Another high electricity question!

zmd1201

macman wrote: »

You still haven't told us: how many lights, and what wattage?

I haven't got the wattage yet because as stupid as it sounds I haven't yet worked out the bestway to take the spotlight out the actual fitting without dislodging the fitting and not being able to put it back in properly, but all in all.. there are 33 in the property :eek: - they look like the 50w ones I've seen online too!

CashStrapped

Serach youtube until you find an example of one like yours....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D-Ft-YF4yY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-E7Iy4qF0w

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

They can be fiddley !!!!!!s...

Robin9

zmd1201 wrote: »

.. there are 33 in the property :eek: - they look like the 50w ones I've seen online too!

33 x 50 = 1650 watts @ about 12p a unit = 20 p an hour; perhaps £1 a day !

D_M_E

Those little halogen things are probably held in place by a spring clip.

Look around the edge of the glass and you should see what looks like a steel ring with the ends slightly bent.

Carefully prise one end of the spring clip clear of the housing and pull the clip off - the bulb may drop down a little.

You should now be able to remove the bulb from the holder.

Check the wattage and, most importantly, the bulb voltage, both of which should be printed on the rear. Also important is the fitting the bulb fits into.

Any replacement LED which you buy should have the same rated voltage and the same fitting as the halogen but the wattage can be 10% less - 50watt halogen, replace with 4 or 5 watt LED.

zmd1201

D_M_E wrote: »

Those little halogen things are probably held in place by a spring clip.

Look around the edge of the glass and you should see what looks like a steel ring with the ends slightly bent.

Carefully prise one end of the spring clip clear of the housing and pull the clip off - the bulb may drop down a little.

You should now be able to remove the bulb from the holder.

Check the wattage and, most importantly, the bulb voltage, both of which should be printed on the rear. Also important is the fitting the bulb fits into.

Any replacement LED which you buy should have the same rated voltage and the same fitting as the halogen but the wattage can be 10% less - 50watt halogen, replace with 4 or 5 watt LED.

Hi thanks for that! We have taken the lightbulb out, only to find that it has absolutely no printed details on wattage or voltage on! It looks like a GU4 Halogen bulb though. I've seen that these are 12v online - do you think I should just make a guess with this and assume these are too?

matelodave

Look at the pins - if they are fairly large, mushroom shaped and you had to twise the buld to rmove it then it's a 240v GU10. Almost everything else is 12v. You could take a bulb with you to compare it when you go to the shops.
GU10 LEDs will replace halogen ones easily. 4 or 5 watts will give the same amount of light as a 50watt halogen. Some like warm white better than daylight although it's a personal thing

If you've got 12v lamps (Gu4 pins) then these can be a bit more of a problem because most 12v transformers won't drive LEDs properly and the lights can flicker because there's insufficient load. Some do so it's worth trying one to see what happens.

You might need to change the transformers for LED drivers or do what I did, take the transformers out and convert them to GU10. It's easy for me as I live in a bungalow so I can get to them without a problem

zmd1201

Annoyingly, I've just discovered that we need to have an electrician fit an LED converter. Our landlord already refused to help us change all the lightbulbs (I was hoping for some help after our boiler broke and multiple other problems to make up for it a bit) .. Looks like we are just going to have to live in the dark!