Flatfish
Sorry for being so slow in responding. We got the grant via the energy saving trust. Not sure if it significant that we are in Scotland. You need to get a report done by an acredited assessor which costs about £100. The grants tend to be for insulation etc but converting to LEDs is regarded as an acceptably ‘green’ measure.
BTW I prefer the light given by our LEDs to the halogens they replaced.

what about the cheap ones on eBay – are they cr@p?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/331021559655

these are £1.69 each…….
I bought some of those, they are ok, but I a bit narrow ,and not quite enough light for our kitchen work surface…
I have since bought some of these, http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271326242978?var=570217353507&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

which are much better- better beam angle, and much brighter, but after much deliberation from her in charge, still not enough for the work surface…

Question: I’ve got something called MRC16 bulbs throughout the house – looks like an MR16 unit, but with a fat screw base (E26, or something).

Looking through the Philips cataloge the only LEDs they have with that fitting are PAR20s – would there be noticeable difference in the throw or angle of the light?

Or is it just death by letters?!

Rockhopper – Member
Difficult to get 50 watt equivalent LED GU10’s with a decent beam angle for under £10.

We just fitted wide-angle Lumi-Life ones from ledhut.co.uk at £6.89 each (+ we found a 20% voucher online).

4 watt. 300 lumen. Supposed to be equiv to 50w but actually seem brighter to me. Wider too.
Original 50w on right, new 4w on left:

Other box specs here:

Pretty happy with them. Now have a nice brightly lit kitchen for 32w instead of 400w!

(Colour temp and brightness might be a bit clinical for other rooms, but fine for a kitchen).

Might give those a try although like I said above, 300 lumens is more like 25 watts than 50 watts. Good angle though.

http://www.thelightbulb.co.uk/information/lumens_watts

Rockhopper – Member

Theflatboy – 5 watts/400 lumens is quite a bit less than the equivalent of 50watts though. 620 ish lumens is equivalent to 50 watts.

I was going on info I read that suggested that LED 5W equates to Halogen 50W when I bought them. If your detail is right then that is quite a bit less, but the impression in the room they’re in is that they’re brighter than the previous bulbs, if anything.

Might give those a try although like I said above, 300 lumens is more like 25 watts than 50 watts. Good angle though.

That’s why I posted the side-by-side pic – they are noticably brighter than the 50w they replaced despite what the numbers say.

Dunno why? Colour temperature? Less recessed? Maybe I had crap 50w in before? But the new led bulbs certainly don’t feel dim!

Yep, I’m not doubting what you are saying and the box speaks for itself!

Now then, my fittings in the bathroom and kitchen take four GU10’s each – could I just pop one LED in to try it out before committing to buy eight?

You could – but if you are going to pay for postage you’d be as well buying a set.

Just get the lot and be done with it. You won’t regret it – our electricity standard monthly payment has just been adjusted down by about 1/3, not long after making the bulbs switch. I don’t think it’s a coincidence.

I have just renovated (2 month of my life i will never get back )my kitchen and the beloved wanted the lights replaced to GU10 spots 11 of them at 550w. As a tight arsed electrician I was not too happy but I lost ( momentarily ) and she hated the light twas too dull.
I tried 3 the screwfix LAP 330lm 7w led lamps and she liked the light now we have 11 in the kitchen and 4 in the utility room and the light is ace.
Here is the big one though we have dropped from total load of 0.75kw to 0.105 kw
that is a good saving and payback will not be too far away especially with the life of 50w gu10’s

we replaced our halogens with the gu10s from ikea and find that they are great no more popped bulbs and the colour is right too

Still grappling with this, turns out the halogens in my place are something like a PAR16 or HR16 – MR16 bulb with a normal bulb screw base (E26)

Philips don’t do them in that size; what are other reliable brand options?

I have already bought four Phillips leds for the kitchen – I had to swap them back for real ones as they were not bright enough and the beam angle was too tight hence my reluctance to splash out on a second set that might also not be any good.

Just put a load of Ikea ‘Ledare’ GU10s in.
36 deg, 4w, 2700k, 200lm. Hard to ignore for £4 each.

Other than that, Megaman – the new GU10s on fleabay some chap keeps listing in batches of 10, work out under £7 each, although he did list 10 for £55 last week.

I’ve got those Lumilife ones from LEDhut in my kitchen (warm white). Really pleased with them, no difference between them and the ones from SimplyLED that cost much more. Order through Quidco and use whatever voucher code you can find on the internet (I’ve used both twice before and always got the cashback)

Another recommendation for the LEDhut Lumilife ones here
Thought I’d chance it after seeing the pic up there ^
Glad I did, they are ace, definitely have a brighter and comparable spread to the old halogens, wife is happy too she says the kitchen is now brighter, just over £70 for 15 of them
Had tried some Modo by Megaman ones before (given to us by a local electrician to trial) we had thought it was ok but narrow beam, these Lumilife ones blow them out the water
Need to sort the bathroom out now, but they aren’t GU10’s, have the two little straight pins so need to sort out transformers etc I believe?