f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

What is a good price for GU10 fixed LED downlighters with 4 or 5W LED lamp?

Preferably 90 mins fire rated.

ScoobyWon't

£5.60 inc VAT, possibly a little less on eBay.

andy97

iTrader: (1)

About £5 for either 3,4.5 watt. Make sure they have ventilation as they can fail. So beware of using them in bathrooms where the holder generally has a glass cover. I got some new gu 10 holders which had plenty of room for the lamp to breath. City electrical factors stock them. I have now replaced all my down lights to led versions, considering I have 50 spots I am saving a small fortune compared to the old halogen 50 watt lamps

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

Cool, I got quoted £5.20 inc. VAT if I buy 30 (I need 28 so that is fine).

I don't suppose there is any chance they are not made in China. I hate the thought if electrical products made by that corner cutting manufacturing nation!

warrenm2

Think these are German

JackClark

Tesco sometimes have offers, I've picked them up 2 for a fiver. Only four more in the bathroom then that's the whole house done all by waiting for Tesco offers. Some are own brand some are Phillips.

LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

I use LEDhut.com and I honestly can't fault the bulbs. I have the 4w gu10 'daylight' bulbs in my kitchen diner and they are as good (brightness) as the 50w halogen bulbs I had. My girlfriend would rather have 'warm white' but the 'daylight' is a nice inbetween from the 'cool white'. I have 30 in my kitchen diner so I went from 1500watts down to 120watts. I also have various LED screw and bayonet type bulbs throughout my house and 9 x 2w LED filament style bulbs in my chandelier (these are awesome), all from LEDhut. Probably a bit more pricey than the likes of ebay but you get what you pay for.

Just got the bathrooms and utility downlighters to change (another 30 needed) and spent a small fortune but it'll pay for itself in a couple years.

Edit: Forgot to add that they always have some sort of offer on. I'm on their mailing list and they have a different offer about every week. Last week they were doing 30% off all GU10 bulbs so worth waiting for a sale IMO.

ScoobyWon't

That's where my prices were from.

RS_Matt

I've used LED bulbs for a few years now and all sorts of sizes, wattages and makes. I've used them commercially and in the home with correct low load dimmer switches etc.

I've found Asda's own LED bulbs are the best by some way, (stay away from the Duracell they stock) though they aren't usually dimmable. Bright, efficient and have been more reliable than bulbs ranging from Philips Master to Ebay China specials.

piehole1983

iTrader: (7)

Any reason you say to stay away from the Duracell ones?

Luan Pra bang

Just be careful with the colour, i find yellow ish light to be nice in the evening but unpleasant in the day time while light that is too white is awful in the evening and there have been studies that show white light clodr to bed time can impair sleep. The ideal solution would be remote controlled switching to change between different light spectrums. I have this in my garden lights and the led strips under the cupboards but have not seen this on gu10 fittings yet.

LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

LEDHut are doing 30% off all bulbs if you use the code 'short30' at check out. I find 'daylight' is best for kitchens and probably for bathrooms too, while 'warm' colour is best for living rooms, hallways and bedrooms. I've tried 'cool white' and it was too "stark" if you get what I mean.

RS_Matt

Bought some for the kitchen and they didn't last long. Nice and bright with a natural halogen-esque light but seem to have issues with heat dispersal maybe.

piehole1983

iTrader: (7)

I've got about 35 of them fitted around the house, maybe a year or more in and all of them have been 100%. I'd swear they're as bright as or brighter than 50W halogen. I think they're great (so far)!

RS_Matt

Another thing to consider is wattage, LED bulbs do lose their intensity over the years. My outside 10 watt LED corn bulb has lost circa 30-40% of it's original brightness in 2 years.

Try and avoid anything under 5 watt when using several GU10's to light a room and for a large living room consider 10 watt or more.

Cool white is a more efficient light lumens wise but as mentioned before it's not very pleasing.

RS_Matt

Mine were very bright with a good even spread, hopefully I just got a bad batch.

I did have another make in the series of 4 at the time though (3 Duracell 1 Philips) and I've since read up that you should avoid mixing different makes of LED.

My friend has had problems with Duracell though without mixing.

piehole1983

iTrader: (7)

I don't see how mixing them would make any difference. They all take they're own supply from the mains. That would basically mean you couldn't have anything else switched on at the same time as LED lamps lol.

Maybe I've been lucky and got away with it for now! I even bought a load of spare ones cos they were so cheap. 3 lamps for £5

Aaron_P85

google LEDwarehouse, I'vedone my whole house with all their bulbs, standard and GU10.... 6 year warranty...can't compain!

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

Thanks for all the replies

BoozyDave

iTrader: (8)

I'm a sparky and have used loads of different ones.

the best/most reliable ones I use are Modo, but now called Megaman. cost me £5 each

I use warm white (3200 kelvin) in houses and cool white (4000k) in offices/factories.
Just fitted some led strip lights in a boiler room that the tennant supplied and they were 5000k, the colour is horrible, too white

wrx300scooby

Hi Dave, can you give some advice seeing as you are clearly quite clued up on these LED lights. I have a concrete sectional garage with the corrugated concrete sheets on the roof. For lighting I have two 5ft fluorescent tubes and find these a bit dim. Can you recommend me an LED alternative that WILL work. I have looked at replacing the tubes with LED ones, what do you think?

BoozyDave

iTrader: (8)

the led tubes are brighter than the normal tubes, most are 4000k (cool white) and so have a brighter white light.
you can modify the normal fitting's that you have got so that they will work with led tubes too. the led tubes only need live and neutral at one end, no need for the starter or ballast

or if you want to replace the full fitting's, buy some 5ft twin fitting's. led's use less power too (but not loads less, normal tube is 58w, led's are about 35-40) are they are brighter too

if you aren't sure if they are worth the outlay, just get 2 5ft led tubes and modify the existing fittings

piehole1983

iTrader: (7)

I've just retrofitted 2 x 5ft LED tube in to my existing fittings. They're 23W each and 4000K. Light is just as bright as the 58W fluorescent tubes and exactly the same colour as I already had. Don't forget the energy lost through old magnetic ballasts is saved too. So where I'd have been using at the very least 116W, I'm now using 46

BoozyDave

iTrader: (8)

yep, they use more power than the 58w tube. when designing or testing an installation, 58w strip lights are classed as 100w fittings (they have a high start up current),

23w for the leds is low

are you happy with how bright they are compared to normal tubes?

piehole1983

iTrader: (7)

Yeah they're 100% for light output compared to the old tubes. I honestly don't see any difference at all apart from the light isn't able to escape upwards!

wrx300scooby

I'll let you know how I get on

tarmac terror

iTrader: (2)

Consider moving the lights off the roof / ceiling and position them horizontally on the walls. Find in my garages with the lighting overhead, you are always working in your own shadow.

wrx300scooby

Cheers for the suggestion tt but my walls are full of old enamel signs that I collect.

BoozyDave

iTrader: (8)

good idea tt

could you fit them at the edges of the roof?

when i fit downlights in kitchens, I position them 450-500mm out from the wall, so when you are stood at the worktop the light is above and in front of you, not behind

edsel

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for heads up, Asda are selling 5watt 330 lumens LEDS 3 for £12. I bought 6 and they have transformed the room, nice bright white light. Just need another 18 to refit the rest of the house