# Home help please



## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

LED dimmer switch bulbs with 3-4 wall or centre lights on each switch.

They require special dimmer switches which we don't have, we only have older dimmers switches for the old normal bulbs. We are mixing normal bulbs with LED dimmer bulbs to achieve the required 40w minimum without seemingly adverse effect with our German* screw in *bulbs. 
We also have older English dimmer switches and English *bayonet* so the question is has anyone got experience of this situation or anything to add to the contrary?

Hans really does not want the work of exchanging the English light fittings to screw in because they are so awkward and fiddley to do.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

I gave up trying to see what lamps went with what switches Jan. In the end we use small 40 to 60 watt incandescent bulbs in the two dinners we have. The rest of the side or mood lights are low energy bulbs.
I have a cupboard full of the old incandescent bulbs and I'm not about to chuck em away.



Ray.


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

raynipper said:


> I gave up trying to see what lamps went with what switches Jan. In the end we use small 40 to 60 watt incandescent bulbs in the two dinners we have. The rest of the side or mood lights are low energy bulbs.
> I have a cupboard full of the old incandescent bulbs and I'm not about to chuck em away.
> Ray.


We are gradually coming to the end of our bayonet bulbs Ray, and we need to get our electricity bill reduced, we have 30 bulbs just in the living and dining area plus bedroom, kitchen, utility, hall, landing, garage, a lot of light is used, especially if we forget to turn lights out.
A friend of ours reckons we are paying for the 2 street light :laugh:


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

30 bulbs in just one room/space is rather a lot Jan.
We do have a 11m. lounge/diner/kitchen and only have 10 lamps with usually only 5 on at a time. Mood lights. 

We do have one 'standard' lamp with a 150w. lamp for reading, knitting or close work but the rest are flos.


You do realise that one electric 3kw. heater or water heater is 30 to 40 times the electricity of lamps? Half filling the electric kettle or not using the hot tap to rinse fingers or the sink will save you 50 lamps electricity.


Ray.


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

We have 4 ceiling lights with 3 bulbs 1 ceiling light with 4 plus 2 x 4 wall lights all luverly wooden fittings brought with us from England or made by Hans, good job we did bring them with us because there is nothing like them here.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Usually multiple bulb light assemblies have the smaller and more expensive bulbs in them. Replacing those bulbs with LED or other low energy bulbs will be very expensive anyway. It will take you years just to break even with the savings on the outlay of the bulbs.


Ray.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

We have decided that we will no longer light the the fire in the main lounge daily

It eats wood, and coal 

Nothing to do with expense

But the wood is hard to come by 

If you are finding the electric too expensive Jan

Then sort out what you can do without 

Sandra


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

It´s our extravagant life style :grin2:. 
The electricity price keeps going up and up, we will replace the bulbs and the LED last for yonks, unlike the ordinary ones. and Raymond, our lights take a normal bulb size, except for one lot that have a candle light.

We already know how much water to boil for the tea :wink2:, hot water is gas heated, but Hans´s machinery uses quite a lot of leclic being 3 phase.

I'm off to bed, (must remember to turn off all the lights >)


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Are you lighting the whole space each time you switch on the light? When we renovated our house the electrician recommended that we have led’s in the ceiling. I hate them now. The are very harsh. I am looking into some standard floor lamps to soften lighting.


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

patp said:


> Are you lighting the whole space each time you switch on the light? When we renovated our house the electrician recommended that we have led's in the ceiling. I hate them now. The are very harsh. I am looking into some standard floor lamps to soften lighting.


Oooh no Pat, not those awful white orrible things, we have light fittings with shades and proper bulbs. Switches for each set of lights, we are very old fashioned.😀


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## emmbeedee (Oct 31, 2008)

You can buy bulb converters, Jan, search on e-bay or amazon. Link below, hope it works:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-LAMP...c:g:QVwAAOSwC85cES68:rk:2:pf:1&frcectupt=true

You can get other types as well, useful if you have a stock of the "wrong type of bulbs.


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

emmbeedee said:


> You can buy bulb converters, Jan, search on e-bay or amazon. Link below, hope it works:
> 
> https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-LAMP...c:g:QVwAAOSwC85cES68:rk:2:pf:1&frcectupt=true
> 
> You can get other types as well, useful if you have a stock of the "wrong type of bulbs.


Thank you, we know of those, but no good fo our lights, it would make the much too tall for the shades.

Photo´s coming up in a minute. :grin2:


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

*photo´s*

The first glass shades are the only ones with the candle light bulb all the rest are ordinary ones.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Not a criticism Jan but they are a bit Baronial and old fashioned. Dark and heavy.
As I said not criticising just an observation. They would not give much light at the best of times. More mood and decor lights.


Ray.


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

raynipper said:


> Not a criticism Jan but they are a bit Baronial and old fashioned. Dark and heavy.
> As I said not criticising just an observation. They would not give much light at the best of times. More mood and decor lights.
> 
> Ray.


