Energy Efficient Light Bulbs

Dunwunderin

Bought 3X 28 ecosaver ( equivalent to 35 watt) Osram GU10 lamps.

Give a more yellow light and slightly dimmer than my normal 50 watt GU10s.

They are ok over the eating area of the kitchen but no good for food preparation areas.

Have ordered a high output 3 watt LED lampwhich is claimed to be 40-50 watt output with instant start, Cost £8

Will let you know how it goes.

Ben84

cliffski wrote: »

If your loft isn't insulated, you need to do that immediately. But I guess the point is, if you are thinking of replacing halogen or incandecsent bulbs, skip CFL and go direct to LED.

I'm in the situation most houses have, the loft is insulated, but not to the depth recommended these days.

My main point is that LED bulbs are very expensive and I'm questioning how the cost stacks up against other energy saving measures that could be made around the house. If we were to advise on somewhere to spend £100 (about 3-4 LED bulbs) on energy saving measures in the average house, would LED bulbs at their high prices and minimal savings compared to CFL really be a high priority on the list?

Dunwunderin

Hi,
I'm trying out a 3 watt LED GU10 replacement. Much better than the the previous attempt with Eco Osram. Still not perfect but almost acceptable. Light looks more concentrated with greater shadows.
It cost about £8 and lasts for 20 years!

Maybe I need some 5watt LEDs which seem to be about £ 30/unit?

Many thanks for your comments so far. I think I will now wait until the 5 watt Leds become a lot cheaper!

Crag1978

Hi

I have been researching LED bulbs for the last six months. In my opinion the only ones worth considering from a light output point of view are the Philips ones. They truly are a direct replacement. The gu10 master LEDs are excellent, only 7w and last for 40,000 hours. No more weekly replacements! To find out how much you can save go to ww.mylightbulbshop.co.uk (they were the cheapest I could find too including amazon)

Bojangles_3

I have found these LED Halogen lamps http://envirolight.co.uk/product_show.php?id=1
but they are a wholeseller. They cost £9.99 for one bulb. I need about 40 of them, so perhaps the Phillips ones you have found are better...

Has anyone else found a better, greener, product?

Thanks

alexlyne

this place looks cheap
http://simplyled.co.uk/GU10-LED-Bulbs-240v_B23PJ5.aspx

Though maybe too cheap... I wouldn't expect 50w equiv from their 4w or 6w units, though sizewise they look comparable to standard gu10s. The 20SMD one (£12) looks good as it has a 120deg beam angle.. though not in stock at time of writing. I would be tempted to get one in to check it out... I may go into lidl on way home and look at what they have too.

themacster

alexlyne wrote: »

this place looks cheap
http://simplyled.co.uk/GU10-LED-Bulbs-240v_B23PJ5.aspx

Though maybe too cheap... I wouldn't expect 50w equiv from their 4w or 6w units, though sizewise they look comparable to standard gu10s. The 20SMD one (£12) looks good as it has a 120deg beam angle.. though not in stock at time of writing. I would be tempted to get one in to check it out... I may go into lidl on way home and look at what they have too.

I bought some of the 20SMD ones recently - personally I wouldn't bother with the daylight version, far too stark a light, but the warm white ones are good. NOT equivalent to a 50W, or even a 35W - they give out their light over a wide angle rather than a narrower beam so give a more general light avoiding the spotlighting effect, but the light level at the work surface is substantially lower. Here's why:

A 50W GU10 puts out about 900 lumens, 3x what the leds do. Given the 120 degree spread compared to a typical 40 degree for a halogen, you have one third of the lumens spread out over six times the area, therefore you get one eighteenth the lux level at the work surface.

Some leds can put out around 450 lumens - if you use one of these (£30 each, mind) with a 70 degree beam, that's one half the lumens over about five times the area, so one tenth of the lux level.

This is why I think the claims of "equivalent to 50W" are far-fetched to say the least, and are misleading.

Having said that, I find 50W halogens tend to give too much light over too small an area for my liking, so prefer the wider beam angles, its just that leds don't put out the same lumens as a halogen yet, so be prepared for lower lux levels. You do get used to them though, and at least you can revel in the lower electricity bills.

Richmc

Have a look at Global-Gadgets shop on eBay I've just got 7 60 LED 250 Lumens bulbs from them for £6.50 each, the light is clean and seems brighter than the 50w halogens. Go for warm whith as the light is very natural. So I've gone from 350W to 21W! And I'm lighting the kitchen not heating the ceiling.

alexlyne

I know this thread is a bit old now, but shall impart my potentially new information.

I bought a 20SMD GU10 from simplyled (3 posts above), and I have been pleasantly surprised by it. I took photos comparing the output of this, a 50w halogen and a 1.3w led one that i bought a couple of years back. They were in my hallway in the same position. I found that the halogen and the '50w' led had similar light output levels, though the led version light looked much flatter across the area covered (which was wide beam). The light was definitely whiter than halogen but not too white.
(the 1.3w one was shockingly poor in comparison).

I have also bought a 'JDR 60LED' version bulb from lustrumlight (there are also many suppliers on ebay..), these are half the price of the SMD ones above, and some suppliers claim 40W, others 50W. Again, I was surprised by the level of light from these - certainly not 50W equivalent, but certainly 35-40W. Beam angle was also OK.

As nearly all the light fittings in my house are multiple GU10 or E14 spots, lower light output is preferable in places, especially considering cost savings, so will be considering replacing all fittings with appropriate power outputs. I don't know how you'd get on with large area to light, all our rooms are quite small.

CrashUK

I think £30 a lamp the payback time could be 10-15 years..