LED lighting General discussion, read here before posting a question.

Any decent supplier will provide a copy of the test report. Much like Solar panels. Get the proper information and then make a choice. If your supplier cannot provide the test reports then they have no idea what they are selling. If you truly understand LED's then you should be able to offer good advice based on facts and the laboratory results are where the facts come from.
What's on the packet is quite irrelevant in many cases.
Here is am example of a proper test report and the reason why so many people have not a clue about LED's.

And then there is the issue of what is the best way to use the lamp to get best effect. What is the best fitting and what is the best colour. Until you have tried them you won't know.

If you want LED chandelier bulbs will you want those candle bulbs with a lump of plastic round the bottom? Of course not. The proper bulbs are available and they have not shown any failures since I have been testing. LED's have bad press because there are too many people buying cheap factory seconds and getting ripped off. Ask the right questions and don't expect something for nothing. If a bulb fails it should be replaced without question as failures do happen and these are bought for the long term so should last the designed years.
4W is about the limit for candle bulbs without a big ugly heatsink. Manufacturers have done the research and this is were we are in a fast moving industry. I have candle bulbs on test in a shop that sells chandeliers and they have never lost one and they are on all day and night. (very little electric cost of course!).
I am not guessing.

I have to say on recommendation of a few on here, i tried the philips master 4w dimmable 40 degree gu10 bulbs.

I got only a few to try... 1 in our small shower en-suite and 3 over my sink area in the kitchen.

after 1 month of testing here are my opinions...

Pros

Nice warm 2700k light off them. Very very close to normal gu10.

Hardly any cost to them - 3 x 4w = 12 watts now over my kitchen sink, verus the 3 x 35w = 115 watts previously!

Cons

The bulbs have a narrow 40 degree light angle on them - i dont know what a standard gu10 angle of light is? - Does anyone here? - but i find them too narrow on the light they throw out compared to a normal gu10.

The bulb face can still get quite hot - but saying that nowhere near as hot as a gu10.


They are ok in my opinion, but i dont think i would go to the extra cost of putting in extra gu10 fitting in between the others in the kitchen to put these in. They are aobut the same output as a 35watt standard gu10, but just with a smaller angle of light.

Just on a side note, my local supplier here has them for €21 + vat! :eek:

- i went to the supplier mentioned earlier in the thread and got them for 8.50 + vat approx.

Thanks for the info on the E14's but i will prob end up switching to the GU10's in time.

jprboy, have you considered the postal service?

I got mine delivered to the door for €12 which incidentally worked out @ €12 per bulb including vat delivered.

I got 10 but so far i have used only 6, the other 4 will go in the hall once i get time to replace the existing fittings.

I find no difference to the 50w halogen bulbs in pure darkness but in simi lit conditions the halogen seemed to be brighter but im happy so far with 24w v's 300w in my kitchen / dining area at the moment.

I can't recomend this bulbs in this place

Hi,

I have 5 downlighters in the living room which have E27 60w spotlights in them. The lights are on a dimmer.

I would like to replace these with LEDs and was wondering if anyone knows if these are available and if they can be dimmable? Would they protrude out from the ceiling or be flush like the existing ones. The lights are not used much, and used on dim if they are, so quality of lighting is not a big issue.

Also, where is best to obtain these lights, if available?

I'm assuming that will fit into the existing housing of my spotlight e27?

Scartbeg wrote: »

Have the 5.5W in our bathrooms - visibly brighter than the 4W that we have in the rest of the house (like you, we find we need the extra undercounter lighting in the kitchen with the 4W). Depending on how/where you are mounting these in a "student room" the 4W may be fine. Bear in mind they are available in 25 or 40 degree beam. You can also get adapters from B22 or E27 to GU10 if you wanted to fit them in an existing desklamp. Philips also had a 3W non-dimmable, similar or higher lumen output, not sure if they still do it.

Hey Scartbeg. Just piggybacking on danger_mouse's query. I discovered this thread a few months back and have been incrementally changing from 50 watt GU10's to the Philips 4w bulbs each month when I get paid. I think the 4w Philips are perfect for bathrooms and the landing but our kitchen is big and takes 12 GU10 lightbulbs. I have already replaced 4 of those GU10's with 4 watt Philips but as said earlier I don't think it is as bright as I would want it. I know they don't claim to be a straight replacement for the 50w.

I have to replace the other 8 now so, my question is are the 5.5 watts a straight replacement for a 50watt and if so a) where did you get them and b) how much were they?

Cheers for all the advice, looking forward to smaller ESB bills this winter.

I wasn't sure whether to hijack/reuse this thread or start a new one. I have a similar dilemma with our downlight setup.

CURRENT SETUP
We have 3 lighting circuits for the living/kitchen area downstairs. 3 downlights for kitchen, 6 for dining, 6 for living. 36deg MR16, 50W low voltage. All on dimmers. 2 years ago we didn't have a clear picture of LED technology and there were a lot of differing claims about what would/wouldn't work so we played safe and went with 12V halogens. Since we installed, 1 downlight and 2 transformers have blown and I'm now looking around for a replacement. I always planned/hoped to replace with LEDs as and when the halogens failed. To make matters slightly more complicated, access to the ceiling cavity is only through the downlight holes; the floor above has been covered with semi-solid. So we can't put in a new circuit. Because of the way the rafters run, we could run new cable between pairs of downlights if there was some solution that required it.

WHAT WE WANT
We want the equivalent lumen output with the lowest reasonable operational cost (Opex) and don't overly mind the upfront cost (Capex) of changing bulbs/fittings. We need the solution to be smoothly dimmable and I would prefer if I could replace fittings incrementally myself without needing to get a sparks involved. Or at least upgrade only 1 circuit at a time.

OPTIONS/QUESTIONS
The Philips Master LEDs are the most obvious replacement according to Herr Google. I would appear to be able to change bulbs incrementally as they fail. Apart from the high cost £30?:eek: my concerns are that Philips say the 10W is a replacement for 50W Halogens. My understanding is that a 50W halogen has 800-950 lm whereas the Philips only gives out 490lm. Am I missing something? Also, if they need a transformer per downlight and 2 of these have gone so far, I see this as adding to my annual Opex. Finally, don't the transformers themselves consume 10-15W; more than doubling the LED downlight consumption? There was a Philips Master LED pioneer on here a couple of years ago, not sure how he got on though.

On the subject of lumens, the 60 SMDs got good reviews earlier in the thread about being brighter than halogens. But the 3W version only gives 330lm compared to 800-950lm for a 12V halogen. "All lumens are equal but some lumens are more equal than others?

I'm wondering if a better solution would be to remove the transformers and put a LED driver(s) in the circuit. It seems there are a greater range of downlights available to me for this configuration. Some of these claim higher lumens than the Master Downlights due to more CREE led bulbs. If I go that route what are my options?

Can I remove transformers but keep the existing GU5.3 fittings? Or do I have to get new GU10 fittings to use mains directly? Can I keep the existing dimmer switch and wire in 1 LED driver between it and the first downlight in the circuit? Or do I need a LED driver for each downlight? AND would I have to replace the dimmer with a LED dimmer switch?

Can I have mains GU10 LEDs and 12V GU5.3 Halogens with their own transformers on the same circuit without damaging the LEDs? If we go with this config would each LED downlight need their own driver in order to be dimmable? Or no driver and forget about dimming until all halogens replaced and then put in 1 driver for the whole circuit?

I'd prefer not to have to concern myself with leading edge/trailing edge compatibility issues.

So many questions...

Anyone try out the Tesco own brand LED bulbs. GU10, I think they were about 7 euro.

I was looking for a link on the web but I could not find one.