16 May 13 7:55 PM

I would compare these guys prices to a decent Aussie or UK supplier like www.lampspecs.co.uk. You might be surprised how much cheaper LED lights are overseas, and as small and light shipping is not co......read more

25 Mar 13 10:55 AM

Need advice on options to get our Dunedin villa's wriggly steel roof looking good. I think its either old coloursteel or painted galv. Had to have a repair last year, its well faded and overlaps are n......read more

22 Jan 13 3:23 PM

I don't have any specific link but worldwide manufacturers often make products so they can be certified and sold in many countries (because uneconomic to make them different for each country). So I wo......read more

20 Jan 13 3:09 PM

No, I don't think u can presume that when buying from anywhere outside nz, including lampspecs. I would think that if u stick to their major brands that would be the case but I would always email them......read more

16 Jan 13 1:15 PM

Not sure I would need a ceiling fan? The convection / flow of air from the rads should be doing the job. The low temp rads are v.interesting, I agree. I wanted to do underfloor but was impractical her......read more

16 Jan 13 9:49 AM

Hey seeker. I am an experienced house renovator, nothing more, not an expert at anything by any means so please do double check my info. Happy to debate any point and improve my knowledge any time :) ......read more

15 Jan 13 12:10 PM

Well done for highlighting this issue. If more consumers were able to spend the time and effort understanding this product fully they would not touch it. It seems to be sold here mainly on the basis t......read more

15 Jan 13 12:05 PM

I am not a professional but did a lot of research on NZ heating systems a couple of years back and would also avoid diesel. Many suppliers are reluctant to try new products (regardless of the running ......read more

15 Jan 13 11:44 AM

I have also used www.lampspecs.co.uk and thoroughly recommend them. The cost is so much lower than in NZ and they are all quality branded products. They were also good at resolving a problem (not thei......read more

12 Jan 13 9:08 AM

Hey Tricia I am in Maori Hill, happy to share our experiences. Coming from the UK central heating was a must for us. Its expensive to fit but you can't beat it for a full-house heating solution I thin......read more

19 Nov 12 6:04 AM

You have my sympathy SB. I have had to deal with problem dog neighbours twice. In both cases the problem was never properly resolved until I moved. I am pretty careful now when I look for a new place ......read more

16 Nov 12 2:41 PM

Not necessarily true. I bought CFL downlights very cheaply in from the UK (>$10 each) and also LED downlights (>$25) from Hong Kong on Ebay. They save a whole bunch of money in running costs. Sure, yo......read more

1 Apr 12 9:10 AM

>>a CFL exploded in my bedroom and I read that >>it can leave mercury residue that can contaminate >>carpets, clothing and raise the toxic concentration >>in the air above safe. I was very angry a......read more

18 Mar 12 2:19 PM

Fine thanks. All lights were tested before install as I wrote above. They barely get warm :) The sparky checked my wiring and left the install to me. I had previously cut the holes (89mm) and run new......read more

14 Mar 12 6:09 AM

I noticed quite a bit of price discrepancy with these lights on ebay, that is the same things listed at different prices even by the same vendor. I assume that its hard for the vendors to keep track, ......read more

13 Mar 12 12:37 PM

Thanks Mike, that is interesting to know. I buy a lot from Bunnings. Can I ask what you paid per light (fitting+transformer)? The drivers that came with my lights are rated 85/250 or 90/260....read more

13 Mar 12 8:27 AM

Yep, if you hunt around ebay.au you will find many of these LED lights, in an identical style, all at varying prices. Mine came in plain boxes, no instructions, no manufacturer names, no info. I assum......read more

12 Mar 12 9:40 PM

Hi there I got a reply back from the supplier, the lights are CE approved but nothing specifically for NZ. They definitely don't have the specific supplier paperwork that the sparky wanted. No reply ......read more

16 Feb 12 11:35 AM

Yeah, sounds fair enough NikofTime. Did find the Aussie shops on ebay selling the same thing tho, so I guess they must be approved for use there. I'll see if I can get any more info from them....read more

16 Feb 12 10:34 AM

Some extra info about the official conformity of these lights. I discussed with the sparky and for him to have anything to do with them he needs to see a 'Declaration of Conformity' from the supplier,......read more

15 Feb 12 12:59 PM

My electrician is pretty good, as in I bought them so I take responsibility for them. I'm fitting them today actually, so his input will be limited. Generally I find with trades that they will alw......read more

15 Feb 12 7:46 AM

Last photo....read more

15 Feb 12 7:45 AM

Another photo, the Ecobob server hamster fell out of his wheel when I tried to add more than one :)...read more

15 Feb 12 7:43 AM

Lights so far seem fine. Build quality is good, not perfect. They are tilt lights and in a few the tilt screws have been fitted maybe 0.5mm off centre, so the light does not sit perfectly flat. This i......read more

10 Feb 12 4:12 PM

Do you mean brand name? If so then these are not branded at all, which is quite common with a lot of the cheaper stuff. The lights arrived today, which is pretty quick (ordered Sunday, arrived foll......read more

