Energy Saving Sunken Spotlight bulbs?

TinTin_57

Last year when we had the kitchen re-fitted, sunken spotlights were added. I believe the bulbs are probably halogen as they certainly give off some heat when you are stood under them. My OWL energy monitor shows a rise of about 8p per hour when these lights are on. Are there energy saving bulbs available for these type of lights and if so does anyone know the approximate cost? We've 8 of these lights.

Thanks in advance.

Fire_Fox

Take one of the bulbs out to find out what type (e.g. GU10/ MR16) and power they use (e.g. 50W). Without that information it's a bit of a "how long is a piece of string?" question!

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1419979

FairyElephant_2

I believe, from your description, that your lights are similar to my kitchen ones - it which case the answer is yes, but the low-energy replacement ones are quite expensive to buy in the first place, and I have to say that they do take a while to 'warm up' and get to full brightness, so maybe an idea to replace sopme of them rather than all? (this is what we have ended up doing).

Try Screwfix (you can look online, when you know exactly what sort the lamps are), this is where we found they werwe cheapest, but I'm sorry I can't remember how much they were now!

HTH,

FE

rog2

We have the same problem, Tin-Tin. Last week I bought five 'screw' in bulbs from Tesco (5 for 40p) - the fitting was right, but because the existing 'spots' are sunk in, then only about half of the stick was visible, making the kitchen too dark.
I did see the energy saving 'spots' in Tesco, but they were £2.89 each :eek: :eek: . I took the bulbs back to Tesco, as they were of no use to me, to change for ordinary 'bayonet' energy bulbs, but the 'offer' had finished.
I felt a bit guilty at requesting a refund for 40p, but as the bulbs were of no use to us, I had no alternative.
Consequently, whilst most of the house is lit by low energy bulbs at an average of 11 watts per room, wehave the cooking area of our kitchen, measuring no more than 12' by 8' which continues to consume 240 watts. :mad: :mad:

Am saving for the spots. :rolleyes:

greenbee

I've looked in a number of places for replacement for my halogens, and like rog2, I'm going to have to save up! I think I'll end up buying them one at a time as the bulbs go... much as I did when CFLs first came out and were so expensive!

Make_do_and_mend

We have just moved house and the house has over 100 of these spotlights. We replaced around 5 in the first week at £1.50 a time. Two weeks ago the lights blew in the living room (they had been fitted as part of an extension 6 months ago). We called out an electrician, who said the wiring was 8 out of 10 dangerous - too much insulation next to the wires.

He advised us changing the spots room by room over time, as they are £10 a time, but use only 7watts each as opposed to 50 watts each. He also said that they would last for years, (can't remember the exact number of hours but it was loads) and significantly reduce out electricity bill.

The only thing is, as they are quite new out, they don't work with a dimmer switch just yet. We have replaced the lights for safety and the light is acceptable, but maybe not as warm as before. Perhaps go to a specialist trade lighting shop, for advice.

By the way, not all of these new style lamps will fit into the recesses if they are not deep enough, take one to try out first before you buy alot of them. Hope this helps.
Dreading outr first electricity bill!

mallymal

We really need a sparky to answer the original question here (which I'm not!)...

We too have sunken halogen spotlights. On ours each lamp has its own little transformer up in the ceiling void, so each runs at 12volts.

I too would like to replace with LED (same as you see on car lights of latest Audis etc, so getting super bright) but I'd heard that even if I get a 12 volt LED bulb with the same pins etc as my halogen bulb, the transformer will be wrong, andf that I would need a special LED trasnformer... that would be pricey, as there's 9 lights on the kitchen.

Can any sparky's confirm this???

Mal

BOGUSDUDE!

Ive just moved into a new house which is full of spotlights, all 50w halogens, and obviously I want to change energy saving bulbs and was thinking along the lines of LED. I know the light generated from LED's is low,but I have 16 lights in my kitchen alone! you can see my house from space
(when they're all working!):mad:

My problem is the connectors are all MR16, I know you can get LED bulbs for MR16 connections but ive been told they are very hard to get hold of and just had a quick search online and all I can seem to find is GU10's. Would it be worth my while changing all the connections to GU10's? or is this just a waste of time?

Thanks

Fire_Fox

If it's too bright as is, why don't you switch to all MR16 Dichroics (i.e. standard halogen) in 20W or 35W or a mix of both? These are super cheap (unlike LEDs) and don't require any rewiring. You will obviously lose some light.

Slightly more expensive are Philips Masterline ES or Osram Decostar IRC which both come in 20W=35W or 30/35W =50W brightness, i.e. no loss of light.

Penelope_Penguin

I'll add this to the existing thread we have on this subject, to keep ideas together

BOGUSDUDE!

Fire_Fox wrote: »

If it's too bright as is, why don't you switch to all MR16 Dichroics (i.e. standard halogen) in 20W or 35W or a mix of both? These are super cheap (unlike LEDs) and don't require any rewiring. You will obviously lose some light.

Slightly more expensive are Philips Masterline ES or Osram Decostar IRC which both come in 20W=35W or 30/35W =50W brightness, i.e. no loss of light.

Thanks for the quick response Fire Fox!!

Tried that already, halogens just keep blowing! the 20w ones more or less go straight away!

Was told that its because they are over heating, theres a bedroom above the kitchen so the lights are between ceiling of the kitchen and under the floorboards of the bedroom, and there are a lot of lights in a small area.

Was thinking along the lines of the low energy bulbs creating a lot less heat and a lot less light.

All my connectors are MR16 and with the energy saving MR16 bulbs being hard to get hold off which means more expensive, would I be better changing all the connectors to GU10s given me more options and maybe cheaper bulbs. Is the reason MR16 bulbs so hard to get because nobody uses them and soon they will be scrapped. GU10 connectors are about a £1 each so wouldnt be a massive outlay to change just dont know if im doing it unnecessarily! or am I just thinking about this too much!