LED lighting General discussion, read here before posting a question.

josip

Swapped out our 50W 12V downlights for the 8W Phillips Master Leds yesterday and I'm very happy that I waited until the 8Ws were in stock.
They appear to me to be at best AS bright as our existing halogens.
I would imagine that the 6W and definitely the 4W, would have been noticeably less bright than the particular halogens we had.

The warm white also seem to be slightly yellower than the hallogens at full power. I think I'll go for the cool white for the kitchen swap out.
Thanks to all who offered advice on what must have been one of the longest planned projects here :rolleyes:

Stoner

i think that's a good choice, just be prepared for some drop off in intensity. Also keep the receipt Philips are very good for changing out lamps that fail.

nukin_futs

I've just started doing some research on swopping out our current halogen MR16s to LEDs. The above offer is available from http://www.ibood.com/ie/en until 11pm tonight.
Can anyone tell me if I am right in thinking this connection is compatible?
and if this is a good price? It appears to be good compared with one from amazon for £13.99.

If not could you point me in another direction please?
(I have been trying to have alook around amazon but so far am bombarded with the variety of specs and brands)
EDIT: Some discussion about this ofer over on Bargain Alerts

Specs of the above, as per ibood:

• Brand: Philips
• Type: 4 -pack Philips LED spots
• Quantity: 4 spots (4-pack)
• Recommended based on consumer tests
• True incandescent-like warm white light, but saves you at least 80% in energy consumption
• Lifetime up to 20 years
• Shape: Spot (MR16)
• Fitting/Cap: GU5.3
• Wattage: 6.5 W
• Wattage equivalent: 50W
• Lumen: 380 lm
• Color: Warm White
• Color temperature: 2700 K
• Beam angle: 36 degree
• Light intensity: 1200 cd
• Lifetime of lamp: 20,000 hours
• Dimmable: No
• Voltage: 12 V
• Lamp current: 660 mA
• Color rendering index (CRI): >80
• Dimensions ( W x H x D ) : 5 x 4.8 x 5 cm
• Weight: 0.46 kg
• Warranty: 2 years

EDIT: Discussion of this offer over on Bargain Alerts.

josip

I've just completed an MR16 swap out of 15 50W bulbs.
After much research I decided that since this could very well be a "once in a lifetime" event due to 35,000 hours life expectancy, I decided that I should spend a few extra hundred euro now and do the job properly rather than spend the next 25 years regretting some corner I cut. So, my requrements were

1. Economical - So it seemed like a better solution to replace the traffos (and associated losses) and put in GU10 fittings.
2. Reliable - A reasonably big investement, I wanted something that would last and I decided the safest way to get this was with a recognised brand
3. Dimmable - The current lights are on a dimmer that we do use occasionally and I didn't want to ever think in the future, "Pity we can't dim them like we used to"
4. At least as bright. I don't know how many lumens our 50W gave out but from reading around it was unlikely to be less than 400lm.

So I got the 8W Dimmable Master LEDs. They matched up perfectly with the 2 500W and 1 250W dimmer modules so I didn't have to replace those. I did have to replace the bulb holder because the heatsink on the 8W is too big for what was there.


I'm very happy I got the 8W. Anything less would definetly have been dimmer than the 50W.



So all in I spent around 350-400. Payback time whenever.

Plus, the electrician who put in the 50W downlights 3 years ago has agreed to buy them back from me at €5 a set

yop

Folks
I bought new LED bulbs MR16 for the kitchen , the lights don't have dimmer switches.
I have attached pics of the transformer and lights.

What I noted is the lights are flickering like hell, then they stop or one of them stops and then go back flickering again.

I checked the transformer and even though there is no dim switch, they are saying "Dimmable".

So I suppose I am asking the obvious question, but am I caught now with bulbs that are no use as they are non dimmable?

Thanks

freddyuk

You need an LED constant current power source (driver) which you have not got. Your existing transformer is rated too high so not getting sufficient watts to work. You cannot use Halogen transformers on LED bulbs.
Just get one LED driver for all the bulbs that is sufficient watts to cover the total load.

yop

freddyuk wrote: »

You need an LED constant current power source (driver) which you have not got. Your existing transformer is rated too high so not getting sufficient watts to work. You cannot use Halogen transformers on LED bulbs.
Just get one LED driver for all the bulbs that is sufficient watts to cover the total load.

Thanks for the reply.
So I have one of them transformer on every single spot I have in the house.

So I have to get 1 LED driver, which one is suited to them lights do you mind me asking!
http://www.lightrabbit.ie/led-drivers.html

I need to remove the single transformers I have there and wire in a single driver?

freddyuk

You need 8-10w driver. I don't know how many lights you have or if you can get to the wiring but if you add all the 6w together an get a driver that covers the total wattage it is same result. Failing that you need to replace all the traffos for drivers - yes. I am surprised they don't mention this. Maybe a dodgy sales tactic.

