The boring thread.....

[Dextrous63]

I'm with Michael and advocate candles.  

Apart from that, I've not been around much for a couple of days.  Prepping for Xmas, and more to the point we've had our decorator in to do the kitchen.  Lovely fella, great decorator, but by golly he can talk.  He's here for around 8 hours, of which he does 3-4 hours work and the rest of the time chatting. Funny thing is that the nature of painting/caulking etc means that the between task chats is actually useful in that it allows things to go-off.

[klondike]

Measure your tube length and diameter and check their website to find the exact one. They may give watt equivalent which is likely marked on your tube. I'd guess at 40w fluorescent for a kitchen. There should be a stock check function. Don't expect highly skilled advice from people working in retail either.

They may let you recycle the old tube there too.

[Dextrous63]

Could just be the "choke"

Either way, in this day and age it'll be wiser to get a LED equivalent which will last for the rest of eternity.

[klondike]

You mean the starter - they just twist in. The choke is pretty much means replacing the whole fitting as I doubt you can get spares - it's the bit inside that looks like a transformer and yes it could be the starter but sometime the tube will need replacing anyway and by then Mups might not fancy a step ladder. She did it this time and an electrician is going to be another hefty bill.

[Mups]

It was LED I would have bought,  but you are just confusing me even more with talk of Starters, Chokes, and flippin'  transformers??

I think I had better wait for the electrician  (and yet another bill),  because if I get it all wrong, or break something trying to get it back in between the end brackets,   I will only  make it more expensive in the long run.    
Pee'd off.  

[klondike]

All that stuff is for fluorescents and what might be wrong with yours apart from the tube.

 Forget all that and just buy an LED tube, Blame Dex for bringing it up.

[Scrumpy]

I am an old fashioned gal... I still have the regular light bulbs.. When one goes i just replace it.. Sorted.. I don't need an electrician for that..
Just a small step ladder..
Sitting here painting my nails RED.. I've cocked up a bit.. a smudge here and there.. But it's the thought that counts..

[Mups]

All that stuff is for fluorescents and what might be wrong with yours apart from the tube.

 Forget all that and just buy an LED tube, Blame Dex for bringing it up.

I finally felt brave enough to fix the light myself,  so,  armed with the duff light bulb,  off I goes through all the traffic to Screwfix.   

The  young girl serving seemed to have even less idea than me.   She read the writing on the tube and then said - "I don't know what any of that means."    
My reply was could she get someone who does then!
Just then the biggest bloke I have ever seen comes sauntering along behind the counter.  He looked totally bored,  only half awake,  and longing to go home.   No smile,  didn't even look at me, just grunted something to the girl and wandered off again.

It turned out in the end, that they only had a bright white one, which I don't want because they hurt my eyes.
The one the electrician fitted a few weeks ago was a nice soft whitey/peachy colour and is much easier on the eye.   So I came away with nothing.

Next stop was Wickes.   They were closed. 

One more place to try on the way home was a place called West End Wallpapers who do a lot of DIY stuff,  so went there next.   Once more, the best they could offer was a 'soft white',   but from the picture on the box it didn't look very 'soft'  to me,  and she informed me   "They don't do anything fancy."  She also confused me by saying something about I'm not to forget to take out the Charger before I change bulbs?   (Hadn't a clue what she meant).
There was no point buying something then find I couldn't use it,   or I couldn't install it, so I thanked her, and left.

Cooking by candle light after all.      Thanks for trying to help though. 
  

[klondike]

The  young girl serving seemed to have even less idea than me.   She read the writing on the tube and then said - "I don't know what any of that means."   
My reply was could she get someone who does then!
Just then the biggest bloke I have ever seen comes sauntering along behind the counter.  He looked totally bored,  only half awake,  and longing to go home.   No smile,  didn't even look at me, just grunted something to the girl and wandered off again.
.
.
She also confused me by saying something about I'm not to forget to take out the Charger before I change bulbs?   

Don't expect highly skilled advice from people working in retail either.

Flourescent lights are typically higher colour temperature than we have for lounge lighting in the UK. Would probably have been fine for a kitchen though as probably similar to what you had.

Colour temperature refers to what temperate something would need to be to produce light of the colour you see when it is turned on.. Heat something up and it starts dull red going more towards yellow then even white as temperature rises. Tungsten bulbs are quite yellow and what we have got used to at home.

[Dextrous63]

You could probably buy a lovely led one which has a little remote control which would enable to dim it or change the colour.

[Mups]

Flourescent lights are typically higher colour temperature than we have for lounge lighting in the UK. Would probably have been fine for a kitchen though as probably similar to what you had.

Colour temperature refers to what temperate something would need to be to produce light of the colour you see when it is turned on.. Heat something up and it starts dull red going more towards yellow then even white as temperature rises. Tungsten bulbs are quite yellow and what we have got used to at home.

Apparently they are not allowed to sell florescent lights anymore  (so they told me),  so it has to be an LED.

[klondike]

I know I said that....

You could always buy a spare and brave the step ladder again. I expect the LED ones are designed to fit the old fittings just as the replacement LED bulbs are.

Be careful disposing of the old tube. They contain a small quantity of mercury which is poisonous and one of the reasons they were withdrawn from sale.

[Mups]

You could probably buy a lovely led one which has a little remote control which would enable to dim it or change the colour.

Funny you should say that, Dex,  because the other light the electrician replaced about a month ago,  he altered the brightness on that for me. 
I think there was some sort of adjuster on the tube itself,  not a hand held remote thingy.   
I couldn't really see exactly what he was doing to soften the brightness because he was up on the steps.

Too late to worry about it anymore now,  unfortunately it will cost me again for the electrician next week now.


Yesterday at 10:52:54 PM

Apparently they are not allowed to sell florescent lights anymore  (so they told me),  so it has to be an LED.

I know I said that....

Sorry.   I just saw you saying about florescent ones being higher colour temperature and misunderstood. 
The girl in the shop said LED lights are brightest.

Anyway,  this is the Boring thread isn't it,  so I expect I have bored the pants of everyone else now,  so will shut up.

[Mups]

I wonder how our Vlad got on with his house move?
Hope he gets connected up and lets us know some news soon.

My son was on about me moving nearer to them,  but  I don't think I could face the upheaval now,  and I could never do all that packing up on my own either.     They both work full time, so I can't see me getting a lot of help. 

[klondike]

I have no intention of ever moving. Too many skips needed.

Colour temperature and brightness aren't the same thing.

If you don't want an electrician bill why not order the tube off amazon? As you got the old one out you know how they go back in. Line up the slots push tube up and in then twist through 90 degrees.