Really don't like LEDs

Cloudydaze

At great expense, I've just had downlighters (with LEDs) fitted in my kitchen. They look great until I switch them on.

I really hate the light they give out. I've opted for warm white but I still find the light harsh. It has a very unnatural yellowness about it. (I'd call it cold yellow , rather than warm white). The light actually makes me feel nauseous.

My (very patient) electrician has given me other bulbs to try but I'm on the verge of replacing with halogens.

All the comments on here about LEDs seem to be positive. I was just wondering if anyone is unhappy with the light LEDs give out?

flashg67

I tend to agree - I bought some (admittedly cheap) LED downlighters for the bathroom and home office. I bought a set each of white and warm white to experiemnt and they all work fine but neither type is that satisfactory to me, apart from the energy saving aspect.

After much swapping about, I've stuck with the warm white in the office where I spend my working days, and the harsher white in the bathroom (to discourage the teenagers from taking long showers!) but do feel, even though they were sold as 120 degree wide angle, I find there are still shadows created and the light is somehow harsh on the eye long term.

It may be because I bought cheapies, but it has put me off buying more for often used rooms like the kitchen.

Ectophile

The light from white LEDs can be rather odd, compared with other lamps.

A white LED is really just a blue LED with a blob of yellow-white phosphor in front of the LED chip. The result is a mixture of blue and yellowish light. There can be a lot more blue in it than from a conventional tungsten/halogen lamp, and the human eye isn't good at focussing blue light.

muckybutt

I find the colour can vary drastically from manufacturer to manufacturer.

The best ones I have found and now use regularly are Osram and Philips.

baldelectrician

I have Megaman warm white ones in ( 6 watt )

Good spread of light and decent quality

You get what you pay for- expect about £10 per lamp

lstar337

I have Crompton warm white bulbs and the light from them is very nice.

They aren't cheap though!

almillar

Cloudydaze - you give no information about the LEDs you've used, nor the halogens you were replacing. You can't just say you don't like LED based on that!
Did you like the halogens before? If so, find out what they were. Maybe 50w, find out the beam angle, maybe 60 degrees, and the colour temperature was probably around 2700K (often referred to as warm white or daylight white). If your electricial didn't replace like for like, it'll look different and you mightn't like it. If he's used junk from China (and there's plenty of good from China too) then you shouldn't be surprised.
Shadows - these are spotlights. Halogen or LED, they're focussed beams of light, and dark areas.

PheoUK

Very happy with the Ikea GU10s here. Little difference between the halogens and the LEDs for me.

almillar

Again, IKEA make terrible and good LEDs. Which ones Pheo and what did they replace?

PocketPennies

baldelectrician wrote: »

I have Megaman warm white ones in ( 6 watt )

Good spread of light and decent quality

You get what you pay for- expect about £10 per lamp

Hi Baldelectrician I have seen some LED 6w GU10 3000K Warm White bulbs by Kosnic for £7.59 each - This price seems to be the cheapest I can find online? Is this a good price? First time replacing them for me! Ouch!

londonlydia

Im another one that votes for Megaman. We tried a wide selection before we settles for the ones we have, including Philips, Osram, Toshiba and a cheaper one. We have 30 spotlights in our kitchen diner, and I wanted a warm light in the diner bit and a cool light in the kitchen. They had to be dimmable too (theres more selection with non-dimmable). We found that the Megaman ones had a nice wide spread, decent colour, and dimmed well.

Try a few and see because there is quite a bit of variation I found...