Actually looking at the site they do mention the drivers. Seems they have 6w so if they agree that is sufficient for the 6w bulbs then go with them. You can't have less than the bulb rating so I would normally have slightly more.

yop

freddyuk wrote: »

You need 8-10w driver. I don't know how many lights you have or if you can get to the wiring but if you add all the 6w together an get a driver that covers the total wattage it is same result. Failing that you need to replace all the traffos for drivers - yes. I am surprised they don't mention this. Maybe a dodgy sales tactic.

Actually looking at the site they do mention the drivers. Seems they have 6w so if they agree that is sufficient for the 6w bulbs then go with them. You can't have less than the bulb rating so I would normally have slightly more.

Ah dead on.
I can get to them in the kitchen over the kitchen units which are the main ones that are on for 8 hours a day now this time of year, 4 in total.
the ones in the ceilings though all I can get to is the indiviual transformers, I MIGHT be able to run wire betweem them and wire a couple together.

Probably a sly ploy or they assumed I knew exactly what I was at!

Crazy Eye

free led light bulbs in ikea today place was packed this morning loads of people quing to get them
http://www.ikea.com/ie/en/store/dublin/special_offers

SCOOP 64

Thinking of buying these, anybody brought something like these before, anygood?

5.5w 27sdm warm white with glass cover
500-550 lumen
€37 delivered for 10 Bulbs

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Buy-8-Get-2-Free-GU10-60-SMD-LED-Spot-Light-Lamp-Saving-Bulb-60W-Halogen-UK-/281137077338

Steve

Haven't bought them but looking at the specs I'd be a bit skeptical.

2700k is a 'warm white', these ones are 3200-3500k or 6000-6500k so they will emit a 'blue' white. OK for a kitchen maybe but not for a living area.

They say 500-550lm but over 120deg so they won't be particularly bright. A decent one from a mainstream manufacturer will be 40-60 deg with the same lm.

ted1

SCOOP 64 wrote: »

Thinking of buying these, anybody brought something like these before, anygood?

5.5w 27sdm warm white with glass cover
500-550 lumen
€37 delivered for 10 Bulbs

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Buy-8-Get-2-Free-GU10-60-SMD-LED-Spot-Light-Lamp-Saving-Bulb-60W-Halogen-UK-/281137077338

I'm not a fan of cluster LEDs. the technology in them is very old compared to single LED lamps.

heffo500

I have bought 12 of these now and find them brilliant and excellent value, sent them to the parcelmotel the price of them seems to fluctuate cheapest I got them was £14.99 for 4 plus €3.50 for parcel motel, excellent light seem brighter than 35w halogen rated a 4w.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00GQVXEU0/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Stoner

heffo500 wrote: »

I have bought 12 of these now and find them brilliant and excellent value, sent them to the parcelmotel the price of them seems to fluctuate cheapest I got them was £14.99 for 4 plus €3.50 for parcel motel, excellent light seem brighter than 35w halogen rated a 4w.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00GQVXEU0/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Yes they are a good lamp, 270 lumens I think, vs 180lm the master, but they don't dim or last as long but you really notice the difference,I don't use dimmers anyway

vibe666

I just got two of these in warm white as a test and I'm very happy with them.

5w and dimmable, not cluster led either.

http://www.lightmylife.com/Product/View/gu10vp5/GU10-LED-Bulb-5W-Spotlight-Wide-Beam-Angle--50W-Equivalent--330-Lumen.html

I was worried as I don't know what type of dimmer I have in the house as its a push button type, not a dial, so I didn't want to replace them all at once in case they didn't work with the dimmer switches, but they're grand.

The two on the left are the led's, both sides full brightness.



they're not the cheapest out there, but they come with a 5 year warranty, the output is good (imho) and they dimmable, so ticked all my boxes.

vibe666

I'd also like to thank Capt. Midnight for putting me onto the Osram DuLED dual CFL and LED bulbs. I wasn't able to find them cheaply in bricks and mortar shops, but they are available on Amazon for about £10 each, which slough it seems expensive for a CFL, but I've been finding that about 90% odd the time, I only need to use the LED par
which is only pouring out 0.3W per bulb that gives off a similar light to a clear night with a big full moon, which is more than sufficient for most things during the night.

They are perfect for hallways, bedrooms and bathrooms, particularly if you have kids as they are bright enough to see to go for a pee, but not bright enough to wake you up too much in the middle of the night.

I especially like that they don't need any special light switches, you just turn it on once for the LED, then turn it off and back on within 5 seconds to switch to the CFL bulb.

As with all CFL's, 8W is fine for bedrooms and hallways, but go for the higher power ones for bathrooms or kitchens.

OnLooker

I've started looking into replacing my 50W Halogen MR16 spotlights in my bathroom. There are four of them each running on their own 12V Transformer.

What do people think is the best approach? Use the Philips retro-fit bulbs? Replace the transformers with LED Drivers? Move to GU10 fittings or stay with MR16?

Any help greatly appreciated.

ted1

the easiest option would be to change over to GU10 as you'll need a separate LED driver for each lamp and this will just add to costs.

FMartinp

ted1 wrote: »

the easiest option would be to change over to GU10 as you'll need a separate LED driver for each lamp and this will just add to costs.

