Swap Halogen for LED's Help?

mumhaabu

In my Kitchen/dining I currently have 7 50watt Halogen bulbs like this. When my Kitchen/Dining area is lit up it consumes 350W an hour which I consider unacceptable. Also they have absolutely no lasting as I am changing a bulb there several times a year.

I changed 2 bulbs recently with a Homebase self brand (2 bulbs for €6:eek:) and one blew 5mins after installing and the other one exploded (glass everywhere) after a week. I then got in my electrician presuming there was a wiring fault but it all checked out and he said this is normal procedure with these nasty feckers, mainly in part due to the intense heat the generate. I have CFL's everywhere else so no problems there only in this part of the house.

They guzzle power and blow very often and cost a pretty penny to replace. My electrician recommended LED replacements which he said would last for ages 10years by his count and consume only about 1tenth of the energy. He was reckoning €10 a pop so €70 for the area. It is alot of money for a few bulbs so I thought I'd post here first or try get them cheaper, (I have since seen onewebsite charging €45/bulb). I am annoyed and seeing Duncan Stewart on Eco Eye recently prompted me to take action plus an exploding bulb and one shook up female who happened to be sitting underneath it:pac::pac:.

Anyone know where to get these cheaper or what are good LED brands to buy etc??

Plus I am also cutting by Co2 output in the process but more importantly saving dosh from the €$B.

hick

found this am sure there are others
need to check the lumens though to see how bright they are
http://www.batterycity.ie/gu_10_24_led_bulb___warm_white_light__200_lux_-p-3744.html

mumhaabu

hick wrote: »

found this am sure there are others
need to check the lumens though to see how bright they are
http://www.batterycity.ie/gu_10_24_led_bulb___warm_white_light__200_lux_-p-3744.html

Thanks for that I will check the lumens later before I make any decision.

wazzoraybelle

Before you buy led replacements for your gu10 halogen bulbs make sure they give off the type of light you want. For ones that would be similar in light temperature to gu10 you would pay 30 -40 euro per bulb, the led bulb should have 72 or more leds in them. there are a lot of cheap led bulbs out there that are useless. If you find a store that sells them make sure you can see the bulb working and insist that you turn the bulb off and leave it cool down before switching on again to see how long it takes to get to its full intensity.

The right bulbs are very expensive but will last for 100000hrs and 50000+ on/off cycles.
Google search megaman bulbs, they have a decent downloadable catalogue that will tell you all you need to know.

gears

I'm not trying to put you off the idea of LEDs and I would love to use them myself as I'm in the same situation but I have MR16 running off a transformer not GU10s and I have been unable to find a satisfactory alternative to halogen. IMO the output is never enough and the colour of the light is a blueish white.
For a GU10 the best I've seen is a CFL replacement which would be 7w-10w not the 1w-2w of LED but still a significant improvement.

Oh if you still want to experiment, the best shop for LEDs I've found is www.led1.de