Author Topic: How to fix "too much" lighting in the bedroom  (Read 4987 times)

zolotiyeruki

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How to fix "too much" lighting in the bedroom
« on: March 07, 2016, 05:10:19 AM »
Our clown-sized (19.5'x14.5') master bedroom used to have a single small light fixture in the middle of the ceiling.  While DW was out of town, I "fixed" it--I installed a ceiling fan (3 bulbs) and four can lights.  It looks fantastic...except that now the room is ridiculously bright. We *do* have a dimmer--when the dimmer is at the halfway point, that's about where we'd like the maximum brightness to be.

I've been trying to find lower-wattage PAR30/BR30/R30 bulbs for the recessed lights--the current ones are 65W-equivalent.  But I've had no luck so far.  I'm experienced enough with electronics that I could open up the bulbs, solder a few small parts, and reduce the light output, but that would be very time-consuming, and those bulbs are not made to be disassembled easily.

Does anyone know where I could find lower-wattage flood light bulbs?

ShoulderThingThatGoesUp

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Re: How to fix "too much" lighting in the bedroom
« Reply #1 on: March 07, 2016, 05:37:51 AM »
Can you put the fan and the cans on separate switches?

Boz86

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Re: How to fix "too much" lighting in the bedroom
« Reply #2 on: March 07, 2016, 06:26:17 AM »
Can you put the fan and the cans on separate switches?

Good point. Doesn't the fan have it's own pull chain switch for the fan lamps?

BlueHouse

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Re: How to fix "too much" lighting in the bedroom
« Reply #3 on: March 07, 2016, 06:58:59 AM »
Here's a completely non-frugal fix. (Or maybe it is frugal fix if the long term success outweighs the upfront cost)

I bought Phillips Hue light bulb for my 4 can lights in my overly bright LR. The bulbs have independent controllers on each bulb, so they can be controlled independently without changing the wiring or the switch. On/off dim/bright purple/green/orange/brown can all be controlled through a computer or smartphone. Mine are also looped into my security system so that when a specific door is opened, one of the lights goes on. I have mine set up with IFTTT so if it's raining outside, the lights come on brighter and earlier than my normal everyday setting. When the ISS travels overhead, one light changes color and blinks. It's fun and nerdy, but hard to justify spending $60 /bulb.  I bought mine pre -MMM.  I still enjoy them and may replace them if they ever burn out, but if I did replace them, then I'd have to buy a dimmer switch for that room.  I know, not really comparable in price, but I like having one reading light and other mood lights while I watch tv at night. These are the only lights I've found that let me control the ceiling lights independently.

GuitarStv

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Re: How to fix "too much" lighting in the bedroom
« Reply #4 on: March 07, 2016, 07:13:49 AM »
Why not just unplug two of the four can lights if you want to lower the brightness?  You can always stick 'em back in later when you're selling or if you have someone over who you want to impress.

Rural

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Re: How to fix "too much" lighting in the bedroom
« Reply #5 on: March 07, 2016, 07:14:33 AM »
A more mustachian fix than the above cool nerdiness: unscrew a couple of the bulbs.


Edit to GuitarStv - great minds clearly think alike. :)
« Last Edit: March 07, 2016, 07:16:10 AM by Rural »

Clean Shaven

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Re: How to fix "too much" lighting in the bedroom
« Reply #6 on: March 07, 2016, 07:18:48 AM »
You can use lower wattage regular size bulbs in the can lights (A19,  IIRC). We do that, and doesn't look noticeable unless you're directly underneath looking at the cans. The LED regular bulbs are much cheaper than the R30 shaped bulbs.

zolotiyeruki

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Re: How to fix "too much" lighting in the bedroom
« Reply #7 on: March 07, 2016, 08:48:21 AM »
I'm not a fan of unscrewing the bulbs--one of the reasons for the project was aesthetics (grumblegrumblespendypantsgrumble).  Putting in a separate switch (or dimmer) for the can lights is an option--I have all the necessary supplies and tools, so the only expense would be time.  And my wife mentioned that idea as well.

I picked up some lower-wattage standard-shaped LED bulbs to give them a shot, and I'll see how they look tonight.  I'm kinda wishing at this point that I had installed these can lights in our dismally-lit family room instead...

