Good advice on choosing lamps and bulbs
Choosing your lighting with care can lead to improvements in your daily environment.
Choose the right wattage
You won’t find A-rated bulbs and incandescents with identical wattages. So, if you want to be sure that the light is good enough, it’s a smart idea to choose an A-rated bulb with a slightly higher power rating than the traditional incandescent it is replacing. The output of an energy saving bulb also decreases over the bulb’s lifetime.
Look at the chart to see the wattage of a traditional incandesent corresponding to an energy saving bulb:
Choose the right socket
A-rated have the same E27 fitting as traditional bulbs (E stands for Edison screw, 27 is the diameter of the base measured in mm). E14 bases are mostly found on the longer candle type bulbs.
Consumer information on the packaging
Packaging of an A-rated bulb should include the EU’s energy saving label as well as details which specify the bulb’s power rating (in watts), lifetime (in hours), and light output (in lumens).
Choose the right lamp
- Consider whether the lamp meets your needs.
- Ask whether you can take an example of the lamp home so you can evaluate the light and the lamp under authentic conditions.
- Ask whether you can exchange the lamp if it doesn’t suit the intended location after all.
- A lamp should not dazzle or appear too bright in relation to the surroundings. The shade should be shaped in such a way that you cannot see the energy saving bulb under normal circumstances.
- Remember that a strongly coloured shade gives coloured light if it is not lined with a closely woven white material.
- If you have small children at home, consider whether the lamp dazzles or can present problems in some other way when viewed at child height.
- Lamps used in wet environments like bathrooms must fulfil special requirements.
- When you buy a lamp you should follow the instructions on how to assemble, use and install it properly and safely. The instructions must be in the language of the country in which the lamp is sold, and must include a comprehensible illustration.
- There are some types of electrical installation that you cannot do yourself. Read more about which electrical installations you can do yourself and what needs to be done by an authorised installer (only in Danish)
Page last updated 16.03.2010