# Forum Home Renovation Lighting  Bayonet type globes old fashioned?

## mikejshaw

Hello,
we have an old fifities house with lots of old fashioned light bulbs on a cord. As I look at newer LED globes there are a heck of a lot of Edison screw types. Are these a standard, or more popular fitting than bayonets? 
We're getting some bedrooms rewired so I'm wondering if it's worthwhile asking the electrician to replace the existing bayonets with Edison fittings.
cheers,
michael

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## Muzza40

The standard ceiling batten holder is a bayonet type. You can get Edison types but last time i bought one they are about $25 each as compared to about $2.50 for a bayonet fitting.

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## Uncle Bob

Yes, ES seems to be coming more popular these days.
I don't know why. IMO, BC is easier and safer.

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## FrodoOne

> Yes, ES seems to be coming more popular these days.
> I don't know why. IMO, BC is easier and safer.

  An ES fitting requires less force to insert - and remove.
With compact florescent lamps, if a deep fitting is involved it is often not possible to grasp the base when inserting or replacing the lamp - so the force is applied via the glass of the lamp. 
In this case, an ES is preferable to BC because there is less force required and less likelihood of breakage. 
If a BC is used and one cannot reach the base to insert/remove, breakage is more likely. 
This is NOT so much of a problem with LEDs (or incandescent lamps), since the globular shape of these is more "robust" than the tubes of a CFL. (Of course, the outer "globe" of a LED may be plastic.)
However breakage is still somewhat more  likely, because of the greater force required to insert/remove a BC lamp - using gloves or interposing a cloth is a good idea. 
On the other hand, if a lamp is used in a situation where corrosion may take place (such as an unsealed "porch" lamp in a seaside location) because of the larger surface area in contact an ES lamp base is more likely to corrode to the fitting and be difficult to remove than a BC lamp.  (The more longer lasting the lamp the worse the situation may become.)  
Of course, with an ES fitting the outer "thread" should always be connected to the Neutral.

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## FrodoOne

> We're getting some bedrooms rewired so I'm wondering if it's worthwhile asking the electrician to replace the existing bayonets with Edison fittings.
> cheers,
> michael

  In addition, if you are installing new light fittings, please read and note the "discussion" on "CFLs in Existing Luminaires" in Ban Incandescent Lamps?  
These comments apply  (to a similar extent) to LEDs.

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## Marc

I have a row of external lamps on the veranda of an old waterfront cottage. Lamps were incandescent probably 20 years old, starting falling off by themselves. Wanted to replace with yellow halogen thingies so to not attract critters at night. Bought a box of them yet they were all screw on. Bummer.Gone on ebay and bought for a dollar, yes one dollar, a box full of adaptors from Hongo Kongo so I have Edison on bayonet. One dollar. Probably will last 6 month ha ha

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## Moondog55

Marc can you post the link to those adapters please 
Sounds like a good idea because at Aldi they often have the ES LED lights left when they have the sales on as people grab the BC ones fast

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## Marc

Lamp Holder Light Bulb Socket Converter Adaptor FOR B22 ES E27 SES E14 Screw | eBay    .............Make sure you select the right adaptor on the "Style choice" pull down menu

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## RenovatorMate

One option you might consider is LED lights (as opposed to LED globes).  Globes are designed to be changed - yet quality LED technology should last the lifetime of the house.  So why use a replaceable globe when you can put in a LED fixture and forget about it?  LED globes are usually not bright enough for large living areas and often do not last long.  We recommend removing the old bayonet fitting and get an electrician to put a surface socket in the ceiling and drill a 90mm ceiling hole.  Then you simply plug in an LED light and clip it into the hole and forget about it.  A 12W - 15W LED downlight is at least as bright as a 50W halogen or 100W incandescent globe.

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## Moondog55

Watching now Thanx Marc
RM @U
Well we can get the LED globes at Aldi for $3- each on sale and not pay a sparky for one thing and the house is wired for battens and we rather like old fashioned looking pretty fittings

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## RenovatorMate

That is very cheap, and it sounds like you have found a good solution that meets your preferences.  It would be good to hear how they look and perform once installed.

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## FrodoOne

> One option you might consider is LED lights (as opposed to LED globes).  Globes are designed to be changed - yet quality LED technology should last the lifetime of the house.  So why use a replaceable globe when you can put in a LED fixture and forget about it?  LED globes are usually not bright enough for large living areas and often do not last long.  We recommend removing the old bayonet fitting and get an electrician to put a surface socket in the ceiling and drill a 90mm ceiling hole.  Then you simply plug in an LED light and clip it into the hole and forget about it.  A 12W - 15W LED downlight is at least as bright as a 50W halogen or 100W incandescent globe.

  BUT, you may not WANT a downlight. 
There are such things as wall lights of various types and pendant lights. 
Also, I can't share your optimism that "quality LED technology should last the lifetime of the house." - unless your expectation of "the lifetime of a house" is much shorter than mine!

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## Marc

> BUT, you may not WANT a downlight. 
> There are such things as wall lights of various types and pendant lights. 
> Also, I can't share your optimism that "quality LED technology should last the lifetime of the house." - unless your expectation of "the lifetime of a house" is much shorter than mine!

  It will last the lifetime of a house built downstream of a Queensland dam.

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## thesainter

i was under the impression Europe was all ES, thats why it is the more common now

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## Smurf

> i was under the impression Europe was all ES, thats why it is the more common now

  I think it's the same in the US too. 
Purely out of curiosity, I investigated the globe in a lamp in a hotel room whilst on holidays in the US a few years ago. Globe was marked 50/100/150W - that's what I noticed and which prompted me to investigate. It turned out to have two separate filaments and 2 active contacts arranged in a circular manner with the ES base. Hence the switch on the lamp giving 3 brightness levels. 
The only thing I really didn't "get" was why anyone would want a 150W bedside lamp in the first place.

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## FrodoOne

> Purely out of curiosity, I investigated the globe in a lamp in a hotel room whilst on holidays in the US a few years ago. Globe was marked 50/100/150W - that's what I noticed and which prompted me to investigate. It turned out to have two separate filaments and 2 active contacts arranged in a circular manner with the ES base. Hence the switch on the lamp giving 3 brightness levels. 
> The only thing I really didn't "get" was why anyone would want a 150W bedside lamp in the first place.

  Three way or "tri-light" lamps are quite common in the USA - with various wattage combinations.  For those who have not seen one, see 3-way lamp - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia  and 3-way lamp - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 
They now come in LEDs also - See Cree Three-Way LED Bulb Preview - CNET

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## Smurf

> Three way or "tri-light" lamps are quite common in the USA

  I noticed that the filament design is quite different over there too, being end on rather than across the bulb like we have (or had now that incandescent is gone) in Australia. So if the bulb is in a ceiling fixture with the base up, then the filament is vertical rather than horizontal. 
But yeah, a 150W bedside lamp. That's one way to wake yourself up real quick when turning it on in the morning in an otherwise dark room. Had the controls worked out buy the second night and only turned it on to 50W.

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