Office Lighting Problem! - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: photonpunk
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2015, 07:25:58 pm
content: Bit off topic maybe, but I have a small (8x10) home office that I spend a lot of time in reading and studying. I love it, except for the lighting. I have tried and tried, but I just can't get the lighting right.The only lighting fixture is a two-bulb flush mount in the ceiling (not enough room for lamps, other than my desk lamp).Things I have tried or considered:Soft White CFLs are far too dim.Daylight CFLs make the room feel like a prison.Bright White CFLs are close, but too bright (you can read easily, but eyes hurt after being in the room for long).Thought about getting LEDs and a Dimmer switch, but am afraid of the humming they produce.Smart bulbs are too expensive.I'm running out of ideas to try. Any suggestions?

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2015, 07:59:39 pm
content: Try using some cheap LED strip as uplighters, placing it in aluminium U channel so it does not produce glare. Then place on the wall at head height so it lights the ceiling. Choose warm white or if you want to change it buy RGB light strip and use the controller with it, it does work well as a white light, though it needs a little work to get the light perfect.

author: dfmischler
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2015, 08:19:29 pm
content: If you go buy some Cree LED bulbs at Home Depot you can always take them back if you don't like them. I have a fixture in my home that has a both a Soft White (2700K) and Daylight (5000K) bulb installed. It looks a little funny when you look up at the fixture, but the light is quite pleasing. I do not like the quality of light from CFLs; perhaps this is because of their terrible spectrum:Typical CFL Spectrum. Incandescent bulbs have the classic linear black-body spectrum. The current LEDs are not linear, but they do a lot better than the CFLs:LED spectrum(not to the same scale).

author: nanofrog
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2015, 09:29:46 pm
content: For my bench, I use 5000K LED's (spot light in a classic arm fixture + LED strip lighting in an aluminum U channel mounted on the underside of the first level of shelves). The rest of the room uses soft white halogens. Think I need to use a different PSU for the LED strips though (audible whine).Second bench going in soon, and I need to figure out what I'm doing with this one (no shelves for LED strips).

author: Dave Turner
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2015, 09:39:26 pm
content: photonpunk - to design lighting for any requirement you first need to plan your room layout and what you intend to do where. That should enable you to choose where highlights are required and where background lighting only is needed, or indeed what variations are required. e.g. mood lighting.Within reason anything is possible. You need to specify your needs.

author: steve30
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 03, 2015, 05:51:41 am
content: I recommend either SeanB's idea, or you could get somehigh qualityfluorescent fixtures of some kind, which will provide a nice light and be nicely diffused.There will probably always be issues with glare etc if you are limited to a "light bulb" fixture.If you do have to stick with your "light bulb" fixture, and you are not sure about the possibility of dimmable LED bulbs, then I'd suggest that you just get some and try them. The best way is always to try things and see what works and what doesn't work.

author: mij59
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 03, 2015, 06:11:08 am
content: I would go with Dave's turner plan.Uplighters are great for mood lighting, but very inefficient.You will need about 72W of fluorescent lamp power with a high quality fixture.Fluorescent lamp are available in a wide range of color temperatures.

author: jlmoon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 03, 2015, 03:12:26 pm
content: I use 5000K 510 lumen (Cree) GU10 format led lights on GU10 tracks, each light is detachable so you can locate it anywhere within the confines of your work area.The light distribution is great and it helps prevent eye fatigue.I find myself spending a lot of time in this environment.