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

2011

flogen wrote: »

Are battery-powered LED strip lighting easy to pick up in any shops? I want to put some into a cabinet and there's no power source nearby so would rather steer clear of any mains powered or plug-in ones.

Easy peasy.
Example: Connect a 12 V battery to 12 V led lights and they will work.

flogen

2011 wrote: »

Easy peasy.
Example: Connect a 12 V battery to 12 V led lights and they will work.

Great, thanks... just spotted that Home Store & More sell a 1m strip with a battery pack attached for €3 too - even easier!

Irish Steve

For what it's worth, I've been wanting to change out a significant number of 50 W 12 V halogen downlighters for a number of years, but the LED alternatives were either very expensive, or not quite up to the lumen levels that would cover the application. With the recent changes that made Halogen no longer acceptable, that situation has changed, and there were now some alternatives that could do the job. I could have put GU10 LED units in some time ago, but the disadvantage of doing that was that the downlighters allowed significant draughts to pass through the units, and with a considerable part of the roof void being dormer, the air in that area is cold, so we were losing significant heat through the downlighters.

I have now replaced the downlights with a Tegral 8W unit, (natural white) using a Philips driver, and while there was quite a bit of work to do to remove the old transformers and lights, and changing the opening meant doing some serious fiddling with a 110mm hole saw fitted with a special alignment device to get the hole in the right place, (the old downlighters were a square hole, so the hole saw had no way for the drill to guide the saw), it's been worth doing the job, both in terms of significantly reducing the electric load (25 downlights replaced), the reduction in draught is also significant, which will make the change even more worth while.

Now they are in, the light levels are as good or slightly better than the old Halogen bulbs, and while it's going to take a while to recover the cost of the units in reduced electricity bills, the removal of the draughts will be a significant additional saving of heat.

The biggest aggravation is that the drivers for the lights are fitted with relatively short cables, and that cable is a lot lighter than the standard wire that's used to wire up the lighting circuits, so ensuring a good connection in the junction box is tedious, especially if there are a number of feed wires to be accommodated in the junction box, fortunately, the driver wires are tinned, so easier to trap in the junction.

What's also been helpful is that some of the discounters like Mr Price are now stocking LED bulbs that will fit into existing lights, and most pleasing has been the appearance (at last) of LED's with Bayonet fittings, and in shapes other than the standard bulb shapes, which had meant I could upgrade the wall lights in several rooms, they had 40 or 60 W Bayonet candle bulbs, and the LED replacements for them have also been a success, both in terms of the light output and the price.

I guess the summary is that at last, it's possible to retrofit LED's to replace earlier lights, without compromising on the light levels or appearance of the light, and at last, the price to do it is reasonable. It's been a long time coming.

Cherrycola

Has anyone had any issues with Luceco led bulbs from Woodies, basically stopping working after a few weeks, when they are meant to last 10yrs+!
I've had one go completely and now another one is starting to malfunction, dimming for a split second every 20-30 secs. This is what happened the other one before it stopped working too.

rsynnott

I recently got some ikea ledare 6w bulbs to replace some GU10 halogens. Mostly they're great, but I have one particular light fitting they don't fit; they're a little fatter than standard halogen GU10s at the base.

I then got an Osram one that's the same shape as the halogens to test. It works fine, but makes a high pitched coil-whine-y noise. There's no dimmer.

Can anyone recommend a GU10 that's close to the same size as a halogen one, and silent? Ideally something I can get in Dublin so I can try one without buying enough for the fitting until I'm sure it works.

jprboy

^^^^^^

Philips Master GU10s. Got the 4W version of these back in Mar 2013.

No problem fitting them, they're silent and despite being used for a few hours each day (extra in winter), most of them are still working.

rsynnott

Great, thanks, will give them a go!

whitelightrider

Hi Folks,

Ive got a number of halogen downlighters and some strip lights to change out.
Can anyone recommend anywhere thats good value to source the bulbs?

Hotblack Desiato

Aldi.

Woodie's is good value when there is a sale on but not at normal prices.

whitelightrider

To switch from Halogen downlighters, that have transformers attached, how would I change these out for LED downlighters?

salmocab

whitelightrider wrote: »

To switch from Halogen downlighters, that have transformers attached, how would I change these out for LED downlighters?

You need to get the transformers removed and replace with GU10 fittings. Then get GU10 leds which are widely available. this means you can keep your current light fittings but the bit inside the ceiling will be changed its quite cost effective and a simple job for an electrician.

Hotblack Desiato

Usually it's one transformer per light fitting, which makes converting them an easy DIY job, but technically illegal in the bathroom :rolleyes:

I got a pack of these and deleted the transformers. I did the kitchen and used Osram LEDs from Woodies 2 years ago which are still working great. Last year I did a second room and used Status LEDs from Aldi which are just as good as the Osrams and working great too.

rsynnott

rsynnott wrote: »

I recently got some ikea ledare 6w bulbs to replace some GU10 halogens. Mostly they're great, but I have one particular light fitting they don't fit; they're a little fatter than standard halogen GU10s at the base.

I then got an Osram one that's the same shape as the halogens to test. It works fine, but makes a high pitched coil-whine-y noise. There's no dimmer.

Can anyone recommend a GU10 that's close to the same size as a halogen one, and silent? Ideally something I can get in Dublin so I can try one without buying enough for the fitting until I'm sure it works.

In case anyone else has the same issue, I got ikea lunnom for this in the end. Very close to the shape of conventional halogen GU10s, 3 euro each, seem to work nicely. Worth noting that they're not dimmable.

darrenheaphy

Man, searching for LED bulbs is frustrating. I need to get 12 non-dimmable GU10 LED bulbs to be fitted outside into a roof overhang. Any suggestions on what and where to get them? There's so so so many variations!

Effects

I was just on the phone with LED Robus to discuss the differences between their Emerald and Diamond GU10 lamps. Besides warranty, quality of light, Lumen op and how well they dim there's also a difference in price. €16 vs €12.

The electrician on my job tells me the part numbers I gave him for the Emerald lamps are obsolete. They aren't and I figure it's just an excuse to use cheaper lamps. Where do I stand with requesting he use the ones I want? The job was priced, without mention on what type of lamps would be going in, at €80 +vat each. I don't want to end up being stuck with cheap lamps that I'm not happy with and leaving him with a higher profit margin.

thirtythirty

Hi all

Just new lights and dimmer put in kitchen; 4 are non-dimmable on a switch which work fine, 2 are hanging dimmable LEDs which work fine, and 2 are dimmable LEDs (same light type as first 4).

Unfortunately the 4 dimmable buzz slightly yet audibly even at max brightness.

Is this a switch issue, or a bulb issue?

Which would you change first?
I've read here about things not being "rated", are there any examples of what an uprated switch / bulb would mean, or what pairs play nice together?

Thanks