This has left me wondering--how cheap are home builders that they can't even run a single box in the middle of the ceiling when they build houses?  I found out last week (after visiting the city building dept and getting copies of building permits) that with the possible exception of the kitchen and bathrooms, *none* of the rooms in our house originally had ceiling fixtures.  Only a single switched outlet somewhere in the room.  We're talking about *maybe* one hour of an electrician's time total to install those when the house was built.  Instead, the bank that foreclosed the house before we bought it brought in their own electrician and at least added fixtures to the bedrooms.
« Last Edit: March 07, 2016, 09:33:41 AM by zolotiyeruki »

lthenderson

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Re: How to fix "too much" lighting in the bedroom
« Reply #8 on: March 07, 2016, 09:21:03 AM »
Most ceiling fans have plates that allow you to remove the can lights part of it and instead have a trim plate.

zolotiyeruki

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Re: How to fix "too much" lighting in the bedroom
« Reply #9 on: March 08, 2016, 08:40:38 AM »
UPDATE:  at some point yesterday, one of our kids turned off the (incandescent) lights on the ceiling fan.  And voila, now the LED lights dim fully.  So having an inductive load on the same circuit as the LEDs makes the LEDs misbehave.  That's interesting, because I've heard reports of the exact *opposite* happening (LEDs don't dim properly unless an incandescent is present).

At this point, I'm thinking I'll go ahead an install a second switch, and run the ceiling fan lights and can lights on separate switches.

soupcxan

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Re: How to fix "too much" lighting in the bedroom
« Reply #10 on: March 17, 2016, 08:30:47 AM »
UPDATE:  at some point yesterday, one of our kids turned off the (incandescent) lights on the ceiling fan.  And voila, now the LED lights dim fully.  So having an inductive load on the same circuit as the LEDs makes the LEDs misbehave.  That's interesting, because I've heard reports of the exact *opposite* happening (LEDs don't dim properly unless an incandescent is present).

That's odd. I had a series of 4 can lights on a dimmer that I replaced with LEDs. They would not turn completely off because of the phantom voltage. If I replaced one of the 4 LEDs with an incandescent, it would soak up the excess juice and allow the 3 LEDs to turn 100% off. But then the color balance was wrong, so I went back to 4 incandescents.

TomTX

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Re: How to fix "too much" lighting in the bedroom
« Reply #11 on: June 04, 2016, 08:56:48 PM »
A more mustachian fix than the above cool nerdiness: unscrew a couple of the bulbs.


Edit to GuitarStv - great minds clearly think alike. :)

That was my answer...

I also don't understand this modern obsession with can lights. You need twice as many to light up a room, and they're usually a big leak in your thermal envelope.


Choices

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Re: How to fix "too much" lighting in the bedroom
« Reply #12 on: June 04, 2016, 10:49:25 PM »
UPDATE:  at some point yesterday, one of our kids turned off the (incandescent) lights on the ceiling fan.  And voila, now the LED lights dim fully.  So having an inductive load on the same circuit as the LEDs makes the LEDs misbehave.  That's interesting, because I've heard reports of the exact *opposite* happening (LEDs don't dim properly unless an incandescent is present).

At this point, I'm thinking I'll go ahead an install a second switch, and run the ceiling fan lights and can lights on separate switches.

If you like the lighting as it is with the dimmable can lights, why not just leave the fan lights off and call it a day? We installed can lights in our bedroom 2 yrs ago and haven't used or wanted the fan light since then.

zolotiyeruki

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Re: How to fix "too much" lighting in the bedroom
« Reply #13 on: June 05, 2016, 08:29:51 AM »
UPDATE:  at some point yesterday, one of our kids turned off the (incandescent) lights on the ceiling fan.  And voila, now the LED lights dim fully.  So having an inductive load on the same circuit as the LEDs makes the LEDs misbehave.  That's interesting, because I've heard reports of the exact *opposite* happening (LEDs don't dim properly unless an incandescent is present).

At this point, I'm thinking I'll go ahead an install a second switch, and run the ceiling fan lights and can lights on separate switches.

If you like the lighting as it is with the dimmable can lights, why not just leave the fan lights off and call it a day? We installed can lights in our bedroom 2 yrs ago and haven't used or wanted the fan light since then.
That's exactly what we've done :)

sokoloff

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Re: How to fix "too much" lighting in the bedroom
« Reply #14 on: June 06, 2016, 06:17:04 AM »
UPDATE:  at some point yesterday, one of our kids turned off the (incandescent) lights on the ceiling fan.  And voila, now the LED lights dim fully.  So having an inductive load on the same circuit as the LEDs makes the LEDs misbehave.  That's interesting, because I've heard reports of the exact *opposite* happening (LEDs don't dim properly unless an incandescent is present).
Incandescents aren't considered an inductive load; they're a resistive load. The reactance (a measure of inductance effect) at 50/60HZ is essentially zero as compared to the resistance.

 

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