Where are we up to with LED halogen replacements?

Right well my order from LED hut has arrived and I’ve just spent a happy couple of hours replacing existing halagen GU10 bulbs and converting 12v MR16 bulbs to GU10.
My initial thoughts? Wow – nice and bright (360 lumens/bulb)and a nice colour too. In two bathrooms a couple of lights had blown 12v transformers so I’ve replaced a with the 240v GU10 LEDs and I can’t tell the difference between the halogens and the LEDs.
Expensive but very impressive indeed and I’m happy.
I got these LEDs

I need G9s for the living room. They also can’t be to wide. The best option I’ve seen is these.

But I’d rather by from the UK

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300968341938?var=600150876318&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

A slight hijack
I have a load of Kosnic LEDs to get rid of. They are all 4.5W and I think warm white. Both GU10 and MR16, I’ll check later. Going for much cheapness. Couldn’t get credit for lamps and the customer wouldn’t pay. About 100 plus lamps.
And some random LED tape and drivers.

For the past year I’ve been fitting Lunmineux LED lamps, and havent had a failure yet. Must have fitted 100+ now. £7 +vat singly.
All at 4.5w, availble in 3 colours, warm white – direct replacement for halogen colour, cool white and daylight.

http://shop.newaveelec.co.uk/lumineux-241651cx-45-watt-led-gu10-cool-white-lamp-37-p.asp

I did a big office foyer, and they wanted a sample before changing the lot. I fitted one, they couldnt tell the difference between new and old. I could, as when I pointed it out, the LED has a far wider beam, but the same brightness and colour.

The best thing to do with 12v ones is to throw away the transformer, and just fit a 230v lamp fitting in its place. £1.50 or cheaper each, far better than replacing horrible transformers every few years, and ensures compatability with LED lamps.

Ive just replaced the horrible Minisun LED’s in my kitchen with the B and Q Diall version. A much better colour, but not a very wide beam. Happy though.

Oldgit YGM

fyi – playing with energy monitor last night – 5 LEDS 4.5watts in my bathroom as expected using alot less energy than the single CFL energy saver beyonet in the hall – giving alot more light – thus confirming that CFLS are crap :d

my kitchen still has 4 50watt halogens in – using more power than the rest of my house lights all in.

think i can justify the cost of outdoor LEDS – 30watts are about 100 quid a pop- the amount of time i spend outside under the lights in winter – they will pay for them selves in a couple of years at the rate it was flicking the dial round last night.

you might think you cant justify the cost but youll be surprised how quick youll gain it back.

got 2 small g9s from ledhut for a small doorway lamp fitting – onl;y 1.5watt mind. the big 4.5watts didnt fit but its just for seeing where to put your key in the dark.

5 LEDS 4.5watts in my bathroom as expected using alot less energy than the single CFL energy saver beyonet in the hall – giving alot more light

How does that work? Was the CFL using a lot more power than it said it would, the LEDs using a lot less than they said they would, or is it difficult for a meter to tell accurately?

We still have a fair few CFLs around the place which I haven’t been too bothered about, but I’ll move them up the list of priorities if the difference is that much!

id imagine it was the CFL using more than it says – probably just during the turbo warm up period or what ever but none the less was nearer 40watts – its a diall 20watt rated traditional bulby looking type out of BnQ – gives off horrible light for actually doing anything and takes a fair bit to warm up.

all the other values on the meter were as expected so i have no reason to doubt this anomaly.

i like CFLs in my bedroom as its easy on the eye when you wake up and it graduually gets brighter 😀

The CFL I had in my bedroom used to flicker and randomly flash when OFF. Philips or Osram, forget which. 100W equivalent to replace a 60W incandescent.

Need to suss out the best way to change that. Got some proprietary 220V AC power rail across the ceiling there. Can probably fit GU10 and power from that rail.

Well, after yesterday exploits I’m now a man posessed and keep thinking about how wasteful the halogens are in the kitchen!
Just summoning up the courage to spend another £200 + VAT 🙁

I know that feeling…

Are the ones that you’ve done so far on a dimmer? If so, what are they like dimmed?

No dimmer as yet. The next load are going into the kitchen and breakfast room the latter has a dimmer so I’ll need to get a new dimmer also [sigh]

Sharkbait – just wait till all you have left are a pair of 500watt halogen floods

Thats my situation now. Both them goin full bore is painful to watch.

