Ecopal Lightbulbs

Loobz · 20-02-2009 10:27PM #1

Hi,

Ecopal

Saw these on tv with Duncan Stewart. Looks like a good solution to conventional bulbs. Has anyone used them?

Are there any other ecofriendly bulbs out there that are a good replacement for ordinairy bulbs (especially gu10 and bayonet B22 - have tried Megaman
gu10s)

davelerave · 20-02-2009 11:46PM

'ecopal' nice branding.reminds me of the time eircom invented the internet

northdublin · 21-02-2009 02:41AM

most lighting companys can supply a direct replacement of most incandesent bulbs wether its candles, golfballs or gls.
with regards to gu-10s ive found eclipse cfl to be the best mainly cause they are the closest in size to a normal gu-10 that ive come across, megaman are a good bulb but nowhere near the size of a standard lamp.

Access · 22-02-2009 07:57PM

northdublin wrote: »

with regards to gu-10s ive found eclipse cfl to be the best mainly cause they are the closest in size to a normal gu-10 that ive come across, megaman are a good bulb but nowhere near the size of a standard lamp.

have you a link for those eclipse cfls and are they any shorter than the other 75mm gu10 cfls?

northdublin · 22-02-2009 10:51PM

Access wrote: »

have you a link for those eclipse cfls and are they any shorter than the other 75mm gu10 cfls?

I dont have a link but eclipse would be well known around the electric wholesalers in dublin. as far as i know they are distributed by sgd and the 7 watt gu-10 cfl i have here mesures 55 mm in height including the pins. the 9 watt version is about 75 mm.

Kristopherus · 22-02-2009 10:58PM

If I recall that programme correctly, the bould Duncan gave the impression that these bulbs were the best thing since fried bread. Be warned. They dont do a fraction of what was claimed on that show.Do your research before going down that road.

EoC · 07-03-2009 01:53PM

I just bought 2 ecopal's to test them out. There are superbright LED's with equivalence of 50W (using on 2W). They are pricy (€15) so looking to buy more but at a cheaper price.
EoC

eoghan.geraghty · 11-03-2009 06:13PM

Hi loobz, i spoke to you before about led/cfl bulbs.
I just picked up 4 ecopals, they're still not going to give the same light and colour rendering as 50w halogen but they are the best led/cfl gu10s I've seen for reasonable money.

WARNEF · 16-03-2009 05:54PM

EoC wrote: »

I just bought 2 ecopal's to test them out. There are superbright LED's with equivalence of 50W (using on 2W). They are pricy (€15) so looking to buy more but at a cheaper price.
EoC

Eastern Electrical Price @ EURO 9.90 + 21.5% VAT superbright ecopal 2watt gu10 (lots of 10) otherwise 10.50 + 21.5% vat
ph 01-4050400 Crosslands ind park Ballymount Cross Dublin 12

tottenhamross · 20-03-2009 12:07PM

you're spot on Kristopherus, they're not a good replacement for the old bulbs. there are better bulbs on the market at the moment.

I bought some Earthmate bulbs that were fantastic. warm up time of around 40 secs and I think they are even brighter than the old ones. They are'nt these big long ugly yokes either. www.earthmatelighting.eu is the site. i think there's a link there to get your house changed out aswell. www.wechangebulbs.com.

hope this helps you out.

Light Man · 07-05-2009 12:27PM

EoC wrote: »

I just bought 2 ecopal's to test them out. There are superbright LED's with equivalence of 50W (using on 2W). They are pricy (€15) so looking to buy more but at a cheaper price.
EoC

I also bought the 2w ecopal have them in my kitchen they're not as bright as the 50w Halogen but they last 8 times longer than the standard! yhey have there purpose, they are a good value for money product i got mine from Euro Sales in Glasnevin they only cost me € 10 and that was including the VAT. plus the lads in the shop seem to know what they're talking about!!

DO0GLE · 08-05-2009 10:05PM

Bought one of these 2 watt ecopal lights in superquinn for €15 to try it out.

The packaging says its a 50 watt equivalent but its definetly not as good quality as the 50 watt standard bulb! Other downside is the price I paid.

