halogen to led help needed please.

randm

when our downstairs had to be completely rewired my husband went to town with the inset lights. as the halogens have been dying out we have not replaced them as we should go with led, but finding things confusing. just starting with the main room,
each of the current halogens has an individual transformer, and there is a main dimmer switch.
i did research a few yrs ago, and knew there were problems with transformers and dimmers and leds, my hubby took the pic into screwfix and they gave him a dimmable led gu5.3 and said to try that and if it flickers then they won't work. well it didn't work.

so basically, how do we change our halogens to leds, what options. (my husband wired in all the ones we have now after being shown by the electrician ).thank you. ( i have done a forum search, but old info, i know things have progressed.)

missile

Do you really need dimmable lights?

I would suggest you ought to be employing a qualified electrician to replace the dimmer with a switch, remove the transformers and replace old fittings with 240 volt LED fittings.

grumbler

There are plenty of dimable GU 5.3 around.
The only problem I see is that LED lights take smaller current and some transformers have the smallest current specified.
That said, transformers are PITA and it's worth considering switching to the mains voltage.

DorsetLad

I have been thinking of doing the same with our 12V halogens in the kitchen. One option is to remove the transformers, replace all the old fittings with ones for 240V LEDs (you can put dimmable LEDS in these) and replace the dimmer with one suitable for dimmable LEDs. The old dimmer will not be suitable, as it would have been designed for the much higher current that the halogens draw, compared with LEDs.

However, thinking in MSE mode, I have been wondering if I can save a lot of money by keeping the halogen lamp housings and putting LEDs into them by using GU10 lamp holder adaptors connected to the mains (i.e. with transformers removed). Maybe a qualified electrician can advise if this is acceptable?

One other consideration is whether, with the tightening of building regulations, the old fittings should be replaced anyway with new LED fittings that are fire-rated, to slow the spread of fire into the floor above. However I'm not qualified to advise on this.

randm

thanks for the replies. the electrician who had done the work in the first place said it would take a day to replace all the transformers with ones suitable for leds, he charged £80 per hour last time so i dread to think what he charges now, so say £640 minimum maybe plus vat, plus cost of new transformers or the suggested other replacement with the dimmer switch set to mains, and the cost of new bulbs. to be honest cost wise i think it would be better to just stick with halogens . we have 14 in the main room, and 28 in the kitchen extension.plus another 10 downlighters in the cupboards :eek:

( have to say the transformers have worked perfectly well for over ten years).
i remember reading somewhere that phillips did a led bulb that could be used, but it was expensive at the time, will have to go and re research that, and also, if there is a led bulb with a higher current that the transformer will be compatible with. how is the current written??? is it the v.??

grumbler

Current is in A (Amperes)
On second thought, I think it's the minimum power (W or VA) that may be specified.
A few years ago I replaced mine in the bathroom with this one




It says 0-150W on it, i.e. no minimum power/current, unlike some others that I saw when shopping around. And it's dimmable BTW.


P.S. Dimmable bulbs - https://www.screwfix.com/c/electrical-lighting/light-bulbs/cat8350001?capfittingtype=gu5_3&lightbulbtechnology=led#category=cat8350001&capfittingtype=gu5_3&dimmable=dimmable&lightbulbtechnology=led (not checked personally)

randm

grumbler wrote: »

Current is in A (Amperes)
On second thought, I think it's the minimum power (W or VA) that may be specified.
A few years ago I replaced mine in the bathroom with this one




It says 0-150W on it, i.e. no minimum power/current, unlike some others that I saw when shopping around. And it's dimmable BTW.


P.S. Dimmable bulbs - https://www.screwfix.com/c/electrical-lighting/light-bulbs/cat8350001?capfittingtype=gu5_3&lightbulbtechnology=led#category=cat8350001&capfittingtype=gu5_3&dimmable=dimmable&lightbulbtechnology=led (not checked personally)

inreresting, thank you, so really its a matter of replacing each transformer anyway. our transformers minimum is 10 watts, and none of the gu 5.3 size are that high a wattage. though i wonder if you can get a transformer that runs 2 lights and therefore only need to purchase half the amount.

ianto11

What about These ?

Remove the transformers,and these will fit your existing lampholders These have the LED driver onboard, but they do tend to be bulkier and less aesthetically pleasing

Typhoon2000

No you don’t want transformers of anytype. You want straight forward 240v fitting wired to a regular switch. If you want to be able to dim your new led bulbs, if you need to buy dimmable led bulbs. About£2.50 and up from LEdHut or similar. Then you need to buy a compatible dimmer switch for the wall ( Varilight make reasonable ones).
240v led GU10 bulbs have the transformer built into the bulb.

ianto11

Typhoon2000 wrote: »

240v led GU10 bulbs have the transformer built into the bulb.

The low voltage lampholders the OP has take GU5.3/Mr16 not GU10, so the lamp I linked to above is the mains voltage replacement with the COB (Chip On Board )

Typhoon2000

Ah ok, Read it to mean they were ripping out the low voltage halogens during the rewrire and getting new fittings.