Hehe. I’m just trying to decide if it’s worth replacing the lights in the bathrooms as well. They’re not on as much by a long way so the repayment time would be long – but then everything would be the same.

I got some of the Homebase ones and used them with my trailing edge dimmer.

You don’t get the decreasing colour temperature that you get when you dim halogens though i.e. you won’t get that really warm yellow/orange colour just before they turn off. In fact they don’t go nearly as dim as the halogens before they just abruptly turn off.

They work OK for the purposes of changing the intensity of the light, but I’ll be keeping my solitary halogen uplighter for “mood lighting” purposes 🙂

Word of warning be careful with pir sensors. Apparently cheap ones cant be used with led lights – i just found outthe hard way.

Cheap pirs allow current leakage- not enough to trigger a halogen – but enough to dimly light an led bulb or make it flash.

Back to drawing board….

I just bought 7 of these, in the warm white colour, 4 for our bathroom and 3 for our kitchen. So far very impressed by brightness, spread and colour of the light they emit. Feels much more like daylight than it did with the old halogens.

I bought two 6.5W Dial GU10s from B&Q, I may sell them though, they are a bit too bright and spot-like for our kitchen.

Anyone interested?

This makes quite a good read.

http://jontank.wordpress.com/2013/01/29/my-journey-to-finding-a-suitable-led-spotlight-that-could-replace-my-50w-halogens/

Out of date already though! I got a new 5W from LEDhut and I’m very pleased indeed.
It’s tough trying to figure out what to get though, and as the tech is continually improving there’s always going to be something better in 6 months time. Just go for the best you can and forget about them. One thing that is important is the warranty – LEDhut give a 5 year warranty, so if/when an LED dies it can be replaced with the latest and greatest.

just fit the one that meets your needs – no need to play the lumen war in your house.

i think we have reached a point where reasonable priced replacements for halogens are readily availible – people gripe at the cost of an LED bulb – then you show them the maths and they nod – but they still dont get it – they just see the expense of buying the bulb at the moment.

alanl – Member

For the past year I’ve been fitting Lunmineux LED lamps, and havent had a failure yet. Must have fitted 100+ now. £7 +vat singly.
All at 4.5w, availble in 3 colours, warm white – direct replacement for halogen colour, cool white and daylight.

http://shop.newaveelec.co.uk/lumineux-241651cx-45-watt-led-gu10-cool-white-lamp-37-p.asp

I did a big office foyer, and they wanted a sample before changing the lot. I fitted one, they couldnt tell the difference between new and old. I could, as when I pointed it out, the LED has a far wider beam, but the same brightness and colour.

The best thing to do with 12v ones is to throw away the transformer, and just fit a 230v lamp fitting in its place. £1.50 or cheaper each, far better than replacing horrible transformers every few years, and ensures compatability with LED lamps.

Great recommendation by alanl. I tried the Homebase ones but they were too white and narrow. I’ve now got 2 Lunmineux white warm LEDs and 4 halogen in the kitchen and you just can’t tell the difference.

http://www.screwfix.com/p/lap-gu10-led-reflector-lamp-with-reflector-330lm-5w/91534

Just fitted these and their GLS equivalent around my house, bit early to say what they’re like reliability wise (although they have a two year warranty) but the gu10s are a perfect match for a ‘good’ 50w gu10 colour temp and beam spread seems identical – ok so I haven’t had the photometer out, but I changed half the room at a time an couldn’t spot a difference…

Just waiting for a decent SES golfball retrofit now then I’ll be totally incandescent and cfl free – except for the remote control bedroom dimmer circuit which hasn’t yet caught up!

Is it ok to put loft insulation down straight on top of LED downlighters?

No unless they are specifically designed to be covered. You can buy aftermarket cages for some models that lift the insulation.
Are you talking ‘proper’ LED fittings that don’t have replaceable lamps?

No unless they are specifically designed to be covered. You can buy aftermarket cages for some models that lift the insulation.
Are you talking ‘proper’ LED fittings that don’t have replaceable lamps?

After a fruitless visit to Ikea, where the GU10’s have been out of stock for months I got 4 225 lumen ones from B&Q.

replaced 4 no. 35W halogens and the LED’s are noticeably brighter. I’m pleased, which is nice.