However 2 watts is very impressive and you don't have to wait for it to heat up like the CFLs.

digispek · 16-06-2009 04:55PM

Hi All,

I've put in loads of different types of energy efficient bulbs into private houses and businesses, ecopal as well. Ecopal's decay rate is just scary. After 6 months in a house they loose 3/4 of it's original output. Each LED in the bulb turns into different shade of orange.... just crap.
Their 50W equivalent theory is far from the truth... not even 1/4

But it's a nice light, on the day you put them in...

I've tried different types of GU10/MR16 spots and so far the only one that does the job is lumeno X31 .... 3W bulb. I got it from a wholesaler in Limerick just to try it out... absolutely brilliant. 3x high power led, I've put in 150 of them into a pub, after a year no sign of light output decay... and they have 2 years replacement warranty. So far so good. Owner told me he already got over 3000 saved on electricity... Another happy customer ;D

CFL's are good stuff as well.... i wouldn't recomend to put them into the house though... You'd kill the bulb by constant on/off's as you go into the room. CFL's lifespan is based on continous ON ... switching them on/off shortens their life.

Loobz · 17-06-2009 10:47AM

digispek wrote: »

Hi All,

I've put in loads of different types of energy efficient bulbs into private houses and businesses, ecopal as well. Ecopal's decay rate is just scary. After 6 months in a house they loose 3/4 of it's original output. Each LED in the bulb turns into different shade of orange.... just crap.
Their 50W equivalent theory is far from the truth... not even 1/4 But it's a nice light, on the day you put them in...

I've tried different types of GU10/MR16 spots and so far the only one that does the job is lumeno X31 .... 3W bulb. I got it from a wholesaler in Limerick just to try it out... absolutely brilliant. 3x high power led, I've put in 150 of them into a pub, after a year no sign of light output decay... and they have 2 years replacement warranty. So far so good. Owner told me he already got over 3000 saved on electricity... Another happy customer ;D

CFL's are good stuff as well.... i wouldn't recomend to put them into the house though... You'd kill the bulb by constant on/off's as you go into the room. CFL's lifespan is based on continous ON ... switching them on/off shortens their life.

Sound advice, pity I have 9 Ecopals in me ceiling.

Stoner · 17-06-2009 11:23AM

I think this posts highlights some of the potential issues associated with LED lamps, it will be great when a tried and tested lamp can be properly recommended here. Lately I've been advising people to try a mix and see what they think, CF and LED. Lamps degrading over time is something that people seldom take into consideration here, many lamps degrade, when designing systems this is taken into account and fluorescent installations are checked 6 months after installation, and there will always be a noticeable intensity drop off, it is expected and taken into account in the design.

Many of the different LED lamps out there note that they last for years and are equivalent to 35W or 50Watt halogen lamps wrt lux output, if you are lucky they will report the angle of light they produce. I'd still be very reluctant to tell someone that an LED will replace a halogen, I'd simply tell them that they will save money but that they should expect a drop in light intensity and possibly quality, there are too many misleading statements out there WRT LEDs, the bottom line is that they will save money but there are concessions that users will have to make once they install them.

digispek · 17-06-2009 03:51PM

Hi all,

Stoner made a valid point... You have to be very carefull when choosing a bulb. I know it's sounds silly, but if you're spending a lot of money to save on electricity, you should have a look at few different bulbs first.

Even though LED's are more efficient than halogens, you can't be expecting that 3W will give you 50W output! The only LED bulb that actualy gives you 50W equivalent is 6W and it's costing arround 35 euro.
It's lumeno again... I've put no more than 50 of them but they did what it said on the box.

Yesturday i've been talking directly to the lumeno guys and i can tell you that they are on the ball with the whole LED concept... I got really impressed. They went to the site with me, messured all the lux levels and recommened what ever bulbs I needed... I got all the angles from them, illumination surfaces, lux outputs for each bulb etc.
Oh yes... they have those lowpower ecopal-like bulbs(same stuff) in their offer as well, but... for nearly half the money...

They aren't pushing it though... Their 3W high power bulb is between 12-15 euro... so it's not that bad.

Their high power led's would be an every day use bulb for me now, but for things like display cabinets in shops i'm still using CFL's. They Give nice spread and you don't need extra long light range. Plus they would be on for 12h a day non-stop so no issue with life span decay...

I know that Eclipse has also very good LED bulbs, same with Robus, but it's the support what's keeping me with lumeno. Highly recommened supplier.

LeBash · 18-06-2009 12:05AM

The main problem with LEDs is normally the quaility of light and the spread of light out of them.

