Pete-B Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Hi, I appreciate this is a bit off topic but I would welcome any advice. I'm fed up with constantly replacing GU10 halogen bulbs at home plus the cost of running them so I'm thinking of changing to a direct replacement LED, we have a total of 17 altogether. I've been on the internet all morning looking at different forums on the subject and reading what so called experts think. I'm sitting here now totally baffled at what I've read and I don't think any the wiser. So basically if you, or anyone you know, has actually done the same changeover I would appreciate your thought on it. What I have gleaned I suppose is, I would need at least a 6w LED which would be equivalent to the 50w Halogen, about 3000 Kelin to give a warm light and and at least a 60 degree of spread. I thought I would have a quick look on Amazon and I see they're doing a 10 pack of 6w 3000k, 420 Lm with a 120 degree spread for a tad over £30. This seems to me to be too good to be true or am I just being too pessimistic? Thanks for any advice and help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 I've done it at home using cheap led units off EBay and several have failed quickly - and one of them even blew apart and caught fire! GU10 units have a built in voltage switching circuit but I think it was a bit of tape around a dodgy connection which ignited on the one which blew apart. Although superficially OK, the internals of these cheap units were a bit of a lash up so cheapos are probably best avoided. Buying from Amazon should be OK I suppose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Joe90 Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Ikea have a range of 240 volt LED replacements, I have recently bought several of them, compared to the conventional lamps they replaced both Halogen and conventional filament bulbs, and despite allegedly having a similar light output they are very disappointing. :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyg3nwl Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Hi, go to one of the shows and visit the relevant traders..there is wide selection of bulbs and fittings available, and the stall holders are generally very helpful. in previous vans, I have changed reading lights to "white" lights, which some people think are "quite a cold light".. I prefer it to what is sometines called "warm light". Halogen lights should all be ditched as the battery drain is much heavier the led lamps, and halogen bulbs burn you fingesr if you are not careful.. leds are a bit more expensive but longer lasting, and dont get hot. tonyg3nwl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muswell Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 We have replaced 20 CFL lamps in our house with Philipps LEDs, globes not GU10s and over a year have had no failures. We recently bought a new flat which was fitted with about 24 GU10 LEDs and within a very short time 3 have failed. I think the contractor used the cheapest he could get. If you do some googling you will find that cheapo lamps have a high failure rate. Philips are at the forefront of lighting research and I would buy their lamps, or someone like Toshiba who have a reputation, not some un-named junk from Amazon or e-bay. 10 for £30???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Joe90 Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 tonyg3nwl - 2015-02-10 12:25 PM Hi, go to one of the shows and visit the relevant traders..there is wide selection of bulbs and fittings available, and the stall holders are generally very helpful. in previous vans, I have changed reading lights to "white" lights, which some people think are "quite a cold light".. I prefer it to what is sometines called "warm light". Halogen lights should all be ditched as the battery drain is much heavier the led lamps, and halogen bulbs burn you fingesr if you are not careful.. leds are a bit more expensive but longer lasting, and dont get hot. tonyg3nwl He's talking about mains voltage GU10 bulbs for his house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
747 Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 The Halogens often fail because the fitting is in amongst insulation and gets too hot, popping the light. I got led's from LEDBULBS4U to replace the 50 watt Halogens and none of them have failed after 18 months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 I'm thinking (or maybe hoping) that LEDs are still a developing market. Have replaced most of the 12v van lights and am very pleased with them. Have only tried two mains bayonet bulbs in the house so far with mixed results. The first was a relatively cheap 11w (60w equivalent) off ebay, the light output seems much lower than 60w, and I was going to check the actual current draw to see if it was correct (lost my plug in meter so couldn't) on examining bulb I noticed it had no CE mark so I'm a bit dubious about using it. The second was a 13w(75w eqiv) from Aldi, this is certainly up to spec, but the base seems to get quite hot. If Aldi do anymore offers I might get some 60w equivalent to try, but aside from that will see how the market develops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete-B Posted February 10, 2015 Author Share Posted February 10, 2015 Thanks for all the answers and advice, much appreciated. I came across a website from led lantern and they were showing some Samsung LEDs which looked interesting, I wonder if anyone else has seen these! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Joe90 Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Pete-B - 2015-02-10 5:27 PM Thanks for all the answers and advice, much appreciated. I came across a website from led lantern and they were showing some Samsung LEDs which looked interesting, I wonder if anyone else has seen these! Problem with branding today I find is it often bears no resemblance to the quality of the product perhaps the easy answer really is just buy one and see what you think.............but in my experience the technology as it applies to mains voltage LED GU10s has a fair way to go yet, keep us posted though if you have a punt and a result ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wallynnette Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Don't be sucked in to buying packs of these because of the cheapish price. I did, twice, packs of ten (plus 2 free) off Amazon and identical on Ebay. So much for the 10.000 hrs, they all failed within a month. What's that saying, " you get what you pay for". Trouble is when you have a lot to change it costs a fortune, and you still wont know if you've done the right thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leake Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 We have some Phillips ones with which we are very pleased both warm and cool white. None have failed so far. Do look at the coverage angle. This is getting better but some have a very narrow angle and as such leave dark spots in the room. Wife made me change the ones in the bathroom because they were too bright. Fortunately I could use them else where. I fitted much lower power warm white ones over the bath and shower but left the two powerfull cool white ones above the shaving mirror. They are expensive but it seems to me one gets what one pays for. I did some time ago fit a cheap one in our last motorhome. When on it caused problems with the TV. I've no idea why but when I replaced it with a quality item the problem went away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muswell Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 I once read a quote "I'm too poor to buy cheap things" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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