Upgrading spotlights

TheBazman

Hi all

I have 6 of the following downlights and 2 smaller ones in the house and they are constantly blowing bulbs. Also the fittings/housing is loose on quite a few of them. I will be getting an electrician in to sort it out but what would you recommend to replace these with (energy saving/led etc)? I prefer the warmer look bulbs but am worried that a lot of the newer bulbs will be too bright.

Cheers

vibe666

they look like the older screw in spots from the picture?

if you're getting a sparks in to redo them then i'd go with the GU10 fittings and get yourself some nice Philips Master 4 watt LED lights to go in them.

nice warm light and very low power usage with very little heat and they are supposed to last about 15 years, although they cost about a tenner each from electrical wholesalers so they are definitely an investment, but should pay for themselves in the first year if those lights get a lot of usage.

TheBazman

vibe666 wrote: »

they look like the older screw in spots from the picture?

if you're getting a sparks in to redo them then i'd go with the GU10 fittings and get yourself some nice Philips Master 4 watt LED lights to go in them.

nice warm light and very low power usage with very little heat and they are supposed to last about 15 years, although they cost about a tenner each from electrical wholesalers so they are definitely an investment, but should pay for themselves in the first year if those lights get a lot of usage.

Cheers - yeah they are the old screw in ones. I'll have a look into the GU10 fittings and have a word with the electrician

vibe666

TheBazman wrote: »

Cheers - yeah they are the old screw in ones. I'll have a look into the GU10 fittings and have a word with the electrician

i actually just moved house and the new place has halogen GU10's everywhere so i now need to see about getting them all replaced, but i'm not kidding when i say there is at least 50 of the fecking things in the house so it's going to cost a pretty penny to get them all replaced with LED bulbs.

cast_iron

LED GU10 downlighters won't provide half of the light output over the fitting the OP has in the picture. So unless there is alot of them already in place, be prepared for large decrease in light if a direct swap is all the OP is planning.

johnwd

I've been disappointed with any LEDs I've experienced so far (but not tried the latest ones that cost €16+ each). I replaced 20 odd halogen GU10s with "flourescent" ones that I got in woodies (they had two types - I got the highest wattage ones that were supposed to be ~= 50w - and I have to say that I think they are ... when they get up to speed). They were dear ... but woodies have 20% off sales now and again so might be a good time to purchase a load of them. I recently picked up a couple of spares in B&Q too ... not sure how good they'll be but they were 9w each and it was buy one get one half price. As an aside the Halogen GU10s were blowing like nobody's business before being replaced as well as costing a fortune to run. Turns out there was too much heat in the ceiling due to it being insulated ... the heat even lifted floorboards upstairs!

TheBazman

Cheers all - just so I'm not confused - if I replace/upgrade the fittings they will be fairly standard so that the only question then is what bulbs to put in, or are there different fittings depending on what type of bulb I intend using? In terms of the bulbs themselves am I right in saying there are
GU10 LED - less light that currently have
GU10 Halogen/Flourescent ?
Are there other options?