New roof, much drier so thats good!
We have a few orders to get through so please bear with us. We will fulfill all orders in age order so the oldest ones will be dispatched first. It may take us a day or two to catch up but we will try our best
In the meantime if you need any help or advice about lighting please get in touch
We are having a new roof on the offices over the weekend and next week and so will not be able to occupy the buildings,
The web site will still be working and the voice mail active but we will not be able send out any orders until Monday 5th September.
Sorry about any inconvenience but the roof has started leaking.
We now have a Facebook page and are on Twitter!
So please Follow us and like our Facebook page to be kept up to date with all things lighting (and a probably few farming things too).
Our Twitter page is here and our Facebook Page is here.
There is similar legislation in the USA and europe regarding the use of inefficient lightbulbs with an effective ban of 100 watt incandescent bulbs. There has been a bill in the states that attempted to repeal this act on the premise that the government should not be legislating on the type of bulb the average American puts in their home.
The bill was not supported enough to be passed but it does show a strong backlash against the current legislation.
We like to nicely sit on the fence in such matters(!) but one thing we do disagree with is the often used statement that all low energy lamps are useless. Yes, there are some people who wont get on with them but if you buy decent quality ones you will not be dissapointed. LED lights are getting very exciting now with some real savings to be made. We have recently listed Philips LED bulbs on the website and although they are still pretty expensive they are now performing as good as the incandescent bulbs they replace and their lifespan is massive!
The other thing people often forget is that a fluorescent low energy bulb is just a little version of the fluorescent tubes you are used to working under in the office or at schools etc so they arent a brand new technology – just a twist on it.
See the full story on the US bill here
Despite being very reliable Sox lamps are slowly being phased out by the major manufacturers
We get quite a lot of enquiries from people who have one Sox floodlight at their home thats been there for years with no one touching it! They used to be the main lamp type used for streetlighting but they have now been superceeded by Metal halide and now LED technology. Just because they arent the most efficient doesnt mean you have to get rid of them as they are notoriously reliable and will give many years of service if looked after.
We can still get hold of Sox lamps but we dont list them on the site as the prices and availability fluctuate a lot. If you need a Sox lamp or any of the control gear we can probably get hold of it for you so please either call us on 01822 860 110 or email us at sales@commercial-lamps.co.uk
If you dont want to keep your Sox lamps you can either replace them with a Son (also known as Sodium) light which also gives off an orange light like the sox lamp. Or if you want to go more up to date you can use a metal halide lamp. Both the Son and Metal Halide lamps need special control gear so its not a case of just switching the lamp unfortunately but if you wish to keep your existing fitting we can supply you with just the correct control gear for the lamp you want
We can supply quite of few of the SLR lamps found in many Wedeco UV systems. They are called SLR because their part number starts with SLR! If we dont list the lamp you are looking for we still may be able to find it for you
We have recently added the SLR2581 to the site HERE
We also have some wedeco Aquada lamps which have NLR codes HERE
It is important with UV tubes that you replace them yearly as although they still light they will not be producing as much UVC which is the important bit. Its not a sales gimick its actually true!
We can also supply the quartz tube that the lamps go in but there are so many different lengths we only list a few common ones HERE
If you can tell us the outside diameter, the length and if its a closed or open end then we can usually supply them to order – please call 01822 860 110 or email sales@commercial-lamps.co.uk
We are back from the easter break and will be working hard to dispatch orders placed while we were away so please bear with us!
We’ve known this for a long time and use daylight tubes in our own office (and we can choose from pretty much any tube available) but its great to see this sort of technology being used in schools
and heres what the manufactures Philips have to say about it
Lighting is often an afterthought but it has been proven time and time again that it can affect your mood
Having caught a glance of the latest DIY SOS I saw that they were doing a lot of energy saving including putting in some sensible low energy lights (I cant resist watching something when I see lights are involved sad as it is!)
I was intrigued by the gizmo they had on it that reduced the voltage to the household consumer unit. Mains electricity is 240 volt (although it does fluctuate) and this box was designed to reduce it to 220 volts and supposidly save you 10% on your electricity as a result.
Personally I find this hard to believe because as far as I know (and my knowledge is not universal -let me make that clear!) with most electronic things the current will increase as the voltage is reduced so the actual power used will be the same. Anything that heats up like a kettle will just take longer so take the same power in the end and as for any incandescent bulbs, they will just be dimmer!
I would love to be corrected but Im not convinced it is a great way to reduce your energy bill
We have helped many people switch over to low energy lighting and as with alot of things it comes down to personal preference. Some people want to really go for it with the latest technology in LED lighting (which is getting seriously good now if you buy the best stuff) but most people go for the right lamp in the right place and maybe dont even replace all their incandescent bulbs if there is no need.
It is quite possible to reduce your home lighting energy burn (and your energy bill!) and not sit in the dark! There are even filament lamp alternatives for you to consider such as the new Halosavers and Halogen Adaptors
If you are looking to reduce warehouse lighting bills then we have an outstanding product here Low Energy Hi Bay Its one of the best products we’ve ever seen!
If you arent sure which lamps would be best for you please get in touch and we are happy to give advice
So its a much debated topic – if you leave the room for a few minutes is it better to leave the lights on or switch them off?
There are two main arguments for leaving them on:
1. The startup current is much higher than the running current – so if you leave it on you will burn less electricity than turning it off and then restarting it
2. Turning some types of lamp on and off can reduce their lifespan
It just so happens that the popular US TV show Mythbusters covered this very myth! They did a really thorough job and the end result was that is is better to turn the lights off when you leave the room.
They tested a whole range of lamps including fluorescent, filament, metal halide, LED and Tungsten Halogen. The fluorescent took the most power on startup but it was still a miniscule amount and certainly didnt make it worth leaving your lights on when you go out to the shops!
They also tested how much effect switching the lighs on and off had but again they found that, although it did slightly reduce the lamps life, it wasnt enough to be significant in a domestic setting
So, when you leave the room the advice is to turn off the light – but of course its up to you in the end!
CommercialLamps
@CommercialLamps