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A Buyers Guide to LED Bulbs

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  • Chunks
    Chunks Posts: 712 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Combo Breaker
    Thanks for this. I was hoping to 'plug and play' but l assume l need a driver or whatnot to make this type of kit work? Presently l have 12v DC supplying holders into which the bulbs push fit..
  • almillar
    almillar Posts: 8,621 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Chunks - only answer I can give is 'maybe'. Give it a try? Similar to DC halogens I guess, you need to hope that the transformer will work OK with the far lower demand that the LEDs will make of it. If it doesn't, you'll get no light, or you'll get flickering.
    Answer to that problem with Halogen replacements is usually simple - change the transformer to an LED compatible one - this will be in the ceiling. That doesn't help you.
    Make sure you know what strength of bulb you're replacing, the ones linked to above say they're 100 lumens and will replace 15W bulbs - what have you got currently?
  • I got these, they are a brilliant price, I paid £12.95 for one Philips in JLewis
    with the exact same specs! So very good value for money.
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00H4DPXEY/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=
    They are 3000k but I have put them in a very dingy hallway that has hardly any natural light and they are fantastic. rated at 48w with 600 Lumens.
  • xyz123
    xyz123 Posts: 1,671 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    not knowing a lot about LEDs? Silly but do LEDs always need driver and transformer?

    We have some GU10 recessed in dining and living rooms. I cant see any transformers etc? so i guess it must be 230V rated. I take it there is not direct replacement LEDs? if so, then its not an option for me as i cant re-decorate to locate the drivers.
  • JohnB47
    JohnB47 Posts: 2,668 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    xyz123 wrote: »
    not knowing a lot about LEDs? Silly but do LEDs always need driver and transformer?

    We have some GU10 recessed in dining and living rooms. I cant see any transformers etc? so i guess it must be 230V rated. I take it there is not direct replacement LEDs? if so, then its not an option for me as i cant re-decorate to locate the drivers.

    Transformers, if fitted, could be above the ceiling in the void. The only way to tell is to remove a bulb and see if it has written on it that its 240v mains powered. Not sure if you can get replacement leds for low voltage gu10 bulbs - I don't think so. Have a look at one of those bulbs and take it from there.

    BTW there are replacement leds for mains powered gu10s, in fact that's the most common type available as replacements.
  • xyz123
    xyz123 Posts: 1,671 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Will check if they are 12 or 230 v. If they r 230v, do replacement Led need drivers. As if they do, I don't know how easy it is to remove chrome housing of GU 10 bulbs to see if there is a ceiling void behind and if so can I put driver there?
  • JohnB47
    JohnB47 Posts: 2,668 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    xyz123 wrote: »
    Will check if they are 12 or 230 v. If they r 230v, do replacement Led need drivers. As if they do, I don't know how easy it is to remove chrome housing of GU 10 bulbs to see if there is a ceiling void behind and if so can I put driver there?

    If they're 230v, then replacement leds won't need drivers. Do remember that some led gu10s aren't exactly the same dimensions as halogen gu10s. Ive found that the ones supplied by energysavingled are an equivalent fit. It's just something you need to be aware of, along with light output and colour balance. So make sure you buy from people who will allow you to try them out and return if necessary.
  • Chunks
    Chunks Posts: 712 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Combo Breaker
    almillar wrote: »
    Chunks - only answer I can give is 'maybe'. Give it a try? Similar to DC halogens I guess, you need to hope that the transformer will work OK with the far lower demand that the LEDs will make of it. If it doesn't, you'll get no light, or you'll get flickering.
    Answer to that problem with Halogen replacements is usually simple - change the transformer to an LED compatible one - this will be in the ceiling. That doesn't help you.
    Make sure you know what strength of bulb you're replacing, the ones linked to above say they're 100 lumens and will replace 15W bulbs - what have you got currently?

    Thanks for this. Been negligent and missed your post. Having thought some more on this, I may bin the LED idea altogether and go for low wattage strip lighting instead. The under cupboard lighting casts light on the work surfaces and tubes are likely to be only marginally more expensive to run. Perhaps LEDs will be dirt cheap by the time they stop selling tubes!
  • almillar
    almillar Posts: 8,621 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Chunks - I do think you'll get better value (brightness per £) out of good old fluorescent tubes at the moment. LED is getting there, but still pricey and will take decades to pay back the extra cost, unless you use them all the time.
    xyz123 - this is really simple - GU10 is a mains fitting - that means there's no external transformer - the transformer is actually inside the bulb unit itself. No external transformer needed. What you need to know is what wattage of bulb you're replacing (take one out and see if you can read it). Then you can try to find an LED that will match that light output.
  • The_Angry_Jock
    The_Angry_Jock Posts: 2,944 Forumite
    edited 7 January 2014 at 10:28PM
    I have a question regarding LED downlights above a shower.

    In the very near future I'm going to install uPVC cladding to the bathroom ceiling, I currently have 2 JCC fire-rated LED spots in there just now, however I have some issues:

    I want to reposition the lights and add 2 (maybe 3) more as the beams are narrow, creating dark areas. To move/add more lights I'll need to drill more holes through the ceiling plasterboard (attic above) which I'm not too keen on. Ideally I'd get hold of ultra-thin LED units and just run the wiring through the existing holes and around the newly created void above the cladding.

    Problem is I'm sure I need IP65 rated lights, they're all pretty deep. I'd like to use something like this ultra-thin LED but I believe they're IP20.

    Is there anything else like this on the market that is suitable for my needs?
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