I was in a good position to try out loads and get free samples of practically every make available here in Ireland.

The best energy saving solution so far (as stated by the SEI) for downlighters Gu10/MR51 replacement is "IRC". It stands for Infrared Coated.

Ok so using a 35w (newer lamps at 30w) to replace a 50w doesnt sound like a huge difference, but its 30% and you will not be losing any light. The lamps last twice as long, and not too much more expensive (C.4-5€). I would say any wholesaler will have them.

When i visited the SEI at the start of this year a guy put the LED Vrs Halogen into prospective. If LED is so good, why is used for break lights in a car and not the head lights?

As a new fit out LED will be good as you can add as many fittings as possible, for a retro fit my personal opinion is they are not going to be impressive.

Also, as far as im aware, LEDs are not picked up by a normal lux meter? Could be wrong. I do know lux meters will not pick up inductive lamps (which will be the next fad in energy saving).

The best advice is stated a few times here. Buy a few different brands and try them out (when its dark).

digispek · 18-06-2009 11:03AM

LeBash wrote: »

Also, as far as im aware, LEDs are not picked up by a normal lux meter? Could be wrong. I do know lux meters will not pick up inductive lamps (which will be the next fad in energy saving).

Lux meters pick up LED's no bother.

LeBash wrote: »

The best advice is stated a few times here. Buy a few different brands and try them out (when its dark).

Totaly agree... Don't belive what it says on the box, get some samples and try them out.

As for the bulbs you described here... Problem is... when my customers decide to change to another bulb, they are expecting a huge bill reduction, otherwise they won't bother their ho**.

As for LED head lights... they are available....

I've seen them working... problem is as always the cost of such a strong LED... Maybe in the future prices will come down...

Joe Duffy · 24-06-2009 04:08PM

Hi All,

Again i bought the LED bulb's the 2watt Ecopal i have them in the hall-way, i have them in the last 3 month's month i think they're great perfect amount of light saving me 48watts per point and they last about 8 times longer than the standard! i'am not complaing.

i got mine in eurosales in finglas cost me only €10 www.eurosales.ie

think i will be changing the downlighters in the kitchen next..

cheers,
Joe

digispek · 25-06-2009 09:47AM

Well... Yes i've noticed they've come down with the price. As i mentioned lumeno has the same bulb, but about 20% better light for 8 euro only... But i agree even ECO-PAL will save you a lot of money... any of those bulbs will pay for themselves even if they will last you a year or so...

They'd be good for the hallway... I doubt you will be happy with them in the kitchen though...

Write us how did they perform for you in the kitchen when you get them...

creaghp · 07-09-2009 04:48PM

I recently built a house and the kitchen was fitted out with standard GU10 50w recessed lights (15 units). So I have been using the kitchen with standard halogens. However, the heat generation in the ceiling had me worried and my electrician recently replaced all of them with EcoPal 2w superbright, stated on the packaging as 50w replacements.

I can honestly say that I can see no difference to the light levels and useability of the kitchen and in fact I perceive that the light levels are better now. So I am extremely happy and fully recommend switching to leds.

We do have a lot of fittings and this might make the light better but I am now replacing all the other fittings round the house.

Have had no losses yet but its been too soon to say anything about their reliability. If I do have any problems I will certainly post them.

Tester46 · 09-09-2009 09:13AM

Just had house re-wired and want to put in either CFL spots or LED spots. Does anybody know what the equivalent light output is for each type of bulb? For example, I know what light a standard incandescent 60W or 100W bulb gives out. What is the equivalent for a halogen bulb, a CFL bulb and an LED bulb?

I appreciate that different makes will be slightly different (as outlined by posters above) but is there a general conversion table anywhere?

Thanks

digispek · 09-09-2009 09:39AM

There is no standarized conversion table, as different makes give different light output. CFL's are 4 times more efficient than normal bulbs(25W gives 100W output) but again that differs as there are some producers that have better output. As to LED lights, it's more complicated. Led's in General are more efficient than CFL's by at least 3x to 4x . Light output differs even more than in case of CFL's as there are loads of different LED manufacturers on the market. So different 3W bulbs will give you different light levels. Some 3W bulbs with proper LED's in them will give better light than different 4W or even 6W bulbs.

