Florescent light

Zola.

We haven't modernized our kitchen yet since buying last year.

The kitchen has an awful long florescent light which I want rid of ASAP.

Is it easy/possible to take this off and add 4 LEDs in place?

I am guessing there will need to be a few holes cut and a reskim of the plaster to tidy it up?

Ebe_Scrooge

Yes, it's an easy job. If it's a bog-standard strip light, then there will be a wire coming from the ceiling into it. Simply disconnect it, and then wire it up to your new light fitting. Easy peasy, especially if the new fitting is going in the same place as the existing one. There will be a couple of small holes where the strip light was screwed to the ceiling, just sort those with a small blob of filler and sand flat.


If your new fitting is going to be in a different place then it's a little more tricky, and may involve chasing out some of the plasterboard to re-route the cable. But still not a huge job, and perfectly within the scope of a DIY-er.


Oh, and it goes without saying - make sure you switch off the appropriate circuit at the consumer unit before you go anywhere near it !

Chrishazle

Biggest problem will be getting power to the new places if the ceiling joists run the wrong way - IE across where you need to run the cables. Our kitchen originally had a single central light, previous owner changed that to 6 recessed downlighters, was possible as the joists run parallel with the cable run.

Ebe_Scrooge

I may have misunderstood the original post - I assumed it was a single fitting with 4 LEDs in it. If it's 4 separate units, then what Chrishazle says is correct - it can be a fiddle to run the cabling if the joists are running the wrong way. In this scenario ( and if the layout of the house means it's possible ), it's often easier to work from above. Go into the room above the kitchen, lift some floorboards, then you can access the cabling with relative ease, and lay the new cables. This may mean having to cut a small notch out of each joist to allow the cable to fit.

Zola.

Actually, I may just take the big thing off and have one bright LED piece in the centre of the ceiling, probably far less hassle than doing individual spot lights.

Are the wires likely to be be connected in the centre of the room to that or could they be at the end of the tubes etc?

Ebe_Scrooge

Zola. wrote: »

Are the wires likely to be be connected in the centre of the room to that or could they be at the end of the tubes etc?

It depends on the exact model. But it's common for the wires to enter toward the middle of the fitting.

Le_Kirk

I recently removed a couple of old 4 feet long fluorescents and replaced them with a pair of longish fittings each with 4 moveable LED spots . You can then point the spots where you need the light.

Ebe_Scrooge

Le_Kirk wrote: »

I recently removed a couple of old 4 feet long fluorescents and replaced them with a pair of longish fittings each with 4 moveable LED spots . You can then point the spots where you need the light.

I had to chuckle at that. When we moved into our house, the kitchen had exactly what you describe. I liked them, but the wife didn't - so they had to come out

Wasn't too bad a job. Remove the old fitting - the cable happened to be fitted to the end of the track, so wasn't in the centre of the ceiling, where the new light needed to be. 10 minutes with a Stanley knife, chase out the plasterboard. Luckily there was enough slack in the cable so I didn't have to muck about extending it. New light fitting installed, good old Polyfilla ( or, to be honest, B&Q own brand equivalent ) to fill in the channel I'd made. Sanded down, painted over, job's a good-un. And the Boss is happy, which is the main thing !

Le_Kirk

Ebe_Scrooge wrote: »

I had to chuckle at that. When we moved into our house, the kitchen had exactly what you describe. I liked them, but the wife didn't - so they had to come out

Well in my case it was slightly easier because I had fitted one of the fluorescents myself when I was decorating the room above and was able to lift the floorboards and lay in new cables.

Ebe_Scrooge wrote: »

And the Boss is happy, which is the main thing !

Oh yes!

Head_The_Ball

Zola. wrote: »

Actually, I may just take the big thing off and have one bright LED piece in the centre of the ceiling, probably far less hassle than doing individual spot lights..

I would advise against that.

You want a good spread of light in a kitchen.

A single central light can work in a living room or dining room as you spend most of your time sitting near the edge facing into the middle.

In a kitchen, you spend most of your time facing the walls with your back to a central light. Unless you have multiple sources of light you will find that you are blocking light to the worktop, sink, hob, etc as you stand between them and the light source.

Ideally a kitchen should have multiple lights in the ceiling plus downlighters under the high level wall units.

You can achieve multiple lights in a ceiling from one fitting using the type of light that has long extended arms.

Here is one example.

Any DIY shed or lighting supplier will have plenty of that style of light.

Le_Kirk

Head_The_Ball wrote: »

Ideally a kitchen should have multiple lights in the ceiling plus downlighters under the high level wall units.

Should have mentioned I also have down lighters under the cabinets. They are high/low/medium* actually 12 volts.

*Strike out which does not apply - that's so we can start another debate about the voltage that is consider low in UK!!