TinaH

Hello,

Has anyone any advice? I have a couple of fittings i really like* and would want to take if i can

*I was going to say i was really attached to them but thought i would get all kinds of replies!!!

Thanks in advance

Tina

Paul Wildy

Technically you can use them as they are but the trouble is if you keep your British light bulbs in them then they are extremely dim. The light bulbs expect 24ov but they are only getting 110v. So really you need to replace the bulbs with 110v Canadian versions. The trouble is then that all the light bulbs here seem to be screw fitting wheras UK are generally bayonet fitting.

We have some chandeliers we brought over. I think I am going to have to try and get some screw fitting parts (the bits that the light bulbs screw into) from an electrical supply store and replace the bayonet fittings with these so I can put Canadian bulbs in them.

Unless they are valuable or have sentimental value I would say its a bit of a hassle to bring UK light fittings (unless you are lucky enough to have ones that already take screw-mount light bulbs).

TinaH

Thanks Paul, that will be the deciding factor for us then! we will give them a thorough inspection later!

Tina

JonboyE

If you have table lamp stands that you like it is work bringing them. You can buy all the electrical parts and hardware you need to convert them to 110V screw fitting bulbs in DIY stores. You need to be a little bit handy, but not that much. There is no point in bringing lamp shades as they are attached to table lamps differently in Canada.

You can probably also convert floor standing lamps but I haven’t tried this. I wouldn’t bother with any other kinds of light fixtures – too much trouble and they are cheap enough in Canada.

Oakvillian

We had a small chandelier that had been the OH's grandmother's - it was not too complicated to replace the bayonet-type lampholders with screw-in ones, and to redo all the wiring as well (as it was about 50 years old...). Parts all came from Home Depot, the only tools required were a screwdriver and a pair of pliers - and a piece of string to help fish the wires through endless little holes. It's now on the ceiling in our hallway.

I would agree with JonboyE and NSPaul that it's worth bringing lamps over if they have sentimental or significant financial value, but I wouldn't bother with run-of-the-mill stuff.

TinaH

Thanks Guys,

They are rather special to me and were quite expensive , we'll have to make a decision............... thanks for all the help

Tina

PeterF

We brought a load and now I'm sorry I never brought some fittings over with me.

The 110V/240V issue is not an issue, its just a matter of using the correct lamp (bulb to us normal people).

The 240V plug will have to be changed to a local 110V plug.

Our standard 'bulb' is the bayonet type, you cannot get these over here so you will have to change over to the edison screw fitting.

Now here's where I messed up, I thought I would just buy the fittings over here, I was wrong, all the lamp fittings I have seen so far in the DIY stores are built different.

Our 'UK' ones, generally are made of three parts, the outer part is in two, a base which fits to a top via a large screw nut, which fits around a thread on the base. The third part fits inside these and is basically the electrical part, where the bulb fits into on top and the electrical wires underneath.

The Canadian ones all seem to be compression fittings.

What I should have done and what you still can if your still in the UK, is go to a DIY store and buy the UK type of edison screw fittings, the same size as the fittings on the lamps you want to take. Then get the electrical part and the top outer part exchanged, so your lamps now take edison bulbs.

Another small note, there appears to be 3 sizes of edison bulb, small, medium and large (no idea of part numbers sorry). The small and large ones are common.

TinaH

Thanks PeterF

hudd

Tina

Try below for 110V bulbs for UK lamps

Glazier Electric Ltd
7134 Fisher Street S.E.
Calgary (403) 283-4111

hudd

PeterF

That's a good idea, didn't think of getting them here. In the UK they are quite common in industry as quite often you need lights and only allowed 110V trailing leads.

I've only tried the B&Q clones over here, so may start looking for electrical specialist in Ontario.

Saves getting someone to send edison fittings for me.

R I C H

110V Edison fittings are available here too - a local lighting shop (The Lamp Post, Kamloops) keeps a wide stock of European fittings.

macmike41

I think you should also change the wiring - if you halve the voltage (240 down to 110) and want the same wattage bulb the current doubles, so the UK wiring should be replaced - no plug fuses here so if appliances draw too much current old wiring could overheat/melt and ..........

PeterF

The wiring is fine, it don't need changing.

The only things that need replacing is the plug and the bulb, if the fitting is bayonet type (normal UK standard), then either it needs changing to the edison type or purchase 110V bayonet bulbs.

I'm going to see if I can get bayonet types, if not, then I have to send home for UK type edison fittings.

The only reason I need to do this, is because the base part of the fitting which connects to the lamp is different to Canadian types available (as I've seen so far), you cannot simply replace.



There are no plug fuses here, but that is because each room is individually fused, not like the UK where we tend to have a larger fuse(breaker) for each floor sockets and one for lighting, generally for a two story house you would have 6 breakers, which includes water heater and stove.

Go and count the number of breakers you have here, look at your tumble dryer socket and see it is larger than others, this is because it takes more load. In the UK the ring main can take this load, that is why we have fuses in our plugs, the ring main can take much more than each device we plug in can take.

(I'm an electrical engineer by the way)

TinaH

Fantastic, thanks Hudd

And thanks to all, the future's looking bright!!!!

Kind regards,
Tina

PeterF

Tina,

If you are still in the UK, then I recommend you to get the fittings changed to edison screw whilst you still can. You can get edison screw 240V lamps in the UK, so you can still use them until you come over and then replace them with 110V ones.

I would prefer that to looking for specialist electrical companies from whom to buy lamps, when you could just get them in your local supermarket (if your looking for edison screw type).

I may look towards the electrical specialist, only because I didn't realise the fittings were different over here.

Two of our lamps we brought over were already edison type, we just bought the lamps, we have about 5 UK standard bayonet types, we can't use yet.