Go for LED's. More efficient, low power consumption and they last much longer. (light is much nicer than CFL's too)

As to makes... try different ones. I'm using Lumeno all the time, but as
creaghp wrote before you he is happy with ecopal. So choice is your's.

exaisle · 20-09-2009 12:31PM

Digispek....Id be very interested to hear how the lumeno 38-led GU10s work after a few months. Are they essentially the same bulb as sold by Ecopal?

What appeals to me is the 120degree light spread. But I am put off by comments regarding the loss of output after a few months. The 3x1watt type have only a 60degree light spread and are probably more suited to spotlight applications.

Has anybody here used the 38led version for a particularly long period of time? If so, what is the output like?

E.

LeBash · 23-09-2009 10:39PM

Exaisle, 60Deg is very good. That is what is known as a flood (wide angle) in GU10.

A normal GU10 50W lamp is 38Deg, then a "Flood" version is 60Deg.

Take into account the more you spread the light, the less there is. The aim is to get a good light level around the level you have a work top.

I'm still unconvinced about LED's at the moment and will be until im proved otherwise.

Digispek, I would love to see those LED's on the front of a car if you wouldnt mind throwing up a link to them

route66 · 22-10-2009 12:13AM

These guys appear to have it all: http://www.yourwelcome.co.uk/acatalog/led236.html

They are made by Sharp and claim to do the work of a 50W for just 4.5W. But they are dear!!!

Anyone here have any experience of the "yourwelcome" retailer?

chris_en · 27-10-2009 03:32PM

Hi All,

I just came across this thread, and need to add few words of comments.

I've been using LED bulbs in my installations for a while now, and came arround a lot of SH....

Mainly i'm using lumeno 3x1W bulbs. I have them in my own place(over 40 of them) and so far so good. I installed them over a year ago, and i haven't noticed even a slight drop of light lvl.

As to DIP LED bulbs the likes of 38LED or 36LED they are good for certain applications and I always state that they have a "slight" light decay.
Usualy it's the price factor that makes me use them bulbs.
I've used eco-pal, eclipse, lumeno, robus and many others, and frankly i use what ever there is available at the wholesalers. Again i go after the price. Eco-Pal is available everywere, lumeno nearly... pricewise... lumeno is much cheaper... The difference between these two is that the second one has 120deg spread... gives nice effect. Ecopal has more concentrated light.

www.ecopal.ie
www.lumeno.ie

And final remark... don't buy anything with more than 48leds... DIP led decays faster if bulb generates too much heat and 60leds in 1 i've seen are just too packed. (That's something i've read on a different LED forum :cool: )

whowantstwoknow · 28-10-2009 02:25PM

Hi Chris,

Based on this thread I've been in contact with lumeno. Seeing that you have had experience, I'd appreciate any advise. In my instance I'm looking to replace 12 50w halogen GU10 bulbs with a suitable LED bulb replacement.

6 of these bulbs will be in ceiling downlighters covering a living area of aprox 6m x 4m

The other 6 bulbs are in an armed/arched light fitting, whereby the spots can be pointed in any direction. This light fitting is used to light the kitchen area of 4m x 4m.

Both areas mentioned above are in the same room (if you get my drift). So of the 2 lumeno bulbs, which would best suit my circumstances:

38xLED SuperBright LED Bulb or
Lumeno Tricore 3x1W LED Bulb

I guess price would also come into play. Lumeno dont seem to have a distributor on the east coast and can only deliver by courier, so I want to make sure (as best I can with other people's help) I get the correct bulbs otherwise it will cost me to send them back etc....

Thanks for any advise

W.

ongarite · 30-10-2009 02:22PM

Anyone know a stockist of the Lumeno 3x1W GU10 or Frost 1x3W GU10 in the Dublin West, Kildare area & a rough guestimate of the cost of each.

Thanks.

whowantstwoknow · 30-10-2009 02:25PM

I've been in direct contact, they dont as yet distribute to this region (something that really should be rectified if they want sales!!) but you can order direct (contactable via the website)

W.

Slunk · 02-11-2009 08:07PM

Anybody know of somewhere that stocks lumeno bulbs, the closer to dublin the better?

Also, €10-15 per bulb seems dear, has anyone tried bringing them in from Hong Kong. Would the standard be the same? Can get them for about €5 each. Im thinking they would be similar and its just Irish prices being high but has anyone any experince with cheaper bulbs from HK?

Ecopal Lightbulbs

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