LED Replacement Bulbs for 50W GU10's?

mymedi

almillar wrote: »

mymedi - cool white is kindof white/blue - if you wanted to match halogen colour you should have ordered warm white.

But I didn't want to match halogens. And I do like the actual light. What I don't like is that it makes everything else look bluish - for example, it makes black clothes look almost purple... The CRI must be way lower than the stated 80.

almillar wrote: »

Switch on times - absolutely not. LED DOES come on instantly, and halogen takes a while to 'explode' into life. Very obvious when you run them side by side. Since you mention a flicker, I have to guess that you're running your LEDs (MR16?) off a halogen transformer. Some halogen transformers can't cope with the low wattage of the LEDs.

What can I say - I've got them side by side and the LEDs are about 1/2 second delayed. Then they stay on like normal. The flicker I mentioned is at the moment when the halogens are already on and the LEDs are kicking in. They are all GU10 mains voltage btw. And if the matter were in the transformer, wouldn't LEDs not work at all or flicker on-off?

Also, I've been researching this - there are lots of reports of LEDs being delayed in turning on. Including cases where in the same setup the non-dimmable version is delayed and the dimmable version is not... Go figure...

savemoney

Leds are meant to be on instantly as you said you have same ones mine work fine I can only assume its incompatible with your light in some way, I know there are issues with mr16 which you dont have. I made sure when I got my new light it did say its compatable with led's as I didnt want issues later its bad enough trying to get a led that fits all your requirements angle of beam, lumens, colour etc.

This is kitchen light I got as you can see it states "Suitable for LED GU10, GU10 CFL or halogen lamps"

http://www.lightsupplier.co.uk/ip44-ceiling-lighting-4-head-spotlight/

almillar

If you think stuff under the light looks blue - that's the colour, not the intensity of the light. People think white is better than yellow, but the sun is yellow, isn't it? Often you can get the same bulb in 2 different temperatures, no harm in experimenting, but there's no 'best' or 'right' answer - it's down to personal preference. If you think stuff looks blue, it sounds like you might want to try warm white.
Your LEDs being GU10 removes my theory of it being halogen transformers that can't cope with LED. They can completely not work as you say, or can also flicker. It seems to be pot luck. I've actually got a faulty transformer at the moment. When attached to a halogen, it would flicker, and go off, and randomly come on. Put an LED on instead and it was much happier and ran fine for a while, before randomly flickering and going to half brightness and lower. I've now done a bit of swapping around and this transformer is driving an LED that just sits there very dim. So lots of different symptoms!
There still is a transformer in GU10, but it's inside the housing. Maybe certain models take a second to kick in as you seem to have found out - but that will be the transformer (internal) kicking in rather than the actual LEDs - they're instant-on, and full brightness straight away.

mymedi

almillar wrote: »

Maybe certain models take a second to kick in as you seem to have found out - but that will be the transformer (internal) kicking in rather than the actual LEDs

Thanks for the post.
I was about to report back, actually. I've found a 5w LED GU10 light which does not have the delay others have - Meridian Lighting 5w COB LED claims 320 lumens. Sold at Toolstation. A really nice quality product, by the way!

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Lighting/LED%20Lamps/LED%205w%20COB%20Lamp%20GU10%20/d220/sd3276/p72565

The others I've tried which do have the delay are:
- EnergySavingLEDs 6W (I really like this one except for the switch-on delay)
- Aurora 6W linked to above in thread (I didn't like the color or intensity of this one)
- Sylvania 5.5w & 7.5w from Toolstation (main gripe is that these are NOT 50mm diameter as claimed - slightly bigger so don't fit into existing housing!).
All are GU10 retrofit downlighters.

As for your theory as above - that it is the transformer in the housing - why would it be affected by the LED and not by halogen? Because of the difference in drawn power? Then how would this find of a LED which doesn't have the delay fit in?

perky77

After many different rubbish eBay purchases my neighbour was recommended megaman par 16 gu10 led bulbs. I bought non dim able ones for our bathroom from amazon and they are by far the best bulbs we have had.

We are going to buy their dimmable ones for our lounge.

Very very happy with them

spannerzone

I got some of the LED bulbs from TLC and found them nearly as good as halogen GU10's but they're not that cheap. LINK

I got 4 and one failed in 12 months the others are fine. Fairly good angle with only slight discolouration noted at the edges of the beam. Tried a Megaman flourescent GU10 and wasn't overly impressed compared to these LED gu10 I got.

elstimpo

This is a very good video that really highlights the dangers with some cheap LED Spotlights, often found on ebay !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keaE7QTKTYE

An independent blog test of a lot of LED Spotlights on sale in the UK
http://jontank.wordpress.com/2013/01/29/my-journey-to-finding-a-suitable-led-spotlight-that-could-replace-my-50w-halogens/

27col

I find that the 3x3w led is an adequate replacement. The 2x3w, is not really quite powerful enough. I shall be buying a lot more 3x3w before next winter.

mymedi

27col wrote: »

I find that the 3x3w led is an adequate replacement.

Any suggestions for the actual lights?
I don't think I've seen any with the 3x3w combination.
Any particular brands?
Thanks!

almillar

As for your theory as above - that it is the transformer in the housing - why would it be affected by the LED and not by halogen? Because of the difference in drawn power? Then how would this find of a LED which doesn't have the delay fit in?

Getting beyond the realms of my knowledge here, but I'll give it a go - halogens do have a transformer, but it's just electrical, not electronic (no chips or controllers involved) so the power will be provided extremely quickly. LEDs are more picky, and obviously use less energy, so there's a bigger step down from the mains voltage. They don't actually glow, the switch on and off very quickly. This needs the power to be controlled far more precisely. The electronics that do this, in some cases that you've found, clearly have a slight delay in passing on the power to the LEDs. I very much doubt you'll find these specs anywhere as everyone will tell you they're 'instant on'. I think the best we can do is start with your research and rate the different bulbs in this thread!
BTW I have the MR16 version of the EnergySavingLEDs 6W bulb you describe above, and I can report no start up delay at all. This is of course from a (4 yr old) external transformer.