Spotlight Bulbs what a rip off!

Ripperoo

feival wrote:

either 15 Sylvania GU10s for £20 or 10 for £13.65.

is that as cheap as I think?

I'd say!

My local electrical factors is pretty reasonable compared with B&Q and the likes but, still GU10s are roughly £2.15 each.

So 15 for £20?? You know what I think? I think Sylvania are pretty good too.

As for the 12v MR16 (Low Voltage Halogen) lamps that the original poster was asking about, I got some from LIDL a while back and IIRC, they were in 5-packs (20w) for summat like £2.50 - £3.00. Proper bargain, as these are around £1.50 a piece at the local electrical factor.

Can't say if they had higher wattage lamps in tho'.

By the way, an electrician once told me:
They are not bulbs, they are lamps. Bulbs grow in the garden.

I have a few energy saver lamps around the house, just a shame you can't get summat similar to replace those 'for ever blowing' R50 spots.

Good liuck with your hunt!
--
Ripperoo

jeppy

We found some on the internet: https://www.yourwelcome.co.uk

They are GU10-50W 50mm diameter halogen bulb (2000 hr life) 10 for £9.35, there was an online discount, but postage and vat on top, total we had to pay was £11.88!!

Hope this helps, there are 2 kind of bulbs and we found that the cheaper ones were the wrong diameter.

feival

My 10 Sylvania Gu10 50W bulbs arrived very promptly and very well packed. At £13.65 inc. p&p I am delighted. They have a stated life of 2500hours - the ones I used frm Screwfix only had 1500 hours! I got them from the seller below on ebay - I have absolutely no connection to them before you ask!! Also, you get the choice of either 50 or 30 degree angle spread. The ones jeppy quotes are only 30 and I wanted 50!

LIGHTING-SOLUTIONS

baldelectrician

scottishchick27 wrote:

I think you get them in Asda. I'd stock up on a heap of them, if there anything like the spotlights in our kitchen then one will go nearly every week. :mad:

Why do you get lamps going frequently?
Cheap / poor quality lamps.

Buy branded lamps- phillips;osram;sylvania

they last longer, don't kill dimmer switches when they eventually die and are internally fused- so the MCB / fuse doesn't pop.

Buy bulk (box of 10 at least) they will last you.

I have 3 12V 50W spots in my bathroom. 3rd set of lamps in 7 years.

Browntoa

Scewfix do them very cheap

Osram 12V Halogen Dichroic 50W 5Pk £5.99

20 economy £13.95 (use these myself with no problem , last ages)

http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp?id=15902&ts=09955

feival

baldelectrician wrote:

...and are internally fused- so the MCB / fuse doesn't pop.

Thanks baldie! You have answered a question I had previously. My downstairs lighting circuit fuse blew with no obvious reason. I then realised the downstairs toiler bulb had gone - cheapo screwfix GU10! Now that the Sylvania are so cheap I will never buy the non-branded ones again. It really isn't worth it unless they are at least 50% cheaper. As to the other posts above about cheap bulbs they are referring to the 12V bulbs which are cheap everywhere. It is the GU10s that have only just come down to a reasonable level. One last comment. I have bought from screwfix a few times and the bulbs were definitely of differing quality. the first ones were screwfix branded and were absolute rubbish. The next ones were some Chinese name but were OK. However, the Sylvania ones I recommend above are still the cheapest!

bigbadgoggs

12v lamps tend to last longer than GU10 (240v) lamps anyway. This is because the 12v lamps are powered via a transformer, which results in power being applied to the lamp filament in controlled, slightly delayed manner.

The main problem with the 240v lamps is that the full mains voltage hits the lamps instantaneously, placing a much greater stress on the lamp filament, reducing its life - that's why they usually pop as you switch them on. Although I've never tried it, using a good quality dimmer with the GU10 bulbs should significantly extend their life.