This is a bit of a rant .. so apologies to anyone who likes these.

I watch quite a few home "improvement" shows being into DIY and building/restoration projects .. so, why is it that in nearly every case, they put in dozens of these things, often in EVERY bloody room with not a single fluorescent, pendant, decorative fitting or wall light to be seen! Spot lights are exactly that, SPOT lights. Designed for accent lighting, not general illumination.

In this age of energy-consciousness it really doesn't make sense. With few exceptions these actually are halogen, not LED. This means they are burning hundreds of watts per room.

They also burn spots into retinas even with a brief glimpse.

The effect is always the same, glaring bright points of light all over a dark ceiling producing pools of yellow light with shadows everywhere. It's not conducive to a home environment, more suited to a showroom (which is what I think they are trying to replicate).


BG

This is something I don't understand either.
Probably people follow the display arrangements seen in the stores...

One thing is true: The dim, yellowish light with dark areas does feels relaxing, maybe because it evokes the safety of a home cave with the burning fire pit from the time of thousends or millions years ago...

But then few 20W halogen spots would be way sufficient.
Problem is, sometimes people want to actually do some tasks and so have good visibility. But then instead of installing apropriate separate lighting designed to fulfill that task properly, they just boost the power of the spots, as that seems to be simpler and easier to do.

But the result is a lighting too bright to be relaxing and too uneven and glary for working...

Tack on the obsession with recessed can/hihat fixtures (at least in the US/Canada).  Those bloody things are only meant for accent lighting or high ceilings where the beam will spread out.

I haven't seen those. I just wish people wouldn't follow "fashion" and use appropriate lighting instead! My two Thorn Clippers came from a kitchen which had been re-fitted with spot lights, one of them is now in my mate's kitchen having replaced the incandescent batten, the tube ends have black socks but it's still soldiering on, I fitted an EFS600.

Another thing with these halogens is that they don't last long. A few years back my Grandad tried a couple of multi-lamp halogen units - one in the kitchen and the other in the back living room - these were transformer bases with six adjustable heads on each. The bulbs were always failing and even when working properly the light was harsh but provided insufficient illumination.


BG