Viewing 31 posts - 1 through 31 (of 31 total)
  • Swopping all my kitchen halogens for LEDS.
  • globalti
    Free Member

    Went to buy some new halogen bulbs yesterday and the sparky told me that 9 x 12v halogens run for 4 hours a day will be costing around £150 a year whereas 9 x 240v LEDs would only cost £8.00 a year.

    Took that with a pinch of salt but I’m interested to know if anybody’s done this. Sparky said I’d need to remove the transformers and run straight off the mains, in which case I guess I’d need lampholders. When I asked him if he could sell me an LED bulb to try he replied that they are selling so fast that he is out of stock. He mentioned something like £8 a pop, but didn’t say anything about the lampholder.

    Any comments?

    prawny
    Full Member

    I’ve just had new lights in the living room and put LED bulbs in instead of halogens, no mention of lampholders or anything. £8 is the going rate I think, £4 from ikea, boom. Any excuse for a hot dog and put the kids in the creche for 45 mins. Lovely.

    andyl
    Free Member

    Why not get 12V LEDs if you have 12V halogens?

    No idea about the brightness though as some may just be for decorative light and have to be careful with the quality of LEDs you get.

    Rockhopper
    Free Member

    Watch out for beam angle and light colour as well as power output. 50 watt equivalent GU10’s are expensive. Put them in my kitchen then took them out again as the beam just wasn’t wide enough leaving me with dark spots all over the place!

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    getting rid of the 12v transformers is a good move in anyones book

    ive got an energy monitor on atm – before i changed the 4×50 watt halogens in my kitchen those 4 bulbs (non standard bulbs that cost a pretty penny for led versions) were using more energy than every other light in my house used when turned on at the same time…….

    the rest were LED.

    200watts per hour vs 20watts per hour …. so a 10th the cost and less volitile than halogens – ever chased the bust halogen round the room ?

    LEDHUT.co.uk usually have good deals and are decent bulbs – thats where i found the odd ones for my kitchen.

    only issue is that LED bulbs dont work well with standard PIR sensors as i found out in my outdoor lights 🙁

    eat_more_cheese
    Free Member

    Sorry, slight hijack. I was also thinking of getting LED down lights for the kitchen, but it’s on a dimmer switch circuit. Can they be dimmed or is it a case of swapping the switch?

    jimmy
    Full Member

    Good TED lecture on ikea and LED bulbs. Search for ‘all in on sustainability’.

    sandwicheater
    Full Member

    Swoped out 8 Halogen bulbs in our kitchen for LED bulbs last week.

    Just happened to be in the cellar and the speed of out meter whizzing while the Halogen lights were on was just upsetting.

    No creeps really slowly with the LED. Don’t know the cost but has to be a good saving.

    Rockhopper
    Free Member

    Most manufacturers sell two versions, dimable and non dimable. Guess which is more expensive!!

    sharkbait
    Free Member

    I’ve just replaced 50 x 50w 12v halogens with these in warm white – 60 deg beam angle was better than I got with the halogens!
    I had to take a deep breath before buying them but I’m very happy indeed – our house has never been so lit up!!
    I can’t tell the difference between the halogens and these and they use a tenth of the power – plus you get a 5 year warranty. It’s a no brainer.
    It was a bit of a hassle replacing all the transformer/MR16 fittings with GU10 leads (bought off eBay) but all well worth it.

    Edit: The old saying ‘buy cheap, buy twice’ is very much in effect here. Cheap LEDs will not look as good or last as long so it’s very much a false economy.

    sharkbait
    Free Member

    Can they be dimmed or is it a case of swapping the switch?

    You’ll need a new dimmer switch Cheesy – about £16.

    nellyp
    Free Member

    Sorry, slight hijack. I was also thinking of getting LED down lights for the kitchen, but it’s on a dimmer switch circuit. Can they be dimmed or is it a case of swapping the switch?

    Depends on the load, if you’ve got enough lamps (load in watts) in the circuit you won’t need a new dimmer, however, 9 times out of 10 you will as the load with the LED’s in will be very low.

    All explained here

    LED Dimmer Guide

    ir_bandito
    Free Member

    I’ve replaced my GU10s with the Ikea Ledare version, they’re great. Yet to do anything with the 12v MR16s but should. Quick glance at Ikea’s website and the KMR16s are available now for £7 each.

    I really, really want to find some bright G4 capsule LEDs, but ones no bigger than the halogens as they need to slide inside a glass fitting. All the SMD LED ones are too big.

    Flaperon
    Full Member

    Took that with a pinch of salt but I’m interested to know if anybody’s done this. Sparky said I’d need to remove the transformers and run straight off the mains, in which case I guess I’d need lampholders.

    Most 12V LEDs will tolerate being driven from any source regardless of how crap it is, although you may – may – shorten the lifetime of the lamp depending on the transformer design.

    Ripping out all the old holders and running 240V to GU10s will probably save a little more power, but the bulk of the saving comes from swapping out the halogens with LEDs.

    Suggest you find another electrician (hate the term sparky) as this one is talking out of his arse.

    Nobeerinthefridge
    Free Member

    Right, so I’ve got 10 12v halogens in the kitchen, and I’ve had to replace a few transformers, and I’m also fed up buying halogen bulges for them. What would I need to buy to upgrade to LED?. I’m thinking I’d need new connectors, as mines are the wee thin 2 pin ones, and take out the old 12v transformers?.

    globalti
    Free Member

    Sharkbait’s post about five above answers your question exactly!

    You will just need to find some GU lampholders.

    igm
    Full Member

    I swapped MR16 halogens for MR16 LEDs.

