LED Bulbs are Great!

Has anyone else tried domestic LED bulbs? These are the latest innovation on the domestic lighting and energy saving scene. They been around in low voltage versions for several years but they are now appearing in higher output versions for domestic lighting.
I've just replaced 3, 50 Watt GU10 halogen bulbs in our kitchen with 3, 7 Watt LED bulbs each with an equivalent output of 60 Watts. The result is a brighter kitchen at a power consumption of 21 Watts as opposed to 150 Watts for a slightly less well lit kitchen.
They are significantly more expensive than halogen or standard "power save" bulbs but do save you cash, and carbon footprint in the long term.

 

Good idea Dave, but dont you find anything with LED is just so glaring.
LED streetlights, you cant even look at them.
LED torches, so bright if you look straight at them.

I know LEDs use less electric but there is something about them that puts me off.

 

With no heat generated (as in incandescent bulbs) and no arcing (as in anything high voltage when it first switches, and all fluorescent type lighting), there's nothing to wear out, and no wasted energy, so LED based lamps are expected to last many years. I think one spec I saw said 35 years.

As for the quality of light, I like them. It seems to me to be a more 'pure' light than you get off most alternative types.

I should say that I've not yet tried them in my house, but I have seen plenty in use elsewhere.

 

We need bright in the kitchen Pete as Mrs W is visually impaired and every lumen helps!

The thing with illumination is that you are not supposed to look at the source, but look at what is illuminated.

If you find LED lights are too bright then you can get ones with different colour temperatures. The ones I got are 3000k (Kelvin) and are a bit on the soft side. Bright daylight would be better for us so if I can find a source of 50 or 60 Watt equivalent with a higher colour temperature I'll swap them into another room.

Clueless - Bulbs are rated as "up to" 50,000 hours. Time will tell!

 

I have used GU10 LEDs for about 4 years . I used them mainly to reduce the lighting load in the bedroom . The light was 4 x 50w GU10 ...200W light ! I replaced one with a LED . In the bathroom I put two colour changing LEDs which make the lighting less harsh - they are not as garish as they sound ! Maybe the new 7 watt ones are equal to a 50W halogen

 

Equal to 60W Harry.

 

I've been thinking of these, we have 12 gu10's in the kitchen and 4 in the bathroom. Trouble is, the kitchen is on dimmers so I think I'm limited in the choice of LEDs there. I could take the dimmers out of course.

Replacing 16 gu10's tho will be expensive!

 

Glad we're not paying your electricity bill al n !

 

That's why they're on dimmers in the kitchen, and they are on banks of 6. Ie one switch controls and dims the firsts six, a second switch controls and dims the other 6

First bank of six, full brightness


Second bank of six, full brightness


All on, dimmed


All on, full brightness is the full 600w dimmed, all on is around 120w.

 

They seem to do 9w dimmable ones by Cree at about £4 a time.
Are yours like the ones below Dave with 3 blubs in a fitting ? They seem to have come on along way since I last bought one !
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10X-Rotun...UK_Light_Bulbs&var&hash=item2571daf59b&_uhb=1

 

These are the ones I bought Harry. There's 29 LED bulbs in each fitting.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/BULBS-WHITE..._14?s=lighting&ie=UTF8&qid=1361909186&sr=1-14

 

Bladdy hell fire, that's very, VERY cheap! The last time I looked, dimmable gu10 LEDs were around £18 EACH! Thanks for the link, very much appreciated!

 

Al n, sorry to butt in on this thread but is that a Belfast sink I can see??? I have just started a thread on these. Sorry I'm off now!!

Val

 

It is val, yes x