Bulbs

Whichever style of lighting you choose you will need bulbs to bring it to life after dark. Buy bulbs online here at O'briens lighting, we have a large range of bulbs suited to all areas of the home and garden.

It is important that you choose the correct bulbs and that will mean finding models which are compatible with your fitting, create the right ambiance and suit your budget. You will find the bulbs to cater to all your needs in the O'Brien's lighting range.

Bulbs Compatible with Your Light Fittings

To establish which type of bulb you need, remove an existing bulb from the light or examine the packaging of a bulb. There will be a reference that you should write down. This reference code will begin with "E" for screw fittings, "B" for bayonet fittings, "GU" for push and twist bulbs or "MR" for push fittings.

CFLs, Halogens and LEDs

Once you have established the correct type of fitting you must decide whether to invest in CFL's (compact fluorescent lamps), halogens or LEDs. Bulbs are available in several sizes and your choice here may be limited by your light fitting as a bulb that is too large could protrude. You might also wish to consider the appearance of the bulb as the shape may affect the look that you achieve. Your lighting may only suit candle shaped bulbs and contemporary lighting may demand the use of spotlights. The shape of the bulb will also dictate the way that it spreads light - so all in all there's a lot to consider!

Whilst CFLs and halogen bulbs are cheaper to purchase than LEDs, they are more costly to run. LEDs will also last much longer (up to 25 years) and so tend to be the most cost effective choice overall providing you can budget for the initial expense.

Brightness and Colour

The brightness of a bulb is best expressed in lumens. You should decide how bright you would like your room to be and then choose bulbs which achieve this level of brightness. Don't forget to include all of your ceiling and wall lights in your assessment of which bulbs you need. Each light could feature multiple bulbs and these combine to create the level of lighting in the room. Bulbs also emit different colours of light and this is measured on the Kelvin scale. A lightbulb's rating should be indicated on its packaging or in the product listing online. The somewhat yellow light of the old incandescent bulbs was around 2,700 on the Kelvin scale.

Another thing to consider is how your bulbs will influence the colours in the room. This effect is measured via a CRI score. A value of 100 means that colours will appear exactly as they do in natural light whereas a score of 80 would result in colours appearing washed out. Halogen lightbulbs score in the high 90s whilst LEDs and CFLs tend to have lower ratings.