Energy Efficient Replacement Halogen Bulbs....Recommendations please

Sybarite

I have a new flat with 36xGU10 halogen downlighters each at 50w - the !!!!!!s pop every 2 months (due to a build flaw in the ceiling) use excessive electricity and are costing me a fortune.

Does anyone know of a reliable source of energy saving GU10s, preferably the 21 LED variety (as not all of the flourescent tube varieties fit in my ceiling) ideally for less than £10 each - £360 seems a bit excessive for the whole flat.

Help appreciated, I've been searching for a while.

HappySad

I am interested in this also. The thing about energy saving light bulbs is that you don't spend half your life changing them every few months. I have energy almost everywhere and it seams like years before I have to buy another one.

Ikea is great for low cost energy saving light bulbs and so is Netto..

But for halogen I would not know where to look. I will ask at my local electrical shop and see what they say.

It must be a nightmare having to change all those bulbs every 2 months. You must be changing several every week!!!!

Sybarite

Thanks for this.

Homebase sell GU10 replacements bulbs of the 'tube' variety, but these are still £9 each on a 10% day and I have difficulty fitting them in my ceiling as they're slightly longer than conventional bulbs.

However I have tried them and the light is about the same as halogen, it does take longer for the bulbs to reach their full lumens but at 7w rather than 50w they produce very little heat and last much longer.

Halogen downlighters are horrible things to have at home, they produce glaring light and shadow, are very hot, cost a fortune and aren't economic to run.

Search continues....

Mr_Proctalgia

I know Ikea sell a Compact Flourescent version of the GU10 because I have one but I cannot remember the price, it was around a fiver I think.

gromituk

In my experience, if it's a light bulb sold at Ikea it'll be impossible to beat on price.

I'm quite impressed that they can squash a fluorescent tube into a GU10 casing.

I have a couple of GU10 LED lamps which I bought from TLC. I see they've got a bit cheaper since then. They have lots of outlets.

Don't expect them to be as bright as tungsten ones, but then it sounds like you've got too much lighting. I used mine as interior illumination for a cupboard.

Weymouth_Man

Have you had a look at
http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/sea/searchresults.jsp;jsessionid=NAQYFEPKVRO0CCSTHZOSFFA?_dyncharset=UTF-8&howMany=5&searchText=GU10+LED+lamps+&x=7&y=5

gromituk

Interesting that they do them, but tends to confirm my suspicion that Screwfix is becoming ever less competitive.

yds3

GU 10 bulbs
Have you tried http://www.light-store.co.uk/catalog/index.php/cPath/1?osCsid=cd40d9286106a1b0acc40be919e7fa6a

Box of 50 for £35 for aluminium halogen bulbs

Halogen bulbs need a lot of air to flow round then to cool, fine if you want to cook something and in cars that are moving and cooling the headlights.

You must have a high electricity bill.

diytools.co.uk do GU10 led lights, these are about about £20 each, but before you fall down with shock there are two things to consider with LED lighting, no actually three things.

1. Led lighting is the lighting of the future and R&D is ongoing, improving light output and reducing cost.

2. The Life of an LED bulb is a very long time more than energy bulbs as these things produce hardly any heat.

3. A 16 white LED GU10 produces less than 2 watts, yes thats about a 25 times less than a halogen bulb and a 1/3 less that an energy bulb.

weigh this against your annual cost.

The LEDs are softer lighting, there is a downsided, white LEDs tend to be very, very slightly blueish, due to the white LEDs construction.

A few searchs on a shopping bot probably yeild a cheaper result. Or a visit to a local electrical distributor and ask for a price break may help to keep the cost down.

gromituk

yds3 wrote:

A 16 white LED GU10 produces less than 2 watts, yes thats about a 25 times less than a halogen bulb and a 1/3 less that an energy bulb.

Be careful with those comparisons. These lamps are supposed to be equivalent to a 20W halogen (which is 10 times more), and in practice I don't think they reach that. But your other points I agree with.

woollyjumper

I bought a dozen from screwfix and had one faulty from the box.. the rest have been fine 12 months on.

Prices at screwfix - be weary as they are owned by the kingfisher group who also own B&Q - so although screwfix seem to be for the trade you might get it cheaper at your nearest B&Q - if you need the odd one - otherwise screwfix might be better on the bulk buy.

gromituk

Always see if it's available from toolstation.com - cheaper, and £40 minimum for free postage. Notice that Screwfix has quietly dropped its discountable items scheme?