Replacing GU10 Halogen Bulbs with LED

rachelandgromit

I have three spot lights in my bathroom which taken the standard GU10 Halogen bulbs. To be more energy efficient and save money I want to replace them with GU10 LED bulbs. I already have an LED mirror, but I find the light has a 'blue-ish' tint to it. Are there any GU10 LED bulbs that have will shine a similar colour light to the halogen bulbs rather than the white blue-ish tint. I have solar panelled flood lights that are LED ouside and they too have the white blue tint to them.

Alternatively, any other suggestions?

muckybutt

What you want to google is Warmwhite gu10 led, warmwhite will give you a cosier less harsh light similar to that of a normal lamp.

Loads to choose from but I would go for one of the more expensive makes such as philips or osram as they'll be better quality and will probably last a hell of a lot longer than the cheap foreign imports.

rachelandgromit

Thanks, I will look into it, I'm hoping to replace most of the bulbs with LED's. They are quite cheap from Hong Kong on Ebay but I imagine that is for a reason! I will explore the more expensive ones.

withabix

You may be very disappointed with the amount of light unless you get 40 or 60 watt equivalent (240 - 360 lumens).

These will be around £8-£10 each unless you buy in bulk.

Whilst you may be saving ENERGY, you may not be saving MONEY.

intgom

I am in the process of renovating my home and have been looking at LED downlighters - they are very pricey indeed.

A good measure of 'value' in my experience is TLC Direct, who are selling the bulb and enclosure for about £43 including VAT.

I need 22 of these but just can't bring myself to pay close on £1000 to light up 2 rooms.

Then I found the ledhut.co.uk, which seems to offer a slightly reduced specification for about £25 per downlight (i.e. bulb plus enclosure):

Surely the old adage 'you get what you pay for' cannot apply here as even £25 per downlight is expensive in my opinion. I guess we are paying a premium because the technology is relatively new.



Maybe I'll stick with CFL for now.

PS - tried posting links but MSE tells me I'm not allowed to do this as a new user.

spannerzone

I've swapped out my kitchen GU10's with TLC LED gu10's and been happy with the results except for the HIGH price!
Link
I got the "LED lite GU10 Advanced High Power LED Lamps 240v Warm White" and find the colour tone is similar to halogen GU10's except at the edges of the light beam, the beam edge goes a greenish tinge so can make things look a little off but if you have several GU10's with good light coverage I can't see it being a big problem, it isn't for me.

As for overall lightness, I find the LED's do provide good enough light which was a concern, whether a 4w LED could ever substitute a 30w or 50w GU10, but they do, just.

I tried a CFL (flourescent) Megaman GU10 but it was too bulky (stuck out too far from the fitting) and gave a very blue colour tone compared to halogen or the TLC Ledlites I've got.

However! - was it cost effective to replace 4 x 50watt GU10's for LED lights at the cost of about £60? no, it couldn't really be cost effective unless you ran the lights all day and night.

rachelandgromit

Thanks for the helpful links, I'm looking into this. I also have G9 bulbs so I may look at replacing these with LED's. Pehaps I may try one or two of the cheap ones on Ebay first from Hong Kong before I pay out for alot of them just so it gives me an idea of the light colour and if they will be effective.

spannerzone

All I can say is that LED lights vary tremendously.... a cheap Chinese or Hong kong one may be nothing like a decent LED, they are not all the same!

It depends on your expectations but a colleague at work tried out numerous Ebay GU10 alternatives (LED and Flourescent) and said most weren't much good and varied quite a lot.... he tried on of my TLC led lights and reckoned they were better than any he'd bought but couldn't justify the higher cost and went with some Megaman flourescent GU10's which he got a deal on.

But it is a good idea to buy one before commiting to buying a quantity to check out first!

vaio

GU10 fittings are available from everywhere starting at about £2 and going up, looking for 50W equivalent GU10 bulbs you have.......

7W LED at £40 (http://www.switch2leds.co.uk/replacement-bulbs/recessed/philips-7w-dimtone-led-gu10-fitting-genuine-equivalent-to-a-50-watt-halogen-warm-white-2700k) or 11W CFL at £4 (http://cpc.farnell.com/pro-elec/gu11w/lamp-gu10-energy-saving/dp/LP03326?whydiditmatch=clone&matchedProduct=lp0332602&Ntt=lp0332602)

seems a no brainer to me but

spannerzone wrote: »

.....But it is a good idea to buy one before committing to buying a quantity to check out first!

is good advice too

prowla

I've got a "60W equivalent" LED, and it's nowhere near as bright as the standard bulbs.
It also is very hot.

Chris55_2

I would agree with the comment about them running surprisingly hot (although clearly normal halogens are incredibly hot). I tried some 12 volt ones.

I've seen them available from Lidl, also I note the following http://www.dealtastic.co.uk/ledtastic (I have bought for dealtastic, but not led bulbs so can't comment - however they seem to be reasonably priced.