LED Bulb Thread

rossk26 · 2 Sep 2014 at 11:48

I'm glad I'm removing all dimming problems!

Thanks for all of your help, it's been really useful, now to find light fixings!

Swarfega · 2 Sep 2014 at 12:58

Participant said:
What to do with them though? It's too many to have hanging around as emergency spares, and they're not worth anything.

I kept mine. You never know when your going to move house. Personally I will be putting the halogens back in

I have some 12V in some rooms. I had to change the driver to an LED compatible one. For that reason when I move the LED's here will have to stay

rossk26 · 2 Sep 2014 at 13:41

One last question just to make sure I'm getting the right bulbs. These are the dimmable bulbs I'm replacing in the master bedroom. I'm going to change the switch from a dimmable to a normal on/off.

Would these bulbs suffice?
http://www.ledhut.co.uk/new-4-6-watt-r50-reflector-led-bulb.html

Imy · 2 Sep 2014 at 13:47

What power rating is the old bulb? I've never seen that shape before - does it light up from the middle or something?

Take a pic of the light fitting.

rossk26 · 2 Sep 2014 at 14:05

They are 40W

They are recessed into the ceiling as spotlights, but they seem to be small screw type fittings.

Will take a photo when I get home this evening.

Imy · 2 Sep 2014 at 14:15

It's ok I get the idea now.

It looks like choices are limited anyhow but here's another option:

http://www.lightrabbit.co.uk/lightwell-r50-5-watt-e14-reflector-led-bulb.html

Brighter but bit less angle (on paper anyway)

R B Customs · 2 Sep 2014 at 15:53

rossk26 said:
They are 40W

They are recessed into the ceiling as spotlights, but they seem to be small screw type fittings.

Will take a photo when I get home this evening.

bah! my old house was full of those things! - all on dimmers too![ the top ones] I don't know what the score is with the fittings/housings but I'm sure they would not meet regs these days (just a guess though)

if you're doing a straight retro-fit to LED's try and get the dimensions first. I had trouble getting suitable replacements for mine but I'm starting to think that they were a one-off-awkward fitting. basically they were really deep and the LED lamps would not screw deep enough in.

the halogen type are reasonably common I think; I just replaced two in my cooker hood!

the small screw fitting is known as 'E14' or sometimes 'SES' (Small Edison Screw)

rossk26 · 2 Sep 2014 at 15:54

Would it be a big job to replace them with GU10 fixings?

TheCrow · 2 Sep 2014 at 20:41

After some advice. Got this in the kitchen just now and the bulbs go all the time so fancy moving to led. Is there an easy swap? I also wouldn't mind getting an led strip if that would be easy to do?

Egon · 3 Sep 2014 at 09:30

Been trying to replace some small G9 halogens that we have in the living room. The light fittings have 5 small 40w bulbs in that kick out a fair bit of light, but they don't seem to last very long so thought I'd replace them with LEDs.

Ordered 10 1.5w replacements from LEDhut in June (took advantage of a quidco offer) but the 1.5w didn't provide anywhere near the same amount of light so I sent them back for a refund.

The quidco offer was back on recently so I ordered the brightest bulb they did which was 4.5w and they arrived yesterday. Have to say they are superb when it comes to how much light they produce, the only problem is they are enormous! They look ridiculous as they stick so far out of the light shade. I'm annoyed with myself that I didn't check the size, I just assumed that all G9s would be identical

Anyone know where I can get some standard sized G9s of a similar wattage (4.5w)?

Imy · 3 Sep 2014 at 09:42

rossk26 said:
Would it be a big job to replace them with GU10 fixings?

Depends what's above your ceiling. GU10 fittings need air around them to dissipate the heat. I had to use loft insulation support boxes to create an air pocket for them. You could also switch to a standard light fixture.

TheCrow said:
After some advice. Got this in the kitchen just now and the bulbs go all the time so fancy moving to led. Is there an easy swap? I also wouldn't mind getting an led strip if that would be easy to do?

Those light fittings will obviously need to be removed and that transformer would need to be swapped out for a 12V one.

You have a choice of single-colour LED strips (2-pin / 8mm) and RGB ones (4-pin / 10mm). You can buy aluminium channels with clear/frosted covers to house the LED strips in or mount them directly. I recommend using the aluminium channels if the strips are going to be visible or are going to be placed where they are exposed to steam (kettle/hob) or splashes.

