Comments on: IKEA Lighting Hack

By: bbum’s weblog-o-mat » Blog Archive » Make: Cable Light Connectors

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 03:13:44 +0000

[...] making my own low voltage cable light fixtures, I searched high and low for a little piece of hardware that would elegantly connect between the [...]

By: Affordable Lamps

Affordable Lamps — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:35:59 +0000

Hi, Very resourceful! Was the NY apartment small? I have a small apartment in Los Angeles and it has been almost impossible to light my small apartment because I have been using dark lamp shades. The cheese grater is such a good idea to get light going in all directions. There are a lot of great comments here by people who know lighting. Come check out my site: Affordable Lamps. We have some awesome modern lighting fixtures that I think would interest you bbum. David

By: Paul

Paul — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 20:52:33 +0000

You can definitely get the Feit at Home Depot, but you may not be happy with the quality. They have a long history of making products that do not stand the test of time and have poor quality.

I know Dabmar has been successful with their MR16 CFL (emulates a 35 watt Incandescent).

link to product : http://www.elightbulbs.com

By: bbum

bbum — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:30:40 +0000

Thanks. Blue LED rope lights…

By: Jesse

Jesse — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:21:58 +0000

These look great, I love making things into lamps. What did you use for that extremely bright blue effect back there? Or is it a long exposure?

By: bbum

bbum — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 07:40:54 +0000

You can find ‘em at Home Depot. It seems that Feit Electric is the only company making ultra-compact CFL’s in the MR16 12v or GU10 120v form factor. Cost runs around $7-$9 / lamp. Very efficient, but take 10 – 15 seconds to warm up (which I prefer, actually, as it is less harsh on my eyes to go from 0 to photonic in a bazillasecond).

http://www.1000bulbs.com also has compact CFLs, but only with GU10 bases. They are significantly longer than the typical MR16 lamp and will likely extend beyond relatively standard GU10 based track lighting fixtures. 1000bulbs.com also has GU10 nad MR16 LED lamps, but they are super-spendy and relatively large.

I really ought to write up an extended blog post about everything I have discovered while researching lighting. The reality of modern lighting is… unpleasant.

By: jason rusoff

jason rusoff — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 16:35:43 +0000

Bill,
Well I learned something new today. I had never seen any CFLs other than an edison screw type base. Where can I find these MR16 CFLs? I want to play with ‘em. And I love reading your site. Thanks for spending the time to keep it interesting.
JR

By: Liz Gilbert

Liz Gilbert — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 00:49:30 +0000

They look great. We mess around with light all the time here. Really into LEDS & phosphorescent paint .

By: annbb

annbb — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 06:39:17 +0000

Well, they look damn good!

By: bbum

bbum — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 17:06:53 +0000

They are definitely CFLs. I should take a picture of the inside of one as it is amazing how Feit Electric packed everything into such a little package.

MR16 is the standard designation for the shape of the lamp. You can get LED, Incadescent, CFL, and Halogen MR16 lamps.

MR16 have a pin spacing of 5.3mm and, thus, are also called GU-5.3 lamps. However, GU-5.3 refers only to the pin spacing, and not the lamp shape.

I’m quite terribly sure of this as I have spent days hunting down a GU-5.3 LED lamp that is not in an MR16 package. I have found an E-12 based lamp (screw in, US candelabra sized, base), but not a 12v GU-5.3 base.