As thread title, I have 8x50w halogen downlighters in kitchen and 4x50w in bathroom and want to replace them for low energy LED.

As anyone any experience of these LED downlighters? Do they give enough light? or are they as feeble as other low energy bulbs?

Couldn't see any for sale in wickes

You'll soon change them back.

LED's give a really harsh light, the light isn't very "Warm" and this has an effect on how they look.

Changing 50w bulb to a 4w LED bulb according to the suppliers will give the same 50w Brightness. I have done a few swops of these in flats I look after and I find them to be bright but more directional. They are available now in warm white as well as the cool white. The saving in power is massive but they cost more to buy. Having said that the 50 watts blow on a regular basis so not so cheap.
Try changing half of them in each room and see how they look. You will still save a lot of power.

Buy off the internet for best savings.

We change these regularly and normally have cool and warm white lamps in stock.

We have various brightnesses and we also have wide angle lamps.

A typical halogen light has a 38degree beam angle
The wide angle bulbs have a 140 degree angle.

As previous post the led ones are more expensive but consider this.

They produce much less heat thus reducing fire hazards
They use less than 10% of the energy so dont take long to save money.
Ours are guaranteed for 3 years no matter how much you use them
Normal halogens have a typical life of just 1000 hours and most last more like 100 hours especially if they are shocked in some way.
Most downlights require steps to access so not an easy switch.

Our 50w 240v direct replacements cost £7 each with some discounts on qty ie £25 for 4

Do not buy the regular high street ones they are very poor performers.

We offer fitting service depending on location /qty required

really useful info, thanks guys, am I right in thinking I can just put LED bulbs in halogen units, dont think they are low voltage?

:)If the existing fittings need a tiny twist (mushroom shaped pins on lamps) to remove rather than just a pull (sraight fine pins)then they should be a straightforward swap. :)

As thread title, I have 8x50w halogen downlighters in kitchen and 4x50w in bathroom and want to replace them for low energy LED.

As anyone any experience of these LED downlighters? Do they give enough light? or are they as feeble as other low energy bulbs?

Couldn't see any for sale in wickes

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Lighting/LED+Lamps/d220/sd3276

No dont buy these from High street

The first one is equivalent of about 10watts halogen and the second is nearly £30 and is directional and still only equiv of 35w.

The ones we have are between 54 and 72 high intensity LED's and are much brighter.

If you are going to swap you cannot obtain from the high street (unless you spend £30+ each)

really useful info, thanks guys, am I right in thinking I can just put LED bulbs in halogen units, dont think they are low voltage?

Make sure you get the 4 watt GU10 if you want a similar light output.

Health & Safety - let the lamps cool before you change them at 50 watt they will be hot, just twist one out and twist the replacement in , simple. The bathroom ones will have a glass cover so you will need to remove that first, thye usually unscrew.

Just make sure you buy the ones that dont need a driver.

Lots of info here.

LED supplier (http://simplyled.co.uk/GU10-LED-Bulbs-240v_B23PJ5.aspx)

Make sure you get the 4 watt GU10 if you want a similar light output.

Health & Safety - let the lamps cool before you change them at 50 watt they will be hot, just twist one out and twist the replacement in , simple. The bathroom ones will have a glass cover so you will need to remove that first, thye usually unscrew.

Just make sure you buy the ones that dont need a driver.

Lots of info here.

LED supplier (http://simplyled.co.uk/GU10-LED-Bulbs-240v_B23PJ5.aspx)

Some very interesting stuff there, so much choice just for light bulbs! Dont need dimmable so maybe the ones at 3rd from top or 5th from top are worth a try. 3rd from top has a 120o angle so maybe worth a look?

When you are considering buying LED's, don't be mislead with some of the facts and figures sellers quote.
Just like many other products, you get what you pay for.
Some LED's are poor quality and will not last as long as some sellers state.