They go with the rest of our decor Ray and we love them. Dislike modern stuff.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

They are beautiful Jan

But surely you don’t need to have them all lit at once 

Says she sat next to her log burner, in the dark watching the flames 

Well I lasted one day without it 

And we don’t need the central heating , we open the double doors to the lounge and it warms the house 

Sandra


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

No dearest they aren't all on at once, but 7 w per bulb is much better than 60 w for the elec meter.:grin2:


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

We have multiple bulbs 

Two chandeliers in the dining area of the kitchen

Just call me Mrs Bouquet :grin2:

And a multi one in the second lounge 

But they are all LEDs 

Lamps are all low energy, but as they go we replace them with LEDs 

Sandra:grin2:


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

A picture of our lights in the dining area of the kitchen 

Prob need stripping and washing, a disadvantage of open plan living 

But lovely when done 

Can’t walk much at the moment 

Another joint fare up, the left foot this time


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

I love the fact that Hans made the lights Jan 

Alberts made all the oak mirrors and fireplaces in this house, three of them

All reclaimed timber 

At the moment is making an oak and slate coffee table to echo the wood burner fireplace in the main lounge

Again reclaimed oak from a old oak table , holes are filled with dowels which i love 

Our house has been lived in, not so much now with just the two of us 

But our kids and the older grandkids are fiercely protective of it 

Any mention of selling upsets them

It’s where they grew up , even the “three originals” grandkids mostly grew up living in this house with us

Even Dorothy’s, furniture which we brought here so she still had possessions from her home when she moved into a care home, and still visited and stayed at weekends with us 

Remains here

Hopefully we’ve absorbed the old with the new 

But we are not fashion designers 

Just memory collectors 

The plaque “Megan Moon “ remains on the door of her old bedroom , the name on her nursery peg , she’s 25 now and 

She’s taken a new bedroom when she stays 

Other grandkids claim her old bedroom now, although less and less 

And as I get older maybe that’s for the best 

Young Albert is here almost daily, along with Winston his dog 

He’s dropped out of college , but we wait for him to find his way forward , and he will, he’s considerate and kind by nature and intelligent 

And the wood Albert collects is no longer free 

We pay young Albert well to chop and store it 

It’s one way of giving him money for his designer clothes 

And he can paint a ceiling without need for ladders 

So that’s a bonus

Sandra


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

He didn't make the centre lights Sandra, and the wall lights, some he altered the rest he made, all of the wall plates (for the want of a better word) and the ceiling plates he made.
Our bed he made from larch that started off as a fence :grin2:
Although he was a precision engineer and used metal he loves working with wood and has a lot of wood work equipment.
He's just made a handy little shelf over the fridge in the Navajo.:smile2:
How about a picture of Alberts handy work. The table looks as if it could hold a banquet :grin2:


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Well it could

Once upon a time Jan

And not that long ago 

But I grew tired and arguements /debates increased 

And I could no longer meet them all

And when all else failed 

It seemed it was always us to blame with some of them 

We had raised their kids , stolen them, no mention that they had needed us at the time 

Short memories 

Payed those same kids through university, didn’t need to , they could have got a “little job”we were told 

A little job that payed them £60-80 a week term time 

To pay for accommodation and inbetween they could study 

Fortunately we don’t give a dam 

And we are not losing any of them

Kids or grandkids soon 

Maybe because Albert remains the Alfa Mayo 

A gentle giant, much respected by his family 

And me a good cook 

When in doubt

Feed them

Sandra


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Here you go Jan

The mirror and fireplace were made from a old library islandshelving unit 

Sandra


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

aldra said:


> Here you go Jan
> 
> The mirror and fireplace were made from a old library islandshelving unit
> 
> Sandra


Blank space here :frown2:


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Oops forgot the photos :nerd:


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

If Hans had made those he would have done a bit of fancy work.

Our house is full of wooden furniture, doors,_ I don't know what the upright post are called in English, here its called_ Fackwerk. Hans didn't make everything, but what he didn't make was done under his instructions. He did do the Fackwerk /posts.
He has all the machinery, lathe and triton router, table, saws, loads of stuff, not much he hasn't got really and of course *me*.:grin2:
He hasn't made much without consulting me and with my help even if it was just to balance the end, of the wood>


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Very ornate Jan. Personally I have never been good at woodwork or carpentry. Mechanics and electrical was always my forte.
Now I have about 7 mechanical toolboxes and 3 electrical ones. Big mistake as what I need is always in the other box.


Ray.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

JanHank said:


> If Hans had made those he would have done a bit of fancy work.
> 
> Our house is full of wooden furniture, doors,_ I don't know what the upright post are called in English, here its called_ Fackwerk. Hans didn't make everything, but what he didn't make was done under his instructions. He did do the Fackwerk /posts.
> He has all the machinery, lathe and triton router, table, saws, loads of stuff, not much he hasn't got really and of course *me*.:grin2:
> He hasn't made much without consulting me and with my help even if it was just to balance the end, of the wood>


Well we like simple

I like simple plus , I love the plugs, he makes them and then sands them down

I love oak

The new coffee table will use oak plugs as a feature

Where they were needed, and will be artificially created were they weren't

He built a magnificent Welsh dresser

Our daughter has it now

It was part of our kitchen

Before we redisigned it

It's brilliant in hers

An 8ft work of art

Sandra


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

But of course you like what you have, what a boring world it would be if we all liked the same things and agreed on everything.:grin2:


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

And of course it depends on the style of the house Jan 

Sandra


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