GU10 50w LED Spotlight replacement – recommendations

There was a thread on here not long back (not about GU10’s) that has got me thinking about replacing all the spots in our cellar.

The cellar has a kitchen, utility and snug, so in total about 25 50w bulbs! Although they are not all used a lot, probably at least 15 of them are on most of the time we are in the house.

So what GU10 LED replacements to go for? From what I have read so far I need 5.5w + LED’s to get like for like replacement of 50w, but what colour tint do you need ie is it warm white?

Also is it worth buying expensive ones or going to Ebay and getting 10 for £30?

Any suggestions welcomed.

Ta

FD – I have over 100x GU10 LEDs in the barn and did a lot of research before committing to the ones I bought – it’s about £1500 worth! 😯 individual bulbs ranging from £3.50 to £22.00.
(That connector I sent came from my test rig 🙂 )

Things move fast though so Im a bit out of date now, but the Deltech 5Ws are very good IMO
http://www.energybulbs.co.uk/products/Shop+By+Brand/Deltech+LED+Store/Deltech+LED+GU10+Range/Deltech+Triple+High+Power+LED+5W+GU10+-+Warm+White/1643024175

The £3.50 cluster led ones – I got about 50 of them I think, 10x have already died in less than 2yrs – probably barely 500 hours.

All the expensive ones are still fine, and they get used in places a lot more than the chinese cheap cluster ones.

So I reckon bite the bullet, get good £15+ ones, of AT LEAST 5W. They pay for themselves pretty quickly in energy savings I reckon.

I got the 8w warm ones from here and have been happy with 10 of them in my kitchen.

ebay link

PS only had them a week, so can’t comment on how long they last.

I have just replaced all of the frequently used ones in my new house

dimmable – Phillips master 4w
non dimmable – Phillips corepro 4w

Very very pleased with the results, and the drop in electricity bill.

keep an eye on formfactor – some of the higher rated LEDs have larger ballast/drivers and need deeper cans if you use ones that arent backless.

the more you pay the longer they last, it really is that simple. I’ve started a business swapping them out for hotels and hospitals and they expect them to last years, so I use top quality JCC Fireguard LED7’s which have driver, heatsink etc as a complete unit.

I’ve got dozens of samples set up on test rigs, most of them chinese test samples and they draw more power than they claim, they burn very hot and the colour temperature of them is very inconsistent to say the least.

Your best bet is to go to your local electrical wholesaler and ask them what they are pushing (most of them are now LED aware) and do a deal with them. DON”T go to B & Q as you will get your eyes removed.

DON”T go to B & Q as you will get your eyes removed.

They had GU10LEDs on special offer last time I was in there. Philips (I think) worked out to about £7.50 each for a 5W. Looks about as bright as a 35W halogen, and the colour temp is quite nice.

I’ve got these from simplyLED in warm white, expensive but decent. Colour/brightness is the same as a 50w halogen.

I wouldn’t buy really cheap again after one of the ‘bargain’ dx ones exploded after a few hours use – what made it worse was my son was sat just underneath in his highchair. 😯

EDIT: The ‘nxtgen’ ones

Just bought 24 x 4w Philips My vision and 8 x Philips master dimmable 4w bulbs. All warm white for the new kitchen/open plan living area. Very very pleased with them. 10x better compared to the other LED bulbs I’ve tried from City electrical and ebay.

£8.50 for the standard 4w bulbs and about £11.50 for the dimmable. All come with a 3 year warranty.

I’ve started a business swapping them out for hotels and hospitals

Geordiemick00 Might have some business for you! can you email me at nbathurst at yahoo dot com?

Thanks

Oh I meant to ask, whats the difference between the normals LED’s and SMD ones? Is it just that the SMD have a much wider beam angle?

Thanks for all the advice so far!

SMDs dont have any optics – i.e. no little beads on top of them, or even optics in front of them. Theyre silly bright but the light goes everywhere. I use them in the utility room and workshop. But Id hate to have them in the house.

Just bought 24 x 4w Philips My vision

I tried 4 of the my vision, the core pro give off better light IMO, I think phillips have stopped producing the my vision one and do the core pro instead.

Anyway, I chose the philips after reading a thread on here where someone who was a lighting designer had recommended them.

Bit of a bump here as I tried to start another thread and got directed to this one. Given that I have 50w 12v halogens trhoughout the house which each have individual transformers, can I just swap out the bulbs for the new LEDs or do I need to change the transormers to ‘LED drivers’ with all the hassle and extra expense?

I’ve got the same as you and have simply removed the existing 12v transformer and wired in a GU10 lead/bulb holder so we’re now running 240v 5w LED bulbs.

No. And you may find your existing trasnformers wont drive LED GU10s.

Best bet is to remove the halogens & the transformers, and use a chock box connection to a GU10 holder.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/390510245894

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/160784899834

So Sharkbait, does that work? Which bulbs did you buy and from where?

Works great. I’ve started with some 4w bulbs from Costco (which could be a little ‘white’) and will try some others (5w next time) that have been recommended. Got 50 to go although I’m not too bothered about bathroom lights as they’re not switched on for long enough, so about 30 in reality.

I bought a T6 torch off ebay recently which has been great and I noticed that the seller also sells these.

Has anyone tried something similar?

Ebay Link 1

Ebay link 2

Of the 60 or so that I’ve bought, only the expensive ones have failed. Whole house is done with eBay bulbs at about £3 each for 4.5 and 6 watt warm white. Better colour than the astronomically expensive Philips / OSRAM branded ones too.

jp – SMD (surface mounted Diodes) can be very bright but they sling the light out every which way. OK for utility rooms or garages, but Im not sure Id want it in the house where you want texture, contrast and shadows.

I got these and they do the job nicely fleabay cree gu10

I get them from a little independent electrically supplet in town. They cost about £1.50 or so the last time I bought some.

Thanks for the info Stoner.

I will get a couple for the summer house and see what they are like in the house.

For what it’s worth, B&Q do three for two on all light bulbs if you join their (free) B&Q Club. The (own brand?) Diall ones seem Ok as do the Osram ones – both around £6.66 each after the deal. GU10 or MR16.

Best price I found for LED drivers (for the MR16 inclined) was £3.49 a go – Low Energy Supermarket.

Tesco dimmable ones are also nice