Using materials of the highest quality, from companies such as Cree, Nichia,
Lumileds, and Semileds, all world leaders in LED technology, these bulbs have a very high specification. For example some top quality MR16 Bulbs have in built safeguards such as “Bridge Rectification” and “Circuit Protection”.
This helps to maintain the integrity and life span of the LED package. Many poor quality, cheap LEDs do not have these features and despite claims do not have the longevity of some quality LED Bulbs.

When you are considering buying LED's, don't be mislead with some of the facts and figures sellers quote.
Just like many other products, you get what you pay for.
Some LED's are poor quality and will not last as long as some sellers state.

Using materials of the highest quality, from companies such as Cree, Nichia,
Lumileds, and Semileds, all world leaders in LED technology, these bulbs have a very high specification. For example some top quality MR16 Bulbs have in built safeguards such as “Bridge Rectification” and “Circuit Protection”.
This helps to maintain the integrity and life span of the LED package. Many poor quality, cheap LEDs do not have these features and despite claims do not have the longevity of some quality LED Bulbs.

Thanks for that, do you have any recommendations for suppliers in and around Sheff, I guess I am looking at £8 to £10 per bulb and need 12, I think paying much more will probably defeat the object as the payback period will be significant

We changed the old broken lighting units which took large recessed spotlights for 2 units which each take 3 halogen GU10s a couple of years ago and found it amazing how quickly the bulbs blew.

We were changing at least one bulb a week and decided that it just wasn't tenable to keep changing them repeatedly and changed them for energy saving bulbs, which was a total disaster. We couldn't get any which were high power enough for us to be able to see what we were doing around the kitchen, especially in the first 5 minutes after they were turned on, and we couldn't find any which gave as good a light as the halogens they replaced.

So we decided to try LED bulbs, and although they are relatively expensive the light output is a huge amount better. We prefer cool white and daylight replacement bulbs to the very yellow light that we were getting with the low energy bulbs, but that's personal choice. One of the 6 has gone this week, which is the first bulb to have blown in about 18 months, which I think is quite reasonable failure rate.

.

So we decided to try LED bulbs, and although they are relatively expensive the light output is a huge amount better. We prefer cool white and daylight replacement bulbs to the very yellow light that we were getting with the low energy bulbs, but that's personal choice. One of the 6 has gone this week, which is the first bulb to have blown in about 18 months, which I think is quite reasonable failure rate.

What make? where from? how much?

Cheers!!

My halogens are the 2 pin type. Can you get these in led and are they a straight swap?

Quite timely this, we've got 16 of the buggers in our kitchen and I must change at least one a week. Tried LED last year but they were carp, but the technology is improving dramatically and just took the plunge today on £100 for 8 of these:

http://simplyled.co.uk/GU10-High-Power-LED-20-piece-SMD-5050-320-Lumens-50-watts-equiv_ASI5T.aspx?0&gclid=CJ7yhLimyaUCFQ8f4Qodnzx3hg

I'm going to compare 8 LEDs directly against 8 Halogens, and if they look okay I'll buy another 8, so fingers crossed. I'll report back later.

(If I'm not impressed do you think I'll be able to use them in our Audi's headlights? :hihi:)

My halogens are the 2 pin type. Can you get these in led and are they a straight swap?

Can be, as seen here. (http://simplyled.co.uk/MR16-High-Power-LED-20-piece-SMD-5050-320-Lumens-50-watts-equiv_ASI5U.aspx)

Quite timely this, we've got 16 of the buggers in our kitchen and I must change at least one a week. Tried LED last year but they were carp, but the technology is improving dramatically and just took the plunge today on £100 for 8 of these:

http://simplyled.co.uk/GU10-High-Power-LED-20-piece-SMD-5050-320-Lumens-50-watts-equiv_ASI5T.aspx?0&gclid=CJ7yhLimyaUCFQ8f4Qodnzx3hg

I'm going to compare 8 LEDs directly against 8 Halogens, and if they look okay I'll buy another 8, so fingers crossed. I'll report back later.

(If I'm not impressed do you think I'll be able to use them in our Audi's headlights? :hihi:)

Brilliant, those are the ones I was looking at, be very interested to hear how you get on.

What make? where from? how much?