Agree that changing over to GU10 is the way to go. A friend of mine has just changed about 40 x 12v 50w's over to 5w Lumeno GU10 with GU10 lamp holders and is very happy with the light output. Also heard that Click have a nice 6w GU10 that's also dimmable and is 2700k.

vibe666

FMartinp wrote: »

Agree that changing over to GU10 is the way to go. A friend of mine has just changed about 40 x 12v 50w's over to 5w Lumeno GU10 with GU10 lamp holders and is very happy with the light output. Also heard that Click have a nice 6w GU10 that's also dimmable and is 2700k.

linky?

or details?

keithclancy

Was looking at a Philips Living Color lamp and after a bit of research decided to try some RGB LED Bulbs.

http://www.amazon.de/IWY-RGB-Wei%C3%9F-Farbwechsel-Gl%C3%BChbirne-Controller/dp/B00EXOY9SS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1389346942&sr=8-2&keywords=iwy

You can get them cheaper elsewhere but I tend to buy via Amazon as I live in the Netherlands and work in Germany so Amazon is about the only crowd I don't have issues with the billing address for delivery to work

Setup is a bit 'exploratory' but not too bad, joining it to the existing Wifi Network and also finding the right app on the Android/Applestore took a while (called milight)

Seeing the few complaints about them I can understand why, a new wifi bridge comes with it that the old app doesn't work with and the instructions still reflect that, i got the setup info from here:

http://www.limitlessled.com/dev/

The app allows you to control up to 4 sets of lights and has a full color spectrum + different modes (e.g. slow color transition)

Works on the wifes iPhone and my Motorola G.
Also came with a remote that works the same way but I might just use that for some upstairs lights.

Once it was all done i'm actually very impressed with them, the White light output is warm and better than the previous CFLs I had (Ikea)

I went for the 9W as there were some complaints about the white output from the 6W bulbs

Their sold under various name (Limitless Led, Milight, IWY and a few others) you can get them cheaper on eBay for example.

Thinking I might get some for the Garden now as they would be nice for the summer and also handy as I can turn them off once I get outside with my bicycle.

Got these really as the wifi bridge works with the 2.4Ghz generic downlights, strips etc.

I'll post a video if anyone is interested.

keithclancy

Also ...does anyone have suggestions on some GU10 replacements, have lights with 4 50W spots in them in 2 rooms so need 8 replacement bulbs.

Looking for something warm.

cdev

keithclancy wrote: »

Also ...does anyone have suggestions on some GU10 replacements, have lights with 4 50W spots in them in 2 rooms so need 8 replacement bulbs.

Looking for something warm.

I got 4 of these last week:

http://www.electricirelandstore.ie/Product/Osram-7-Watt-230-volt-LED-spotlight-with-GU10-base-non-dimmable/1331/611

(thanks to talkabout who posted this bargain over on the Bargain Alerts forum)

Decent price (and free delivery if you order 4 or more).

They're certainly bright enough and the light is pretty warm. Seem like good value too.

keithclancy

cdev wrote: »

I got 4 of these last week:

http://www.electricirelandstore.ie/Product/Osram-7-Watt-230-volt-LED-spotlight-with-GU10-base-non-dimmable/1331/611

(thanks to talkabout who posted this bargain over on the Bargain Alerts forum)

Decent price (and free delivery if you order 4 or more).

They're certainly bright enough and the light is pretty warm. Seem like good value too.

Nice one,
Found them for 7.80 a piece with free shipping to my work address

Thanks!

http://www.smdv.de/products/394799/LED-58-mm-Osram-230-V-GU10-7-W-50-W-Reflektor.html?ref=19&products_model=X27062&utm_source=idealo&utm_medium=CPC&utm_campaign=X27062

FMartinp

vibe666 wrote: »

linky?

or details?

Sorry I've been away with no access to e-mails etc. Google Lumeno 5w and Click dimmable 6w for info.

Missyelliot2

We moved over 6 months ago, but our electricity bills are HUGE! We have put this down to the halogen lights we have in the landing, kitchen, living room etc. All the places everyone lives!!!
There are 10 lights in our landing - it's not huge, but all 10 come on when the light switch is turned on. I don't know if we can control this - 3 would do us.

Is there any brand of LED we could buy (I know they are expensive, but hate handing over so much to an electric company).
We live in a 'passive house' - oh the irony!!!!!
Thanks for any advice!

2011

I am moving this to our LED lighting Sticky.
You should get all of the information you need there.

phelixoflaherty

could you not take out seven bulbs until you get the next bill and see if it makes any difference.

Missyelliot2

phelixoflaherty wrote: »

could you not take out seven bulbs until you get the next bill and see if it makes any difference.

Thanks....will do that, but we have these all over the house (I only used the hall as an example). I was just hoping not to get another huge bill. I really don't mind paying a bit extra for the lights- but paying 'electric ireland' is galling!

They are 'spotlights ' in out house, - we have no ceiling lights and no lamps (not brave enough for the ikea trip yet!)