Led bulbs

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Lasers give off less heat and scale up better than LED's

I have my entire house lit with LEDs (a new build) and I can tell you, LEDs emit virtually zero heat! Mine are three watt bulbs and are maybe slightly warmer than room temperature.

Some experience.

After reading here a few months ago I counted up the spots in my house and got to 34 x 50w bulbs. Some were gu10, some were mr16.

I went to eurosales in glasnevin and bought 5 of the 10euro ones. These are 5W, are not dimmable and are really only for replacing 35w bulbs. I took some before and after shots and its very noticable.

I replaced all bathrooms lights with these 10e ones. Very happy with them in there as the kids leave the light on all night.

then the kitchen, I went and got 2x 18euro 6W ones for there to try them out. the light is about 90% of the power of a 50W halogen. Its noticable, but not so much so its acceptable.
I then got some 2 x 20e 6W dimmable ones for the sitting room. The dimmer is fine with them.

I had to get gu10 cables for them all, these are about 1.50e. really easy to fit.

So I was looking at 500euro to replace all bulbs which is too much for an outlay so I bit the bullet and went online trying to find them cheaper and trawled the chinese wholesale websites, dhgate in particular. Yes Ive read about the dodginess of the sites but Ive bought from them before and while sometimes a delay I find they do come in. Sure enough 4 weeks after order, in came the bulbs. I got 10 x 9W (3 x 3w) for what worked out at 35e , I got caught for duty which worked out at 14e. So all in about 4.90 a bulb. The 9Ws really replace the 50Ws, a little brighter maybe, but I got a bluish light instead of the usual yellow type light. Im going to try these for a bit to see how I get on. Look very nice in the bathrooms.

You can take your pick of the dhgate sites, search for gu10. I wouldnt recommend the blu-ish light for kitchen. Try and work out the delivery to be under 22e to avoid customs but most of the sites ship in bulk to reduce cost.

Ive read about the quality of the cheaper LEDs but at less than 25% of the price here (9w equiv is 27e here), I think its worth it for a while to see what theyre like.

As a broad rule if you want to calculate whether it is worth changing lamp type it is down to how much (kWh saved x your electricity rate) you will save against the cost of the lamp (divided by its' predicted annual hours). In reality most people in a domestic situation will only save enough money in the principal rooms like Kitchen/living rooms, bedrooms etc just won't have the burning hours to justify the changeover. Of course a teenagers bedroom may have a living room level of occupancy as may landings and halls where there is near constant occupancy.

The lamp shape/base is also important, GU10 50w were widely installed and are easily replaced by much more efficient LEDs which come in a range of angles from 25 deg spotlights to 45 deg downlights and an even wider range of wattages (CFL GU10s are often too big for the recessed fittings).

Bayonet or Edison LED lamps tend to be more expensive and the watt savings are less dramatic, so tend to be less economical but there is a slightly wider choice and lower price in the ES lamps as they are used europewide.

Bottom line is that they are different, they can save you money in the right rooms, but you have to like them. I'm not a labels kind of person but on these I differ, buy a name you trust from a local wholesaler not a cheap brand on the net and stay away from the cluster lamps with 30 odd led cells frying each other.