Replacing halogen bulbs with LEDs...

Soldato
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Norway
Getting bored of replacing my halogen bulbs over and over, so I thought i'd take a look at some LED ones to replace them.

Has anyone here made the switch from halogen to LED? I've been reading this article and they mention that you might need to swap out transformers for constant low voltage LED drivers :confused: I'm assuming that's something non-standard?!

I just want to be able to shove them into my existing sockets - job done :D

Also, can anyone recommend any particular brand, or are they all much of a muchness? These ones caught my eye. No idea if they're good or not!
 
Are OCUK still stocking these if so you may be linking to a competitor, believe it or not :S

I would be interested to gauge peoples opinions on these as it's something I want to incorporate in my new house.
 
I have just done this sort of thing.

Although the ones i got



Although they are not bright enough to have them all like this, they are more than adequate to replace 2 out of 4 per room. They also run very cool as well so great on hot days. And at 99p each you can not go wrong.
 
The ones you linked are 230/240v so you wont need trannys / LED drivers, What is your current setup 12v or 240v?

If you have 12v now you could,

Swap the trannys out for drivers (expensive).

Take trannys out and dont replace and change to 240v.


If you have 240v now you can just swap the bulbs.
 
I have noooooooo idea what I have lol :D it's just a "normal setup" as far as i know, so i'll assume it's 240v (currently using GU10 50W halogen bulbs).
 
lol how have you been buying replacement bulbs without knowing the voltage :)

You can find it on the packet for the bulbs or take a bulb out and look, or if really desperate take a look in the loft for trannys or measure the voltage at the fitting with a multimeter
 
Have you considered CFL GU10's?
That's what I've installed, take maybe 20 secs to get to full brightness and they are superb, make sure you get a good make though, I use megaman and they are even dimmerable.
 
I've got some LED down lighters going in to my house in the next few weeks. I say a few it's more like 60 :eek:

I was looking at these:

http://www.halers.com/warm_white_ww/dl_sil_f_ww__evoled/24294_p.html

Which come in around £40 non dimmable and nearer to £50 dimmable from memory. I got a bulk quote for dimmable ones of £42.90 per unit. They come with a 7 year guarantee, are all IP65 rated and have pretty decent Philips bulbs in them. Having said that they're bloody expensive!

Since then by chance I happen to have made contact/friends with an industrial supplier who deals with manufacturers directly and can get me something very similar basically for free due to the sheer size of his bulk orders it's peanuts to him :)
 
yes GU10s are 240v i have them in my kitchen, you can warm yourself in the winter standing underneath them. Didnt realise you can get LED versions, I will have to change mine when all the spares are gone.
 
I did start a thread recently called CFLs vs LEDs but didn't get any replies. Anyway, the pictures I posted were of a strip of 4 LED spots that I bought recently, and they're comparable to 75W halogens. 7.5W per spot.

I've had a few CFLs in my time but never liked them. Even the colour temps of the 'warm white' ones didn't seem that close to me. There's also my low vision - I preferred the sharper definition and shadows that you had from the old tungsten. LEDs also deliver this visual clarity. Being a hobby DJ, I've got some disco lights and most of them are LED, some as early as 2005. Even back then, I thought that LED was practical, so I don't know why we took so long to have it as domestic lights.

But yeah, I hope that LEDs become mainstream. They're better watt-to-watt ratio than CFLs, and meh, the CFLs just drove me nuts.

led1.jpg


led2.jpg


led3.jpg
 
^ Yes, and I'm not sure.

I have a 3 bulbed light fitting in my room, and it uses G9 Halogens. So far, they've been pretty reliable. Only one has gone in near a year.

Doubt you'll get LEDs for that size though? (They're in a cube glass enclosure so space is limited if it's larger than standard halogen G9 size)
 
I've got 16 x 50w gu10s in the kitchen which equates to 800W ! That's like almost 9p an hour on leccy :s

I looked in to these LEDs but aint they half a friggin rip off ? 20 quid a bulb ? Even at 8 quid a bulb I worked out that it would take a year just to break even so I'm still burning halogens until I can find cheap LEDs - Also I got a bit confused with white and warm LEDs. I think the warm are the ones to go for if you're migrating from halogens
 
My dad has just brought some megaman modo par16 gu10 (from a electrical wholesaler cost about £16 ea)

They take less than a second to come to full brighness, and provide about 95% of light compaired to gu10 50w bulbs, and only use 7w of energy ea
 
My dad has just brought some megaman modo par16 gu10 (from a electrical wholesaler cost about £16 ea)

They take less than a second to come to full brighness, and provide about 95% of light compaired to gu10 50w bulbs, and only use 7w of energy ea

Bought.

On topic:

I've been interested in LED bulbs for quite some time, especially ones that fit in halogen fittings. I've got 4 halogen lamps and loads of ceiling spot lights around the house that could really do with being replace, any one got any pictures of their GU10 LED bulbs in use?
 
I have just done this sort of thing.

Although the ones i got



Although they are not bright enough to have them all like this, they are more than adequate to replace 2 out of 4 per room. They also run very cool as well so great on hot days. And at 99p each you can not go wrong.

Where did you get those for 99p?

Do they (LEDs) draw less electricity than a halogen bulb?

Easily less than 10% of the power/electricity for similar brightness.
 
My dad has just brought some megaman modo par16 gu10 (from a electrical wholesaler cost about £16 ea)

They take less than a second to come to full brighness, and provide about 95% of light compaired to gu10 50w bulbs, and only use 7w of energy ea

Yeah the megamans are supposed to be in the top 3 if not best bulb ... I'm sure I was quoted less than a tenner for them - I sure as hell hope they've not gone up in price :mad:

Crazy rip off - They shouldn't cost this much
 
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