# Ceiling light advice needed



## Shahmatt (Feb 28, 2017)

Hi all, I'm new to the forum so please go easy on me.

I am currently staying in a rented apartment. About half the hall is lit with 10 down-lights - low brightness 8 watt bulbs which don't do much good illuminating the place and consume a lot more power than necessary.

I've considered replacing these bulbs with something brighter, but because they are sort of recessed into the ceiling I suspect that the side illumination of whatever bulb I put in would be blocked and hence may not make much difference.

So now I'm thinking perhaps I should leave them be and install a totally new ceiling light somewhere in the middle of the hall. Something bright, say 3000 lumens at least. Ideally I would be sticking the light to the ceiling with strong double-sided sticky tape and then wiring it along the ceiling and down the wall to a regular power socket. No permanent changes would be made and I could remove it and take it along with me wherever I go.

I've found some local companies selling unbranded 36W, 110 lumens/watt circular arrangement lights but, given that they only come with 3 months of warranty on the LEDs, I suspect that they won't be much good in lasting for the duration of our stay in this place.

So I'm right now looking at options. Firstly I'd like some confirmation that the above plan sounds feasible. Secondly what sort of ceiling light should I be looking for? Would shape (circular or rectangular) matter? Are there any brands that I should be looking at?

Any help is much appreciated. Cheers!


----------



## gotcha640 (Mar 22, 2017)

I have some can lights that I put these LED inserts in. The light is lower in the can, closer to the floor, so gets more spread, and most have a diffuser built in, so I don't get the glare I had off the 100w equivalent GE bright stik. 

They are fairly expensive as compared to regular bulbs, so I made sure to get some with a warranty. The cheap ones at the local hardware store were flickering after the first month.


----------



## Ken_McE (Apr 1, 2017)

Shahmatt said:


> I am currently staying in a rented apartment. About half the hall is lit with 10 down-lights - low brightness 8 watt bulbs which don't do much good illuminating the place and consume a lot more power than necessary.



Incandescent bulbs? Public hall or private?



> So now I'm thinking perhaps I should... install a totally new ceiling light somewhere in the middle of the hall. Something bright, say 3000 lumens at least. Ideally I would be sticking the light to the ceiling with strong double-sided sticky tape



Is sticky tape good enough for that kind of load?



> and then wiring it along the ceiling and down the wall to a regular power socket. No permanent changes would be made and I could remove it and take it along with me wherever I go.



Landlord might be happier if you plugged an up facing lamp into that outlet instead.



> So I'm right now looking at options. Firstly I'd like some confirmation that the above plan sounds feasible.



I have doubts. Even if it works, you'll scare the landlord. He won't want you running electrical cords around his property and hanging a five pound weight (held up by tape!) over peoples heads.




> Would shape (circular or rectangular) matter?



No.


----------

