LED light bulbs

Former_MSE_Andrea

Hi all

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Thanks!

Andrea

redux

It seems that folded fluorescents are also available in the GU10 size that I've been randomly browsing about for the last hour or two.

These would save most of the energy of a 50W halogen, and look a lot cheaper than LEDs at the moment, and I wonder if they would also be less prone to some of the argument above about beam angles and light levels

It seems to me that if something is defined as a 38 degree beam, then waffle about comparing a different amount of so-called wasted light outside that beam is fatuous - perhaps an ordinary reader's interpretation would be some lamps are using differing interpretations of what the beam angle is, a point at which the level is down by a certain proportion would be my assumption, without then assuming that the amount outside doesn't matter.

So, ignoring that point again, if I was comparing say a 4W LED with a 7W CFL, or slight variation of power to make equal light output, both would save a lot against the halogen, but how does the LED stand this comparison too?

buglawton

Halogens look 'cosy and familiar', LEDs and Fluorescents don't....

there's the rub

savemoney

LED will never be mainstream until the price comes down considerable, the quality and sufficient lumens also impedes there sales. Its very confusing assuming you pay for a led what is best ones as they vary so much. £30 is way too much even assuming you have like for like compared with halogens for example. The savings will take many years and by that time the price will have dropped considerable, if its doesn't then I doubt led has much future for most people

I loved to have led bulbs assuming I get a like for like but no way could I ever justify £20+ for one bulb, the closest I get to led at mo is with torches like my cred torch yes and that costs a bomb

aboard_epsilon

just seen this on youtube ..may work for sheds etc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zMAWztZ6TI

all the bestr.markj

alexlyne

I have bought from:
ebay: direct-led-supply. Based in ireland ( I think). Bought from here as they were the cheapest for what i was after, around £6 per bulb. The bulb quality is OK, they have plastic housings. It looks like he buys a batch then sells them all before buying more, so goes for periods with nothing in stock). Other sellers of this type around: a proliferation of china based ones as would be expected. I wouldn't buy from them personally.
lustrumlight. customer service could be better (imo), but bulbs are of a slightly better quality than the ones above (aluminium rather than plastic housings) but LEDs used are the same. Again, pretty cheap.
simplyled. A lot more expensive at around £12 per bulb, but build quality is very good. They use surface mount leds. There is a another place that sells the same model a bit cheaper, ebay I think.

Anyway, I would definitely recommend any of these bulbs for hallways and small rooms where there are multiple existing spots. Good light output, excellent wide beam.
I would never spend £30 on a bulb, that is insane.

(oh, only had them for 3 months, but so far so good)

WestonDave

Unfortunately this thread is a prime example of why LED bulbs are not yet mainstream - its simply too hard as a non techie consumer to get straight forward comparitives without major arguments over methodology, so you end up having to resort to trial and error.

For what its worth (might help someone or add to the general accumulation of information) my own experience is as follows.

Downstairs loo - has a 3 lamp GU10 fitting - 3x50W halogens is too bright for a room 2m by 0.8m so as an experiment have fitted it with 2 x 1W cheapo GW LED lamps (20 standard LED's within a bulb) plus 1 x CFL (3W) I think. This gives a total power consumption of 5W instead of 150W as supplied, or 105W if I'd gone down to 35W halogens. The current set up works for us - the two LED lamps give instant light along with a bit from the CFL - by the time you've finished and want to check your makeup etc (OH not me!) the CFL has warmed up and makes the room brighter (its a bit dim to start with but fine for using the toilet!). All of these were pretty cheap in Wilkinsons so fine to experiment with.

Outside porch had a 50W MR16 in it. Have swapped this for a 3W 3 LED lamp that I got for £5 on ebay. Its a cool white so not a great colour but OK as its outside. Its clearly not a 50W replacement but it does fine for giving plenty of light in the porch to get your keys in the door etc. Lamp was decent looking with the 3 LED's enclosed etc so looks like a normal bulb. This doesn't appear to flicker on a transformer that was put in during 2007.

Kitchen had 7 x 50W MR16's in it. Previous owner had them set up so 6 are on one switch and one is one another so that she could leave one on when she was in the house alone to make it feel more lived in but without draining loads of power. As a test I've swapped the single one (in the centre of the room) for a 4.5W Lumineux surface mounted LED bulb (probably about 20 LED's on it). That probably isn't as bright as a 50W but its also not a defined spot either so actually overall the kitchen feels as bright with that as it did with a 30ish degree 50W halogen. Its an ugly looking thing (looks like its got yellow chicken pox) but it seems to do the job and again was £5 from ebay. However it clearly flickers (its on older transformers) so I guess if I was going to put more expensive bulbs in I'd need to change to LED drivers as well)

Not sure if that is helpful or not. Overall I've reduced 250W down to 12.5W for about £20. Assuming they have a reasonable lifespan I reckon on about 800 hours to payback. The porch one alone will probably run that long in the 50% of the year its left on (that's another story!). The remaining issue is the 6 MR16's in the kitchen and 4 in the bathroom that I need to decide how to replace - depending on how the experiment proceeds!

victor2

That's interesting WestonDave. I've currently got 9 20W MR16 bulbs in my kitchen and would like to replace them with something cheaper to run.
If I could keep the existing transformers (they were put in several years ago), that would be ideal. Got to disturb the flooring in the bedroom above it otherwise!
Can't see it being worth the cost and effort yet though, and I really want more light rather than less.

Catapa

We use a lot of LED light bulbs, mainly EXPENSIVE ones from Philips, Osram, Megaman and CREE. While their light is good and they are preferable to toxic mercury energy saving light bulbs they are also very different. LEDs last forever, their microchip controllers don't, so we hope that the extra cost on a good brand will amortize over time.

LED gives a well directed light, so less periferal light. We have dimable Philips Master LED, but having reduced wattage from 120 W to 21 W they don't dimm much. But they come on immediately.

Our inventory:
Outside: 1x LED entrance, solar powered LED to the side and back
Living room: 6x LEDs, 1x halogen, 3x energy saving bulbs
Dining room: 3x dimmable LED, 1x energy saving bulb
Kitchen: 1x LED spot, 1x warm white Philips IMAGEO LED light strip, 2x halogen
Hall: 2x LED spots, 2x indirect Megaman LED candles (operated by movement detector)
Cloakroom: Philips Master LED
Utility room: 1x energy saving bulb
Garage: cheap 4W LED
Landing: phantastic 8W LED spot
Children rooms: each 2x 4W colour changing Philips IMAGEO LED light strips
Family Bath: 1x energy saving bulb, 2x incandecent
Master: 3x LED spots, 2x halogen, 1x LED night table lamp
En suite: 3x LED spots, 1x Incendecent candle light
Study: 2 LED spots, 2x 4W warm white Philips IMAGEO LED light strips

;-)

Catapa

victor2 wrote: »

That's interesting WestonDave. I've currently got 9 20W MR16 bulbs in my kitchen

I guess you could use 9x 4W LED MR16 (Philips or CREE) and get MORE light on the same transformer. You can easily check minimum charge (some start flickering) using just one or two of your 20W bulbs.