Possible to replace standard bulbs with LED?

TheBigCheese

TheBigCheese

TheBigCheese

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Gah, just had a lightbulb explode when switched on and spray the whole room with glass, will take hours to clear up tomorrow!

Has anyone tried replacing normal bulbs with led? I would be wanting 100w equivalent but a quick search suggests that aren't really available and they are one directional
only... the tech seems a bit new still.

Anyone tried led for bayonet fitting?

Cheers.
 
Philips do their Luxeon Novalure and Myaccent range of LED bayonet bulbs.

They do them in 3W - which are no-where near as bright as any low wattage incadescent bulbs - and definately not anywhere near 100W bulb..... you also have to get use to the fact the light is totally different to both incandescent and flourescent (in that it doesn't spread/scatter, and therefor doesn't produce shadows) - the 3W is meant to be equivelent to a 15W incandescent - but I wouldn't agree.

It also means you rooms will heat up even less than with flourescents or incandescents.

They are however (supposed) to last 20,000 hours - or an average of 15 years.

I have a number of different LEDs - in bayonets, GU10s - spots and candle fittings etc - and have had to replace 2 out of approx 20 LED bulbs in the last 4 years simply becuase the driver circuits have burnt out - and not the actual LEDs.

That said - you do get use to having low light in the house, and I really don't understand peoples obsession with having 4,6 or 8 50W / 100W spots/bulbs in every single room in their house/or stairs/layered around the outside of their house etc - and I have saved a fortune in electricity over the last few years.
 
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Nightmare in my house as it had 56 50w gu10 bulbs. Mega expensive to run. I have so far changed half to 3w led. Huge cost savings for me. 300w to light up a bedroom, now 18w!
 
i use aurora led (4 or 6w ) very good and most importantly they give off a warm light instead of that typical blue led glare.
 
GU10s LEDs are quite interesting in that they can appear to be on at a very low level due to induction (they only need a very low voltage to operate)! I have this issue in my upstairs loo and I thought I must have had a bad earth or something but after having some testing done, it seems not!
 
[FnG]magnolia;21226303 said:
I don't think I've seen a LED bulb for a house before. What's the difference/point?

e : hang on, what? No shadows?
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+ Very cheap to run
+ Much more reliable than halogens
+ Low operating temperature

- Light temperature is higher
- Unless you pick the right type, light output may be unsuitable for application


Not sure about this no shadows lark either!
 
light bulbs is one of hte only technologys that went backwards...

I never thought to stock up on proper bulbs so was stuck for years using yellow crud slow rubbish power saving ones...

went to homebase and found you can now get bayonet normal type halogen bulbs... wow what a difference its like being in the 1980's again... I flick the light switch and INSTANST white (bright) light....

all the rooms I need proper light I put the new (well maybe they have been out for ages and I never noticed) halogen bulbs.. all the bedrooms/ halls/ living room still have the crud since is does not matter... (so study and work areas you can now see properly in)
 
Yes i have seen GU 10 LED bulbs in the B&Q and may invest in some for a new kitchen light.

A work colleague did have some cheapish ones but were unreliable and just didn't have the same luminocity of halogens. Anyway he went for some posher ones ( i'm guessing with high intensity LED's) and can't half tell the difference.
 
Night_mamba said:
Yes i have seen GU 10 LED bulbs in the B&Q and may invest in some for a new kitchen light.

A work colleague did have some cheapish ones but were unreliable and just didn't have the same luminocity of halogens. Anyway he went for some posher ones ( i'm guessing with high intensity LED's) and can't half tell the difference.
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DON'T get the B&Q LED ones! I have them and they aren't great - I'm going to replace them soon.

BTW - regarding energy saving bulbs, is it me or do lots of them make a really annoying humming sound. It drives me mad. :( I also hate how long even the powerful ones take to come on - it's a depressing, dull light for a while until they hit full power.

I'll have a look for some of those halogen ones mentioned above.
 
if theyre not producing a shadow then that means the light is being scattered. (im thinking about this in a photography point of view when you diffuse a flash and it scatters creating softer light with less shadow).

unless he means something else.
 
PianoBasher said:
BTW - regarding energy saving bulbs, is it me or do lots of them make a really annoying humming sound. It drives me mad. :(
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Yeah some do some don't, I've had a few that give off a strange smell... like a hot electrical type of smell.

PianoBasher said:
I also hate how long even the powerful ones take to come on - it's a depressing, dull light for a while until they hit full power.
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Yeah not to mention they contain Mercury, strange considering the whole point behind them is to be greener.

neil_g said:
if theyre not producing a shadow then that means the light is being scattered. (im thinking about this in a photography point of view when you diffuse a flash and it scatters creating softer light with less shadow).

unless he means something else.
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I think it's more because light isn't radiated 360 degrees like a normal light bulb, instead it's more targetted like a torch (with multiple LED's) I think.
 
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I never liked CFLs (energy saving bulbs) but I am embracing LEDs, as I've been using them for 6 years already as DMX (intelligent lights). Got 4 x 7.5W LEDs in the kitchen and they're having having 4 normal 75W incandescents. Bulbs are still expensive, so I'm waiting for the technology to mature before I kit out the rest of the house.
 
PianoBasher said:
DON'T get the B&Q LED ones! I have them and they aren't great - I'm going to replace them soon.

BTW - regarding energy saving bulbs, is it me or do lots of them make a really annoying humming sound. It drives me mad. :( I also hate how long even the powerful ones take to come on - it's a depressing, dull light for a while until they hit full power.

I'll have a look for some of those halogen ones mentioned above.
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Yer i know, B&Q quality is poor sometimes. As for the humming, its probable the circuitry regulating down to LED voltages. Tech will improve soon enough..
 
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Thanks for all the posts guys, really interesting to read!

Can you link to any sites/shops that sell suitable ones, 75w equivilant would probably do the trick, as could halogen maybe.

Spent the best part of the day clearing hundreds of shards of broken glass for all over the room and surfaces so anything will be an improvement as long as it provides the light!
 
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/320789882777?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

those are the best gu10 one i have come across.

I bought 20+ different ones off ebay to test, those offer the brightest light also the have a slightly warmer light.

Very very close to a 50 watt halogen also offer similar spread pattern as well.

Had them installed for around 5 months now, and not a single one has stopped working. Where by now i would have need to replace about 3-4 halogen bulbs.
 
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