Commercial Lamp Supplies News

If you have a private water supply with a UV treatment system which purifies it for drinking, you must change the lamps every year.
Just because the lamp is lit it does not mean it it doing any good.
After a maximum of 8000 hours (one years continuous burning) the lamp will still be lit up but will not produce any useful UV disinfection.
The UV gets blocked by the discoloured glass, an action known as solarisation. when you remove an old lamp you will see it is light brown in colour this means it is useless.
The same goes for UV lamps in a pond system or any where else come to that.

We get lot customers who are confused by low energy verses low voltage.
The fact is that the voltage does not matter, just because a lamp runs on 12 volts does not mean it uses less energy than a normal filament bulb.
It is the Wattage that counts and only the wattage.
A 50 watt down lighter burns 50 watts whether or not it is 12 volts or 240 volt.
To achieve low energy you must change from using a filament lamp to a fluorescent type.
Your normal fluorescent fittings that you may have at home in the kitchen or at work in the office are low energy lamps; they are very long lasting as well.
Metal halide floodlights are also low energy lamps surprisingly enough, much more efficient than the filament floodlights.
So when you want to see how much energy you are using just use the wattage ignore the voltage and you will get to the right answer.
Look for opportunities to change any lamp with a filament for a compact fluorescent.
If you need advice please call us and we will do our best to help.

In the Sunday times there was an article suggesting problems with low energy lamps interfering with TV remote controls.
We have never experienced this nor have any of our customers ever reported problems of this kind and we have been supplying low energy lamps for the last 12 years.
This could be because we thoroughly test all of our products before we offer them on the web site and we only supply lamps from reputable manufacturers such as Philips and Megaman.
We cannot speak for cheap non-branded low energy lamps, as is often the case a low price is not the bargain it may seem.

We have two new dimmable lamps from Megaman, we have been testing them and they definitely do dim but in stages not smoothly as with a filament lamp.
We have tried them with normal dimming switch, the rotary type and with a normal on/
off switch.
We thought it would be a good idea if some of our customers tested them for us so we can get a clear picture of what you like and don’t like about them.
We cannot send them out for free but we will only charge you if you decide to keep them otherwise when you send them back we will give you a full refund.
The idea is to get feedback so we can properly and accurately advise other customers on the lamps.
If you want to try them please call us.
One is a normal light bulb shape in Bayonet fitting the other is a 240 volt 11watt down lighter with the twist and lock fitting.
You can see both on the low energy pages on the web site.

A very nice customer from America was kind enough to write thanking us for solving his lighting problem.
Georgina,
> My lamps arrived and they are just perfect.
> I’ve had this beautiful antique Herbert Terry lamp for a very long
> time but have never been able to fine the right bulbs…until now.
> Thank you so much for all your help.
> Warm regards,
> Jonathan Casteel.

We test every Smilight replacement tube just before we pack it for sending out to a customer so unless they are physically broken, which can sometimes happen, then we know they will work properly.
What happens is the customer puts the tube in and only the ends light up not the middle, this is a classic fault with low wattage fluorescent fittings, the tube is good so don’t throw it away as one customer did it is the fitting that has failed.
We cannot find Smilight fittings anywhere but we do have our own which we think are much better anyway, the long ones, the 24 watt type fit perfectly in the same space and you can even use the Smilight plug it is bit of a tight fit but it does go.
The small one the 8 watt can be changed for our 6 watt fitting in the same way just as bright.
The only one we cannot offer a direct replacement for is the 13 watt Smilight fitting just do not have on the same length. If you need to replace one use the drop down box under the Switched kitchen lights to find the most suitable length for your kitchen cabinets.

Easter is upon us so we only have three days to send out orders this week so if you need a lamp for Easter then please order it in the next 48 hours as Wednesday will be the last day we will be able to send out orders.
We will of course be back fully operational on Tuesday next after a nice long weekend.
We hope you have a enjoyable and peaceful Easter.