LED light bulbs

victor2

Catapa wrote: »

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.

There are 3 banks of 3 lights, each with their own transformer. When they go, the standard bulbs generally go in pairs - not sure why, but convinced it's something to do with how difficult they are to change . I suppose I could try replacing one set of 3 running off one transformer to see how they do. Payback time would unlikely be in my lifetime though, so I'd have to get improved light out of them.

LEDlighting

espresso wrote: »

You really need to read the forum rules, as referring to the products that you sell in a PM is not allowed.

If you can't answer the question without referring to the products that you stock, you are not really much use on here!

Fine, below is the answer to his question. Honestly you try to help and all you get is a load of rubbish thrown in your direction. Good luck everyone with your LED choices and purchases, i hope everything goes well for you.

Regards



You haven’t said what lamps you are talking about so we’ll assume spots here.

You are correct regarding the assumption of your 3w unit drawing 48mA and consuming almost 12w (11.52w assuming 240v supply) We assume the figure you have given is for the total power consumption of your unit comprising LED and power supply. If LED consumption only, then you will then have to factor in losses in the power supply to convert from 240v AC to a level suitable for the LEDs themselves; efficiencies can vary between 60-85%. Your lamp will therefore consume more even more power.

Our stated figures are given and reflect the absolute total maximum power consumed, effectively what you pay for at the meter. THE BEST 5w and 7w units do consume an absolute maximum of 5w and 7w respectively (typical measured samples are 4.62w! and 5.31w respectively, but you must allow for tolerance variation)

THE BEST 5w/7w unit in both Warm White (ww)! and True White (tw) versions are the equivalent of a 35w/50w halogen unit in terms of illumination level when units are compared in true life comparison mounted in typical fittings; the illumination levels of the best LEDs are actually higher than those obtained for the halogen units. !The only difference, apart from the absence of heat, is that with the best LED units you have a choice of the usual golden glow (ww) which is probably more suitable for a relaxing living room atmosphere and the tw (daylight) version, more ideally suited and practical for kitchens and bathrooms (in suitable approved enclosures); the choice is yours.

As you can see the best units are extremely efficient at converting power consumed (watts) into lumens (usable light) without generating high levels of IR radiation which is of no use for illumination purposes; you may be basing you original figures on the cheaper inefficient LED units that basically consist of clusters of industrial LEDs (similar to those long used in power indicators on TVs etc) !and not the ultra high efficiency LEDs purposely designed for the lighting industry which are used in the best products.

Hope this helps

Steve_xx

espresso wrote: »

You really need to read the forum rules, as referring to the products that you sell in a PM is not allowed.

If you can't answer the question without referring to the products that you stock, you are not really much use on here!

I think you're being a tad harsh here. The guy seems to be doing pretty well at trying to unravel the mystique that surrounds these LED's. I don't think he is blaringly promoting his own company, but he may well be trying to offer an explanation by using the products that he sells as a measure. I don't see that there's anything amiss with him doing that.

Mrs_Arcanum

Back to the OP - I use the Lidl LED spotlights and they are fine and seem to last well and fit within the shade (low energy ones stick out). My gripe is it is a bit pot luck as to when they have them in stock.

will-he-payitoff

For what its worth I bought some of the 3x1 w on ebay for £4 and think they look a lot better than the 50w GU10s that were in there before.

NeverInDebt

Just a note the Op hasn't been online since 17-01-2011

Mrs_Arcanum wrote: »

Back to the OP - I use the Lidl LED spotlights and they are fine and seem to last well and fit within the shade (low energy ones stick out). My gripe is it is a bit pot luck as to when they have them in stock.

LEDlighting

sillygoose wrote: »

In With respect to LEDLighting even if your not directly mentioning your products your not really impartial to give advice because you have lamps in stock to sell today, not in the future so its comes as no surprise you would disagree with holding off buying.

Actually i highly recommend people do not hold off buying LED's as i want everyone to save money and reduce their energy consumption and CO2 emissions. It's that simple. Halogens and standard bulbs also end up in landfill and cannot be recycled at all due to their mercury content.

If you were to buy a top class 7w LED Spot light for £30 today and use it for 2 years at 6 hours usage per day at 10p per kWh, the LED price in 2 years would need to be around £10 for it to make any financial sense to hold off buying now, and you would only get parity, not savings. (this is compared to a 50w Halogen).
You would also miss out on reducing your energy consumption by 85% - 90% and miss out saving nearly 100kg of CO2 emissions.

So for me, it is a easy decision.

aboard_epsilon

Think everyone made mistakes buying halogens.

you should be comparing the LEDs against the CFL's not the halogens ..

Then your savings and payback calculations .....look ..not so good
halogens are just nuts ......use lots of power and some blow every two weeks...and wear the power supplies out every couple of years or sooner

rip out your halogens and put in cfls .."home and bargain" have been selling mini ones 11 watts / 55watt for 10 pence each

all the best.markj

victor2

aboard_epsilon wrote: »

Think everyone made mistakes buying halogens.

you should be comparing the LEDs against the CFL's not the halogens ..

Then your savings and payback calculations .....look ..not so good
halogens are just nuts ......use lots of power and some blow every two weeks...and wear the power supplies out every couple of years or sooner

rip out your halogens and put in cfls .."home and bargain" have been selling mini ones 11 watts / 55watt for 10 pence each

all the best.markj

Totally agree with that.
If LED lights could match the price (difficult at 10p, but that's where we are) and life but give better quality light, I'd go for them.
Incidentally, some of my CFL bulbs came free through a charity, although I had to pay 20p for others, which hurt!:)

aboard_epsilon

i bought one of the first run of cfls ..

the philips ones with glass jampot dome around them ..must be over 15 years ago could be 20..and that light is still going strong, its upstairs ..its the landing light..think it cost me about £20 then.

wonder if ill get another 20 years out of it .

all the best.markj