LED Lighting...

[Turks]

In an effort not to hijack someone elses useful thread, I have started a new one so if anyone is interested, the information should hopefully be easier to find. If you are a geek then you will find this interesting... sorry to everyone else

I have LOADS of spotlights in the house, I have a woman that lives in the house that likes to leave the lights on!

The old ones were the 50W GU10 Halogens. Great, but, when in the Kitchen you have 12 and in the Lounge you have 9 and the woman leaves them both on, that is 1050W!!! Almost like having a kettle on (ok exaggerating)!

The new ones are 2.3W GU10 LED's. Fantastic, practically the same amount of light and lasts up to 10 times longer than the Halogens. Now woman can leave them on all she likes as I can run nearly 22 Lights for the same cost as 1 Halogen!!

I have had these in since November and I can honestly say that I have already seen a huge reduction in my electricity bills. I have also put my lights in the hallway on movement sensors that sit flush in the ceiling and got rid of the switches completely which helps stop people leaving them on. It also makes it look like there is someone in the house at night when the dogs are roaming around!

Anyway, there are two types of the Standard Halogen Spotlights:

A:


Or B:


They both look the same when in the spotlight but note the different pin connections... A: is for 240v and B: is for 12v.

The replacements look like this:

A:


And B:



I personally think that the LED replacement Lamps look better being frosted when they are up in the ceiling fitting. The light that they give off comes from 24 LED's and is equivalent to a 35W Halogen Bulb. To be completely honest I can't really tell the difference as the LED's produce a 'whiter' light. They last anywhere between 30,000 and 50,000 hours (3.424 Years - 5.707 Years if never ever switched off!!)

I only have the GU10 replacements (type A) and I can say that I have one observation... the LED Lamps are slightly longer than the Halogen Lamps. This can cause problems if your fittings have a fixed back on them as it means that the Lamps can sit proud - Most are loose wire back fittings and this causes no problems whatsoever but worth checking what you have as it may mean you would have to modify your current fitting or buy new fittings...

Anyway, links below for purchase... I got mine from City Electrical Factors (CEF) but they are also here...

LED Type A

LED Type B


I'll try to answer any questions you may have. I'll also add some actual pictures in situ when I get home to the UK.


Turks.

[pvr]

I did a sample replacement of a type (A) (was B before but the 50w heat generated by it burned the wiring out after being left on night after night ...). The replacement light is gostly white though (20 led bulb GU10 1.8w) and would not be suitable say in a kitchen.

So with the deflector at the front and higher wattage, you are saying that the light temperature is similar?

[Turks]

I have got long very bright LED strip lights above my wall units in the Kitchen and these give off the very ghostly ice white you describe. The LED GU10's in comparison are warmer. The frosting must take the edge off the harsh white light that LED's can give off.

Like I said, i'll take some better photo's when I get home. There is a part of my hallway outside the Bathroom where there is two that cast against the wall. I'll change one for the Halogen type to give you an idea.

If the ones you are talking about are like the ones I am thinking of, then I know what you mean. All the individual LED's visible when it is off? You wouldn't know that these were LED and that is one of the reasons I chose Edison.


Turks.

[pvr]

Yes, that is right. A load of individual LEDs all visible. It is ok for the location where we have it in the upper hall, but the remainder I have will be going in the garage for showroom lighting (in other words, Mrs PVR suggested that is where I would put them as the other suggestion was more painfull ... ).

The LED downlighter is also very directional in the current bulb, i.e you get no spread and just a circle on the floor. The deflector sounds like a must to get some decent light out of them.

Would like some in the rooms that my children use as they all have about 9 low voltage halogens in them at the moment, and the temperature of those room get rather hot with those (especially as the off button is non existent appearantly, nor is the concept of opening a curtain during the day ...)

[Turks]

That was another of my issues with the Halogens - the heat that they produce in the room and in the ceiling space! Heat is just lost energy and not only that, when there is no ventillation it can be dangerous. Rather than change everything for Fire rated fittings, the LED's sorted that problem - hardly any heat at all.

From what I have seen, low voltage ones get just as hot as the 240v ones which is surprising when you think you are doing the safe / efficient thing by using low voltage.

The Edison seems to spread quite well given the normal directional light you usually get from LED's. I think you can see on the pics - the convexed frosted lens must be spreading the light.


Turks.

[pvr]

Yes, would like to try those to see what they are like.

Regarding low voltage - remember that P=V* I, so if you reduce the voltage, you increase the amperage with those results.

It is not the voltage that kills you either, but the current

[x555]

hhhhhhmmmmm interesting thread this one for me as i have about 50+ of these suckers in my house and two kids that think santa claws pays the electric bill i usually come home from work to a mini blackpool with a tv on in each room to boot
Pricey mind at 16 bucks a pop.That would cost me over £800 to change all mine.

[Minda]

i would need about 100 of the gu10 type, gonna cost me loads, maybe i'll wait till the price comes down a bit

[pvr]

I expect the prices to go up actually as the government is stopping the subsidies for energy saving light bulbs.

[Minda]

[quote=""pvr""]I expect the prices to go up actually as the government is stopping the subsidies for energy saving light bulbs.[/quote]
Damm better get in there fast then, what should i be paying each then?

[Turks]

I don't expect the prices to come down very quickly at all - by the time they do you will have spent £800 in un-necessary wasted electric on the bulbs you already have. My bills changed drastically when I changed these.

£16 is about right, I can't remember what I paid for them at CEF but it wasn't far off. Do a room at a time to soften the blow.

I'll definitely be taking these with me when I move house too... i'll just stick the old bulbs back in. That way, you could see it as an investment... these are going to last me years and i'll probably end up moving in the next 3-4 years so cheap bills in the next house!

The government, in my opinion, hasn't achieved what it set out to do by promoting energy saving lightbulbs. By removing from the shelves 100W and 60W bulbs people have decided to re-evaluate their lighting and ended up putting these nice looking spots or fancy fittings up meaning the rooms now consume 200W plus! In my kitchen I had 600W just to get a decent amount of light in the room. If you measured the consumption in electricity in lighting alone today in an average household and compared it with ten years ago I bet there is a huge difference! Not in my house though


Turks.

[Turks]

If there is enough people interested, a possibility is to do a group-buy and order a huge number from CEF... there should be some discount then?

Maybe do a room with the ones purchased from the link above just to see if you like them first though, then look at ordering a bulk for the rest of the house?


Turks.

[pvr]

Not sure wether to remove the transformers and go for mains straight away. Transformers are not long lasting either. Does mean having to check the wiring though.

[Turks]

I personally would get rid of the transformers and get mains powered fittings. If you can get to the transformers without doing any damage then fish wire to the light fitting locations by using the old wires to pull it through and use the fittings as the joints. Try not to use and joint boxes as they can be a source of heat...


Turks.

[squeaky2]

Are these units dimmable? Have got quite a complex dimming system in the lounge so not changing it. Do have some of the lights in the house as individual leds amd trying to get the transformers and wiring done properly was a nightmare.......on the plus side they use hardly any electricity.


[quote=""x555""]hhhhhhmmmmm interesting thread this one for me as i have about 50+ of these suckers in my house and two kids that think santa claws pays the electric bill i usually come home from work to a mini blackpool with a tv on in each room to boot
Pricey mind at 16 bucks a pop.That would cost me over £800 to change all mine.[/quote]

Get an energy meter......can be a bit pricey but great work watching everyone run around the house turning things off to see the difference in the cost........put somewhere obvious it is quite a good reminder.