Cheers!!

Sorry, can't help out much with that. We bought a load of different types off an eBay user we've used for lighting in the past (who now doesn't sell on eBay) and I can't remember which were which. That's going to be a pain in the backside for replacing them, I know, but I'd rather be honest than tell you incorrect information.

Many LED manufacturers claim that their LEDs have a lifespan of approx 30,000 - 35,000 hours of use. If you take the average period of use for a bulb in normal domestic use, you would expect these bulbs to last at least
10-15 years.

Therefore it's very hard to recommend any bulb unless you have witnessed and used LEDs for a long period.

Some LED suppliers are starting to sell the cheaper, poorer quality leds because they have been unable to sell the high quality, more expensive LED.
I'm not recommending this seller or bulb, but you only have to look at the difference!
If you compare the picture and link of the bulb from Simplyled, with this bulb sold by another supplier on Ebay.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/5Pack-EnergySaving-3-Watt-GU10-LED-Bulb-Cree-Xlamp-UK-/250602082843?pt=UK_Light_Bulbs&var=&hash=item800ec5dee8

In my opinion the LED bulb with CREE technology and made in Taiwan, looks better quality.

Hopefully the high quality bulbs will become cheaper as the demand grows.

I bought a pack of 10, GU10 fitting from ebay, can't remember the username but it was from Lincoln for £22. They give excellent light and so far (7 months) have been no trouble at all.

Brilliant, those are the ones I was looking at, be very interested to hear how you get on.

Well our 8 x 4W LED GU10 bulbs arrived today, and I've just fitted them in a block alongside another block of 8 x 50W halogens for comparison. Each block of 8 can be switched independently.

The verdict ...

Well I'm quite impressed, but it's definitely a different sort of light which will take some getting used to. My wife wasn't too sure at first, but I think it was simply because it was different, and now after a few hours she is okay with it. When I fitted the first one and switched on I thought, "crikey, that's much brighter than the others", so independently they seem brighter, but overall in the room the effect is about the same.

I hope they last as long as promised.

Great stuff, many thanks for the reply, I may take the plunge and give them a go.

Just sussed what's different about the lighting. On one side of the kitchen there are 8 lights, but on the other side there are now 160 little lights. It's the difference in shadowing that takes some getting used to, there's an almost strobing sort of effect.

Weird, but okay.

How you getting on with the LEDs? Just about to take the plunge I think!

Any more advice on halogen replacements appreciated.

Any more advice on halogen replacements appreciated.

Either get a quality 5-8 watt LED lamp around £25-£30, one around 450-550 lumen's with a 40-60 degree angle or get a 13 watt CFL type around £5. The expected life of the LED one should be around 30,000 to 50,000 hours compared to the CFL one of 6,000 to 10,000 hours.
My main advice is look at the lumen's output, not the wattage. To replace a 50 watt GU10 halogen you need an output of around 550 lumen's.

How long are halogens supposed to last for? It seems everywhere you go that uses halogen lamps, there are blown bulbs. I have 6 in my bedroom. In 8 years of living here, I've not changed one bulb in any other room. We change at least one halogen monthly.
Enviromentally friendly?

How long are halogens supposed to last for? It seems everywhere you go that uses halogen lamps, there are blown bulbs. I have 6 in my bedroom. In 8 years of living here, I've not changed one bulb in any other room. We change at least one halogen monthly.
Enviromentally friendly?

GU10 halogen lamps have an expected lamp life of between 1,500 to 2,000 hours. A lot of factors will decrease the life though, vibration and more importantly heat. Halogen lamps run at such a high temperature that they literally just burn out.
As for environmentally friendly, A quality LED or "energy saver" is your only option.

In my opinion the LED bulb with CREE technology and made in Taiwan, looks better quality.

Hopefully the high quality bulbs will become cheaper as the demand grows.

I bought a torch that uses cree led's and f*** me its bright.

My spam senses are tingling!

All LED lamps should come with at least 2 yrs warranty on them.
Check out a few places like ELG or Electrical247

look outside at the led street lighting