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LED replacement bulbs (in the house)??
bigandy - 25/3/07 at 06:23 PM

Afternoon folks.

I was just wondering if anyone has fitted the replacement bulbs that are packed with LED's instead of a filament type bulb?

I have a desklamp that is annoying me because it gets mighty warm due to the 35W GU10 bulb in it. I was wondeirng if switching to an LED equivalent would be beneficial? Obviously the temperatures would be much lower, but I was wondering about the light output, and lifetime of the bulb?

Cheers
Andy

Simon - 25/3/07 at 06:50 PM

Mythbusters did a test of various bulb types following the myth that bulbs are better left on than turned off, because start up voltage exceeded steady state.

Anyway, basically it emerged that flouro were slowest to get steady state voltage after about 20 secs and incandesants about 0.3 secs, so it was worth turning them off if you were to be out of the room for longer than those times.

To the point They also cycled them on and off (on a 2 minute time switch) for the equivalent of 5 years useage and the only one still working was the led.

The LED was also quickest to steady state and consumed lowest power.

HTH

ATB

Simon

bigandy - 25/3/07 at 06:53 PM

So they sound good then trouble is where to buy from? I've had a quick search on google, and some of the sites that sell them (and the products they sell!) look rather cheap....

Any recommendations anyone?

Cheers
Andy

andyharding - 25/3/07 at 07:03 PM

http://www.screwfix.com/search.do;?_dyncharset=UTF-8&fh_search=led+gu10&x=0&y=0

Peteff - 25/3/07 at 07:08 PM

in various colours. bltdirect. How do they compare in brightness to halogen?

stevebubs - 25/3/07 at 07:14 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Peteff
in various colours. bltdirect. How do they compare in brightness to halogen?


I bought a pair of blue MR16 LED bulbs from here 3 years ago give or take a month. Still working ... sort of ... about 50% of the LEDs appear to have given up the ghost. Lasted about 2 years before the first few went, though...

User to light an alcove and left on for very prolonged periods.

Need to order some more but too lazy...

stevebubs - 25/3/07 at 07:14 PM

BTW I fitted Blue not to be bling but because I use them for reading at night and having a soft blue light disturbs SWMBOd far less than a bright white one...