email us and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

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Easter Opening Times

Posted on April 5, 2012 by lampman

We will be closed between Friday 6th April and Sunday 15th April for the Easter break

The website will be up and running as usual so you can still place your order and we will dispatch it as soon as possible when we return on Monday 16th April

If you need to contact us you can call 01822 860 110 and leave a message, fax us on 01822 860 427 or email us on sales@commercial-lamps.co.uk and again we will answer you as soon as possible when we get back

Have a happy Easter and heres hoping for a big improvement in the weather!

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A Strange Bayonet Cap Fluorescent Tube

Posted on April 3, 2012 by lampman

We were given some very elderly fluorescent tubes to recycle by our local garage and there was a very odd tube among them. Instead of the usual two pins at either end it had a bayonet cap (like a standard plug in bulb)

It was manufactured by GE under the name of Mazda (not the car people!) and is 80 watts. This sort of technologly was around in the 1950s so it is a very rare lamp indeed!

Fluorescent tube technology has come a long way from the 50s. Tubes have got much thinner and are now far more efficient.

There are T12,T8,T5,T4,and T2 fluo tubes available (there are a couple of others such as T10 and T9 but they are odd ones) the T number refers to the diameter of the tube in eighths of an inch – dont ask me why!

T12 tubes are fast becoming obsolete though we do still have some on the shelf – including some very odds ones so its always worth giving us a call if you need a strange fluo tube.

Thanks to Steve and Davy for helping us out with this one

Bayonet cap tube

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Need a replacement for Trojan and R-Can UV systems?

Posted on February 10, 2012 by lampman

We can now supply replacement lamps for several of the more popular Trojan and R-Can UV systems.

Often it is hard for the individual user to buy lamps from the system manufacturer and if you can they can be very expensive. You can buy as few (or as many) lamps as you want from us as we have no minimum order quantity.

We list them with the part numbers but also the wattage and approximate length so you should be able to find the one you need. If it isnt listed please get in touch with us as we may still be able to source it for you.

It is usual to change the lamp in a water purification UV system once a year – after that time although the lamp will still light up it may not be producing the important UVC radiation that actually does the bug killing bit. If in doubt an annual change will help to ensure you are always getting a good kill rate.

Dont forget the quartz tube either! A new lamp cant do its job if the quartz tube its in is filthy! We can supply almost any length of quartz tube to order but we will need exact details of the tube from your system as there are so many variations.

UV systems use Quartz tubes because the quartz glass lets the special UVC wavelength though – if you were to replace the tube with normal glass none of the UVC would make it through so all you would have is a pretty blue light!

We can also help if the control gear in your system has broken. A UV tube needs a ‘ballast’ to run and sometimes these break down. If we cant match what is in your fitting we may at least be able to find you replacement part that will do the job

UV Tubes at Commercial Lamps
Quartz Tubes at Commercial Lamps

Please bear in mind that these are good quality aftermarket lamps not branded.

A bit of info about UV

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Philips LED GU10 Spotlight really replaces a 50watt bulb

Posted on January 27, 2012 by lampman

The clever guys at Philips have developed a true LED replacement for the ever so popular 240 volt spotlights that many people use in their kitchens. The 240 volt spotlight, also known as a Hi spot or twist and lock, is popular because it gives a similar light to the 12 volt dichroic spotlights but does not need a transformer. The transformers supplied with the low voltage spotlights are often poor quality and can fail before the bulb does!

The main problem with the 240 volt spotlight is it is pretty inefficient and has a short life. The most common one is the 50 watt – so if you have fitting with four of them on you are burning 200 watts in that one fitting! Would you normally have a 200 watt bulb in your kitchen? A lot of people will have a couple of fittings so are burning around 400 watts in one room!

These LED Twist and Lock Spotlights from Philips really do replace the 50 watt halogen. The colour is great at 27k (warm white) which mimics the halogen light colour superbly (a common complaint of LEDs is the light is too blue) They are also the same size as the traditional bulb so should fit into your existing light fittings without any trouble.

The maximum life for a Halogen GU10 spotlight is around 2000 hours or 6 months if they are on for 12 hours a day. The Philips LED GU10 has a life of 40,000 hours or 10 years! So although the initial cost of an LED lamp is high they will more than pay for themselves in the end.

We list Philips LEDs because we want to provide quality lamps that will not disappoint. Like so many things you get what you pay for and the Philips range of LED bulbs really are the best we have seen. Give one a try and see what you think!

Philips LED 5.5w GU10

Posted in Low Energy Bulbs, Saving Electricity | Leave a comment

What bulb are they going to ban this year?

Posted on January 4, 2012 by lampman

Over the past few years various bulbs have been banned by the EU. The one people seemed most upset about was the 100 watt bulb. We got some very interesting phone calls about that one!

Well last year any incandescent or ‘traditional’ bulb 60 watts and above were banned. This year September will see the banning of all incandescent bulbs from 15 to 40 watts.

There are some exceptions however – you may be pleased to know!

These rules do not include any directional bulbs such as spotlights or linear filament bulbs. They also do not include appliance lamps eg your oven lamp.

There are many alternative products available such as the extensive range of halosaver bulbs. These are a more efficient version of the traditional filament bulb and are a good alternative if you really dont like fluorescent low energy bulbs. If you love opal bulbs then the Halogen G9 Adaptor is for you.

Of course if you want to go futuristic LED bulbs are really quite good now and although not the cheapest option they will last an incredibly long time and save a lot of energy

Whatever legislation comes out be assured there are ways to keep you lit up to a comfortable level. If you are confused about the many options available please just get in touch with us and will be more than happy to help

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Christmas Opening Times

Posted on December 13, 2011 by lampman

Well we havent had the snow (yet) this year but Christmas is coming along as usual

We will be closed from Thursday 22nd December to Tuesday 3rd January

The last day we will be dispatching orders is Wednesday 21st December so make sure you get your order in in plenty of time!

If you want to contact us while we are closed please drop us an email sales@commercial-lamps.co.uk or you can leave a voice message on 01822 860 110 and we will deal with your enquiry as soon as we get back

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our customers old and new!

Posted in Holidays & Opening Times | 2 Comments

Menage Lighting

Posted on October 5, 2011 by lampman

We have had a very early start to the menage lighting season, already we have had many enquiries.
It does show people are keen to use their horses all year round.
We have a simple low cost low maintenance system that is also cheap to run, call us if you need help.

Posted in Arena Lighting, Floodlights, Menage Lighting, Saving Electricity | 3 Comments