10 Feb 12 10:31 AM

Hi Glenn. No problem, I will post more info here when they arrive and tested them etc. There is always a risk with this type of stuff that it turns out to be crap of course, but given the cost savi......read more

7 Feb 12 8:59 PM

Well if the electricians can't understand them...! These are to go in a new dropped ceiling over the living area. 80mm over the top of the lights is (existing) 50mm of poly insulation. I will check......read more

7 Feb 12 5:55 AM

I saw there was new labeling coming in, did not know about other new regs. These are CE marked so should be ok, I am sure the sparky will tell me if not :)...read more

7 Feb 12 5:42 AM

The product was Pacific Thermal Suite from Fletcher Aluminum. They are a big supplier, some of your local alu window fabricators should use it. I used Vistalite. There are other options though I belie......read more

6 Feb 12 6:18 AM

As I have posted on here before about various light fittings I thought I would add this info about some cheap LED downlights I just ordered from ebay. The compact fluorescent downlights I got in fr......read more

4 Feb 12 11:48 AM

Sure, there are some NZ UPVC window companies selling windows made from top quality extrusions. Some of their suppliers are the largest UPVC manufacturers in the world, so the base product is not at q......read more

4 Feb 12 8:31 AM

Not all alu windows are a write-off. Consider DG *thermally broken* aluminum frames. I had a whole house set fitted last year, Pacific Thermal Suite, and very pleased with them. They look good, sturdy......read more

4 Feb 12 8:11 AM

We just used Bradford Gold to insulate our old villa. It worked well, I did not find it too itchy, and I got it at a decent price from Bunnings after opening a trade account. Obviously you would be sm......read more

22 Nov 11 6:07 PM

Recently I had experience of a pot belly stove with wetback connected to hot water cylinder. This was a very crude system, with the cylinder water overheating frequently when the stove was used for a ......read more

20 Nov 11 8:24 AM

Cheers. It was cheap and quick enough to place batts inside the new false ceiling before the gib went up, so we did it. So the rooms are much toastier now :)...read more

17 Nov 11 9:53 AM

Hi there. I am not an expert, but my understanding is (you should check this with your supplier); 1. Water filled radiators heat by convention, not radiant-type heat. So it won't matter which model......read more

16 Nov 11 6:25 PM

Hi brainyblocks. We are getting on well thanks. As the supplier warned, the system did take a few months of tinkering to get the settings quite right. We want the boiler to be burning as efficiently a......read more

16 Nov 11 6:12 PM

Hi md40. I can sympathize with you, as I wrote above I also tried several heat loss calculators and got different answers each time. My understanding of them is that good ones are by necessity very co......read more

11 Nov 11 6:50 PM

So Nath, can you tell us which brand/type of LEDs you found the best? That would be very helpful....read more

8 Nov 11 6:35 AM

Its interesting about the warmup time - I did ask Megaman direct, who said "All our CFL lamps take up to 90 seconds to reach their maximum light output." So the Planex and Vog CFL bulbs shou......read more

8 Nov 11 6:23 AM

Thanks Pelheat, I will check this out. Cheers, Nick...read more

5 Nov 11 1:09 PM

Hi there, thanks for the kind offer. Its always great to hear on forums from people with real experience. I don't know about the load valve, will ask. Can you explain a bit more about them please, ......read more

27 Oct 11 10:45 PM

Nice one, thanks for all the info skamp. Also about the Opera, did not know about that one. I found a local version, the 'Ecobulb', they do a downlight fitting but the promo video suggests it needs......read more

27 Oct 11 9:06 PM

Just for info the nice man at www.lampspecs.co.uk is quoting me GBP3.05 for each of the Fozz Vog fittings plus 4.40 (8k hours) or 6.82 (15k hours) for the matching CFL bulb. Delivery to nz is pretty c......read more

27 Oct 11 8:24 PM

>>was also very impressed by the smaller GU10 Fozz >> 'Vog' fittinng, again F-rated and due to the smaller >>CFL bulb they reach 80% brightness within 6 sec Skamp, you out there? I am considering......read more

29 Sep 11 6:32 AM

>>DIY is nearly always better in NZ because people >>have paid the ridiculous retail markups and so take >>it much more seriously I second that. Such a disappointment when you get a 'professional' in ......read more

23 Sep 11 8:15 AM

Did this article strike anyone else as making no sense whatsoever? He suggests banning DIY batt install because its too easy to fit them badly. Maybe he thinks we should ban hammers too because they c......read more

23 Sep 11 7:59 AM

Here is another alternative. IMHO an 'ideal' solution would be a ground source heat pump putting nice very cheap low level heat into a insulated floor slab. The electrical demand for these is quite lo......read more

22 Sep 11 10:09 PM

Dropping some ceilings in our villa by 100-150mm or so, the original ceilings remaining in place. The resulting spaces between the old and new ceilings are generally air-tight, or can easily be made s......read more

25 Jul 11 12:33 PM

JD, our windows were the Pacific Thermal Suite from Vistalite which are thermally broken aluminium. They priced very well against UPVC and timber - in fact about half the price in the end. 52mm, quite......read more