Any good sources for these? Surprised that Maplin and B&Q do not supply these…any ideas?

Oh and any ideas re wattage? I had 8 x 50W halogens (in a 11' x 12' kitchen, 10 feet ceilings) took out 4 and it still seems bright…am wondering if I can use 8 x 2W LEDs (20W equivalent), 25 degree angles?

I have some of the 1.3W leds mr 16s in my kitchen and they are nothing like as bright as a 20 w halogen. Not even close.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=98199&C=Froogle&U=98199&T=Module

Cheers – I think it's 1:5 actually. I'm not too bothered if it'sa bit dim as I have pelmet lights too.

Oh and £3-4 each is the going rate apparently.

*bump for dayshift*

I see there are many cheap bulbs £3 or so each, some saying (will not work on halogen transformer" (WTF?) and others from £10 or so upwards.

Are the cheapies a no-no?

Ultraleds

None of them, even the 4 or 5W ones are near as bright or as nice a feel as good old Halogen.

You do also get what you pay for – wouldn't touch the cheap ones with a bargepole – really, really dim.

Cheers, on 6 hours a day for 6 months of the year @ 10p/kWh estimate it seems I can save £345. Hang on that can't be right!

cynic-al

I sell the things, I've tried a few in my own place.
There are some though that are very good, the 5W warm white ones. They are a good direct replacement but cost about £18 each at the moment, they will come down over time.

Cheers OG, I've just ordered some 2W ones for £6 each, I'll send 'em back of they are ****.

The 'equivalent to halogen' things on the packets are lies. They will be typically something between 2 and 3 times as bright as equivalent wattage halogen, maybe 4 at a push, depending on how fancy it is, how new an LED it uses and how good bulbs you had before.

So to replace a 20w, you want at least a 5w, but in the type of cheap bulb you're looking at, you'd probably need closer to 10W of LED per 20W bulb.

You can tell ones that will be a complete waste of time and money, because they have tons of tiny LEDs in. Don't bother buying those. The only ones worth considering have just 1,2 or 3 big LEDs inside the lamp unit.

Joe

why not ask your local friendly electrician for some free advise ? he probably gets asked this question everyday

I did and he seemed pretty clueless.

Well, they arrived today so I'll update y'all tomorrow.

*interested*

Well regardless of who says what, I've been running 4W LEDs in my kitchen, probably about the same light output as 35 Halogens. I've got 5W LED in my hall stairs and landing and they're excelent, for £18 each they should be.
We've just got some 6W versions, but there might be a heat problem with these. I think they'll need the longer bodies making them only suitable for the low energy specific downlights.

Oldgit – have you got some links to the fact sheets for these amazing lamps?

No led currently made produces light like you claim. a 4 w led produces around as much light as a ten w halogen. Nothing like as much as a 35 watt.

Leds produce about 3 times as much light per watt of elec as a halogen – not ten times as you keep claiming

Very interested in this thread as just moved into a house with 12 x 50w spotlights in one room = 600W 😯 Before I spend out reducing them to 20w (Only a mere 240W) I wondered if I could get dimmable LEDs…are dimmable 12v MR16 LEDs available?

some saying (will not work on halogen transformer" (WTF?)

Yeah, I read that on some…what is that about as I thought they'd have to be on a transformer as they are 12v ❓

ive had a 12 volt 3 watt led in my hall for 3 months now on a osram (not cheap ) tranny with no problems.

OK so I fitted up 8 of these bad-boys:

http://www.ultraleds.co.uk/u1621ww-wide-angle-warm-white-mr16gu53-acdc-p-1845.html?osCsid=20e16249fff629ff4b2b44bbec01ba94

I was running 4 of my 8 50W bulbs and wanted something slightly dimmer than that – these are probably slightly dimmer than I wanted but I am happy.

Am I going to have issues with my tranny?