    You normally have to swap the 240/12V power supply for an LED compatible driver (cost me £3.25 a throw) or you may (repeat may) be able to connect 4 or 5 LEDs via the existing halogen power supply – I’ve done that in one specific place.

    I did consider GU10s but separating the bulb from the power supply (GU10 LEDs combine these) seemed good in the long term.

    And the light you get is far more like daylight – I much prefer it.

    Edit: I’ve seen Flaperon’s post. I tried the first few on a B&Q bulb that was meant to run on a 35VA supply. I had 20-60VA ones so they should have been fine. They weren’t. The bulb were on special for a good long time at £6.67.

    Sonor
    Free Member

    Suggest you find another electrician (hate the term sparky) as this one is talking out of his arse.

    I’d suggest otherwise. What you alluded to about LED’s tolerating being run from any source, in practice it’s different.

    Keep it simple, remove any transformer/driver, less things to go wrong, install GU10 holders and leads, get a QUALITY LED gu10 bulb and look forward to many years of low cost lighting.

    theflatboy
    Free Member

    Here’s a question – we replaced all the halogens in our flat, around 30 in all which was expensive but seems to be worth it. I put in GU10 sockets and removed the transformers for all of them, so they’re running of mains voltage.

    The only two I haven’t done are in the bathroom – they’re smaller than MR16s but similar shape, and I can’t find the adaptors / bulbs that will do the trick. Any suggestions?

    eat_more_cheese
    Free Member

    Cheers, I’m assuming that GU10 lamps will fit into the existing MR16 ceiling holder? Then it’s just a case of removing transformer, installing GU10 lead and connector?

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    “The only two I haven’t done are in the bathroom – they’re smaller than MR16s but similar shape, and I can’t find the adaptors / bulbs that will do the trick. Any suggestions? “

    you can get cheap GU10 holders for about 3 quid each from bnq – a hole saw , bore new hole through and pop in new holder + gu10 bulb.

    theflatboy
    Free Member

    EMC, that was how it worked for me. Very quick and easy.

    TR, fair point hadn’t even considered that. Are there actually LED alternatives at that size or is that our only option?

    mega
    Free Member

    5 year warranty from Amazon – really valuable

    I went with 8 of these in our kitchen and they are great:
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Long-Life-Lamp-Company-replacements/dp/B006UR5IUY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1384424872&sr=8-1&keywords=led+gu10

    Not quite as warm a colour as the outgoing normal bulbs but soon got used to that.

    Put these in the bathroom and they are eye piercingly white bright – like an operating theatre. I really like them but an acquired taste.
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Long-Life-Lamp-Company-Replacement/dp/B007DIJDVE/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1384424961&sr=8-14&keywords=long+life+lamp+company

    motivforz
    Free Member

    Has anyone calculated the payoff period for these?

    I’ve just run through the calcs, want to replace 12 50W halogens with 6 watt leds, costing around £10 for apparently good quality items. All lamps are on for around 4 hours per day (winter more than summer) on average, which leads to about a 28 month payback period (dependant on the assumptions I make).

    Some leds might only last for 3 years (although apparently might have a 20 year lifespan – but what if I move house and have different light fittings?), and they require a capital investment which wont be accruing interest in the bank (admittedly low rates). Not sure that this will work for me? Perhaps the approach would be better by going for cheaper 35W LED bulbs from IKEA for £4, and sacrificing light levels/quality.

    bruk
    Full Member

    Even warm white are still a bit more ‘clinical’ than normal GU10 that we had in kitchen but brightness at 6w is ok.

    One thing I have noticed having replaced 13 is that the room is colder of an evening! Shows how much energy is wasted.

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    Motiforz what about number of halogen bulbs youll buy to replace the blown ones ?

    rob-jackson
    Free Member

    So will these just swap into place where GU10s are? I THINK that they may be on a transformer but cannot be sure 🙁

    Clicky

    oldgit
    Free Member

    It’s an easy swap from LV lampholders to GU10 ones.
    Ditch the transformers, retro fit LED’s work but they don’t like the variable output of transformers i.e they might come on at different times and at slightly different outputs.
    Much better with a nice constant 240V supply.

    Dimming seems to be a minefield. Dimmable LED’s, leading/trailing edge dimmers, LED specific dimmers.

    I’ve installed one piece LED fittings (no replaceable lamp)and internal drivers. Bloody great they are. IIRC AU-FRL801?

    takisawa2
    Full Member

    I replaced my 50w GU10’s with 6w EBay ones, at £3ea earlier this year. No issues so far. Mine were 240v anyway, so straight swap. Local electrical supplier said to go with Phillips if you want top quality but they are pricey.

    I made the mistake of going with cool white… 😀
    So ordered warm white to replace them.

    althepal
    Full Member

    Replaced 8 35watt gu10s in my kitchen today with Phillips 2watt leds today.. Bought them in Tesco of all places- think they’re not going to be selling them as they were reduced to a fiver each and 3 for 2 so £30 for nine seemed a pretty good deal.
    The light in the kitchen is kinda similar level wise but a fair bit cooler with slightly more accenuated shadow spots.. looks very clean and clinical but if the savings are there who cares?

    TrekEX8
    Free Member

    After much deliberation, I finally replaced our GU10 35W halogen bulbs (16 in all) with Philips 4w LED warm white GU10 from ledhut.co.uk; worked out at about £7 each with current 20% offer.
    I think they’re great, pleasantly surprised at both the warmth and intensity of the light. Highly recommended!

Viewing 31 posts - 1 through 31 (of 31 total)

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