Hmm....Maybe good to drop in to check. Better visit Pudu or PJ branch?

I wend Pudu.

Any pictures to share the difference between the external and internal choke?

TQ

I talked to one guy (cant recall is Fu or Fong or...) from PJ branch. Just ask me to dropby PJ or Pudu to check out if interest and get better discount + selection...
Will see when I free

Internal Ballast its inside the bulb itself so you can't see,
External Ballast is like a square metal box with wires connected to the bulb holder.

Conclusion from the thread, can i say that it's better with a choke? I'm in the same dilemma now, one shop says it's good and another says it not necessary nowadays.

i was told by a downlight supplier, in future the led will getting more popular, but most led bulb are screw type, they advise me using built-in ballast bulb, after few year then only change.
Below is the link for best LED light bulbs of 2011 review
http://buildaroo.com/news/article/top-led-bulb-upgrades-60/

For my next house I'm gonna skip these stupid down lights altogether.

The all in one piece type is expensive and does konk out more frequently then the external type. But the external type, dem noisy if not correctly installed. Changing bulb also difficult. Cutting holes and aligning the square shape holder is a pain. And they are too dim cause block by the glass cover. Enough of these! There are other simpler ways to light up the house

T5

I agree! Too much hassle lah.

I've gone through it so I know how silly it is to put up how many? Only 6 to 8 down lights .
What's involved?

You need to get wireman to pull wires
You need to make the plaster ceiling
Then you need to cut the holes and each hole cost money to cut
Then you find out the some of the holes are in the same place as the supporting aluminum for the plaster ceiling but no choice, you have to cut them if you want your lights to look even.
Then they still don't align straight. Not easy to align square lights.
Then hire the wireman to install them
They will buzz like crazy and you need to get the plaster ceiling guy to come back and patch up those broken sides cause he cut the hole too big or too small
After all the fuss, they are not even bright. I used up 5 square holders and each has two bulbs of 18watt in my bathroom. Still not bright enough!

Hang two crystal chandelier kau tim or install lights at the edge of the plaster ceiling if you want a clean look

This post has been edited by idoblu: Jan 11 2012, 10:06 PM

My downlights with external ballast have yet to burn a single unit in my usage of over 4 years.
Reason is that downlight means multiple lights being turned on in an enclosed area (inside the plaster ceiling) and heats up the area. I guess the external ballast can withstand the heat while the internal can't.
You'll notice that those internal ballast lights in hanging lamps and wall lamps don't burn out as easily as those in downlights. Less light and more ventilation (less heat).

Moving new house now, got the shop to change the downlights to external ballast too. But heard that the quality of the ballasts have drop too.

What brand of down light you are using? My toilet only have 2 downlight, 2 x 18watt each. Is bright enough for me. Maybe you have a big toilet. Mine is only 6x9, and another is only 9.5' x 4.5'

Chandelier, need high ceiling. My wife like chandelier, unfortunately we don't have such high ceiling. My previous room I have 4 downlight total of 8 bulbs. Only change one bulbs after 7 years of using.

Cutting the square downlight do need some patient, but is not hard.

I bought them from Wong lighting. Where got brand wan?
My ceiling is quite high maybe that's the problem. I much prefer halogen but true that they are hot and makan more electric. But at least it's bright

If really have to use down lights I would go back to round ones. No glass. Got its own reflector. Easy to change bulb.

This post has been edited by idoblu: Jan 11 2012, 10:27 PM

Wong Lighting do sell their own brand, All my downlight are from them, and I find is much better than some lousy china made brand. Can't recall the brand is Emulze something.

Halogen is hot, and the gov is banning it by phases. Europe is phasing it out in few more years.

Anyone got real experience with LED lighting? I bet they are not bright as well

DownLight is the current Trend.
As with all trend it will pass.

Usually when you go to any light shop for D/L, the 1st D/L they offer is YET Plus from China. (including Wong Lightning), so the no brand is actually YET Plus.

Then there is Evenzzo (YET sister brand, same wan)

Then YLI if you ask really hard. Malaysia Brand, Ipoh mali. Pricier

In Wong Lighting , their in-house brand is Eliminuz (weikee's D/L), I think its Taiwan Made.

I heard in Hong Kong, the trend now is LED wall lighting or something like that. Dunno true or not. Downlight is the obsolete trend in HK. Anyone knows of this??

4 ft T8 tube about 3000 lumen
18W CFL about 1000 lumen
7W LED about 400 to 600 lumen

so, need about 6 pcs of 7W LED to match the brightness of 1 pc 4 ft T8 tube.

Good LED lights are too expensive.
By the time you cover the ROI, the technology would have been a couple generations later.

What most shops are selling are sub-quality China-made LED lights.
These are affordably expensive. Not bright enough with bad colour, and I heard that the controller circuit do breakdown.
Not worth it.

So flourescent all the way until LED really stabilizes.