Energy saving lighting for kitchen

FiestaRed

A couple of my rooms have light fittings with halogen bulbs in them and I've noticed that the smart meter monitor jumps noticeably when these are turned on. Not a problem at the minute as they're only on for a very short period of time but this will increase as the nights get darker.

Is there a better type of bulb or fitting that I should be looking at to try and save energy? Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

MattMattMattUK

FiestaRed said:

A couple of my rooms have light fittings with halogen bulbs in them and I've noticed that the smart meter monitor jumps noticeably when these are turned on. Not a problem at the minute as they're only on for a very short period of time but this will increase as the nights get darker.

Is there a better type of bulb or fitting that I should be looking at to try and save energy? Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

LED, in almost all cases there is a direct replacement LED version of the Halogen bulb.

FiestaRed

Thanks for the help Matt. I think most of the bulbs in the fittings are the GU10 type.

Mister_G

GU10 LEDs are readily available at most supermarkets and DIY stores, as well as Screwfix and Toolstation.

Generally the LEDs will use 1/10th of the electricity of halogen ones.

victor2

I repaced our 9 halogen spotlights in the kitchen with LED bulbs some years back. Went from something like 9 x 20W to 9 x 4W, so a big saving in energy usage.

Don't buy the cheapest you can find on a well known "auction site" for example, and think carefully about the light colour. Go for a brand you've heard of if you can, LED Hut can be a good source. We have daylight bulbs, about 6500K, and it really is like daylight in a kitchen that doesn't get a lot of natural light. Doesn't break my heart, or bank balance,  if they're left on all day either!

In my experience, the bulbs don't last anything like their claimed life, but I get a year or two out of most of my kitchen ones.

FiestaRed

victor2 said:

I repaced our 9 halogen spotlights in the kitchen with LED bulbs some years back. Went from something like 9 x 20W to 9 x 4W, so a big saving in energy usage.

Don't buy the cheapest you can find on a well known "auction site" for example, and think carefully about the light colour. Go for a brand you've heard of if you can, LED Hut can be a good source. We have daylight bulbs, about 6500K, and it really is like daylight in a kitchen that doesn't get a lot of natural light. Doesn't break my heart, or bank balance,  if they're left on all day either!

In my experience, the bulbs don't last anything like their claimed life, but I get a year or two out of most of my kitchen ones.

Brilliant. Thanks for the help and the advice Victor. Really appreciated.

QrizB

victor2 said:

I repaced our 9 halogen spotlights in the kitchen with LED bulbs some years back. Went from something like 9 x 20W to 9 x 4W, so a big saving in energy usage.

I replaced mine three years ago with 5w GU10 LEDs from Amazon. The ones I bought aren't available any more but there's loads of choice there and even Philips-branded ones aren't expensive.

peter3hg

victor2 said:

I repaced our 9 halogen spotlights in the kitchen with LED bulbs some years back. Went from something like 9 x 20W to 9 x 4W, so a big saving in energy usage.

Don't buy the cheapest you can find on a well known "auction site" for example, and think carefully about the light colour. Go for a brand you've heard of if you can, LED Hut can be a good source. We have daylight bulbs, about 6500K, and it really is like daylight in a kitchen that doesn't get a lot of natural light. Doesn't break my heart, or bank balance,  if they're left on all day either!

In my experience, the bulbs don't last anything like their claimed life, but I get a year or two out of most of my kitchen ones.

I had daylight 4w LED bulbs from LED Hut in my old kitchen and didn't have a single one fail in eight years so I'm surprised you are only getting a year or two out of them.

matelodave

Twelve years ago we changed 10 50watt GU10 halogens in our kitchen  to 10 x4 watt leds, thus saving around 460watts per hour,

They were expensive at the time but I reckon they've paid for themselves many times over already and with leccy at around 30p/kwh they are saving around 14p an hour - which could be 20p or more come October if the forecasts are correct.

We don' have any incandescent bulbs at all now, even the 500watt floodlight is down to 2x10 watt units, not quite as bright but significantly cheaper to run .

Another advantage is that we've not had to change any bulbs since we've had them all

FiestaRed

A big thank you for all the help. New LED bulbs installed around the house and pleased with the difference they make.

mgfvvc

peter3hg said:

I had daylight 4w LED bulbs from LED Hut in my old kitchen and didn't have a single one fail in eight years so I'm surprised you are only getting a year or two out of them.

There seems to be a significant effect from how/where they are installed. I have GU10 LED bulbs in various locations. They rarely fail, except for the bulbs in the kitchen. At least one bulb a year fails in the kitchen. GU10 LEDs are very tightly packaged and need good airflow to avoid the electronics overheating. I guess that the airflow around these lights is not sufficient.