LED strips usually have 3M double-sided tape on the back so you just peel and stick where you want. The strips can be cut at various points (every 1-2 inches). They can't go around corners but you can join multiple straight lengths of strips together by either soldering the +/- together or using solderless connectors which also come in T/L/X shapes.

They are powered usually by a 12V power supply (have also seen 24V but rare). To calculate the wattage/amperage you need, you first need to know the total length of LED strip you'll be using and the wattage/metre rating of it. A single-colour 3528 5m strip of 300 LEDs is usually 24W (2A) and the 600 LED version is usually 48W (4A).

If any of that sounds too complicated, Ikea also do LED lighting kits:

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/categories/departments/living_room/20515/

Egon said:
Anyone know where I can get some standard sized G9s of a similar wattage (4.5w)?

Don't think you can. Unfortunately there aren't proper equivalent LED bulbs for every fitting. I've recently replaced 4 light fixtures that took those horrid capsule bulbs, partly due to that reason.

Take a look at COB ones on ebay - they might be a fraction smaller than the ones you bought.

TheCrow · 3 Sep 2014 at 15:50

Thanks Imy.

If you have any experience of it, do you think the profile casings are worth it? Do they give off better defused light?

Imy · 3 Sep 2014 at 16:17

Haven't bought any myself (yet) as my first LED strip install is going into a hallway cupboard where the LEDs themselves will be mostly hidden and it's a dry area. So long as you're not looking directly at the LEDs (think Kit from Knight Rider) then the light is fairly defused already.

Forgot to mention earlier, you can get waterproof LED strips.

TheVoice · 3 Sep 2014 at 18:19

Electrician came today to discuss lighting etc, he's recommended these bulbs:
http://www.belllighting.co.uk/lamps/LEDEnergySaverTechnology/CommercialLED/LEDGU10/05107

Opinions? Said he can supply them for a decent enough price but if you folks think I'd be better off with something else (such as the ones I've kindly been recommended previously) I'll do that. These ones do seem a bit...generic.

Imy · 3 Sep 2014 at 19:19

They aren't very bright at all for 5W LED bulbs so guessing old tech. 3000k is not true warm white either.

uncle_rufus · 4 Sep 2014 at 11:50

Hey all,

I just moved into a new house which has spotlights in the bathrooms and kitchen and I think they are already LED... however I have 2 problems

1. The bathroom ones are, as I understand, relatively "warm white" feeling for these type of bulbs... but the kitchen ones are super white and far too cold + clinical feeling for me. So I wanted to swap them out, any recommendations?

2. I can't work out how to get the existing bulbs out!!! Sounds stupid I know but other houses I'm used to having like the exposed face of the bulb flush with the mounting in the ceiling, and a little wire sprung piece in front of it that you squeeze to remove and lets the bulb drop down... These ones appear to have that, but over the top of it is like a more pronounced chrome shroud with a secondary bit of glass/plexi type stuff. I've tried twisting it to see if it unclips/unscrews but I don't want to put too much force into it and break it if that's not how you get them off...

Any ideas (hope I'm explaining clearly enough!)?

R B Customs · 4 Sep 2014 at 12:22

uncle_rufus;26847786 [snip said:
2. I can't work out how to get the existing bulbs out!!! Sounds stupid I know but other houses I'm used to having like the exposed face of the bulb flush with the mounting in the ceiling, and a little wire sprung piece in front of it that you squeeze to remove and lets the bulb drop down... These ones appear to have that, but over the top of it is like a more pronounced chrome shroud with a secondary bit of glass/plexi type stuff. I've tried twisting it to see if it unclips/unscrews but I don't want to put too much force into it and break it if that's not how you get them off...

Any ideas (hope I'm explaining clearly enough!)?

could it be that they're none servicable built in lamps? with down-lights you generally have two options:

1: buy a fitting and a bulb to go in it
2: buy the fitting with an intergrated bulb

you *may* have the latter but since you mentioned a bathroom it could just be that they have an extra layer of sealing from the elements.

Imy · 4 Sep 2014 at 13:01

A photo might help here.

I struggle trying to remove mine with just fingers. You need to use a suction cup to twist anti-clockwise (for GU10s).

The shroud you describe could be a removable cover to make decorating easier.

Swarfega · 4 Sep 2014 at 13:06

They sound like the fire regulated ones I have in the bathroom. You have to twist the chrome edges as if it were a bottle top.

TheVoice · 4 Sep 2014 at 17:27

Imy said:
They aren't very bright at all for 5W LED bulbs so guessing old tech. 3000k is not true warm white either.

Thanks Imy, I'll look at the alternatives then.