Changing some of house lighting from halogen to LED

[granpa]

Its fine fitting halogens in the home, plenty light but when it comes to how much leccy they use its a bit staggering, so I have started updating some of my lighting, all the old incandescent bulbs were kicked out a few years ago and at present I have a mix of the mini neon economy bulbs, slow to start up as they age, and halogen, instant start but very hot. I sent for a couple of warm white LEDs to try in the bathroom where there is a direct comparison available with a couple of halogens, very impressive, almost the same light output though slightly whiter, swapping one for the shower I was disappointed as my feet and shower tray blended into a grey gloom so this one location will, for the present remain halogen lit, bearing in mind the consumption in that one room has dropped from 200w to 70w.

Now to tackle the hall, stairs and landing, in total 350w which after conversion will be 21w, with the bonus of a much longer projected bulb life. The initial outlay is quite a lot but with fuel prices shooting through the roof its as well to do it now

Main lighting in living room etc will still be the economy bulbs for the better spread of light.

 

 

[stimulator]

Great minds think alike.

When we moved into our new home in 2009, the builders were fast to point out the lighting. The majority of rooms were fitted with down lighters, which were fitted with neon GU10 spotlights., running at 11W and 2700K. These were fitted in the bathrooms  kitchen and garden room. Ok they are low wattage (11) but the time it takes them to reach operating temp/output is too long and by the time they are on song you've peed and left the room (toilets). For some reason they decided to only fit one in each bathroom and in the shower a 12V down lighter.

 

So I began a hunt for something better. To start with the only answer seemed to be going to halogen GU10s which I put in the en-suite BUT increased the number to 3. That put the wattage total up to 150 from 11. As it was the en-suite I decided that the light gain for the short time they were on warranted the increase wattage.

However after 4.5 years the bulbs started to fail.

So an alternative was hunted for on the net. Now modern LED units running 3.5W looked attractive. These are a direct GU10 replacement and run at 3000K, 200 lumen. So I bought 4 on good old Ebay for the total cost of £10. They arrived and are in use. The result is a bathroom that is bright BUT has a tinge to the light., maybe 6500K would  be better. Now the total wattage is back to 11.5W, but I am running the three so the room is much brighter than the origin GU10 spotlight was. These units contain 48 surface mounted devices (individual LEDs). Equivalent output is 11W. made by BEIYI a German company.

[Border_Collie]

Just bought a dozen 7W day white Golf LED bulbs off eBay for £37, three for the front cluster and three for the back half. One went dim after about 5 hours, only 49995 hours short of its expected life.

 

Very strange white light, took a while to get used to, going into the kitchen or hall and there is a noticeable yellowish light from the halogen ones which I always thought looked white. I'll change the other existing bulbs as and when they die.

 

I did quite a bit of research before purchase and found the following a good guide.

 

Lumens      LED          BULB

800             6-8W        60W

1100           9-13W      75W

1600          16-20W     100W

 

 

Edited December 12, 2013 by Border_Collie

[granpa]

Regarding the hall, stairs and landing, as well as the usual 240v lights [7 altogether] I have run a 12v system to provide automatic dusk to 11 pm ish illumination at a much lower light level, doubles up as a burglar deterrent during our hols, this latter system has 3 bulbs rated at 20w each [halogen], designed to be a low electric consumption circuit it now burns more than the entire stair system, so is being changed to lower output LEDs with its own 12v driver. Interesting project that should payoff in the future

Deliberately steered clear of the white and day white bulbs as they are too cold and clinical, warm white is very acceptable

[Border_Collie]

Just had an earful from my superior other half, who, evidently, told me to order warm white. :(

[granpa]

You need to be looking at lumens figures between 3000 and 3500 for warm white, below this people say it starts to turn green and above it leans towards a stark blue white, also note the angle of light it can range from 35 to 120 degrees. I cant see any significant difference in light from 3.5 w and 5 w rated LEDs

[stimulator]

Isn't the K fig you are quoting there. My 3.5w smd led are 3000k 200 lumins. 3000 lumins would melt your retinas.

[granpa]

Stand corrected, couldn't be bothered finding the box

[stimulator]

No problems.

 

it's a pity that all boxes don't have a table with

 

Watts

lumens

K

equivalent watts

 

would be most helpful.

[granpa]

No problems.

 

it's a pity that all boxes don't have a table with

 

Watts

lumens

K

equivalent watts

 

would be most helpful

Plus angle of dangle so we can differentiate between spot and flood light

Edited December 16, 2013 by granpa

[granpa]

Yesterday changed all the bulbs in hall [2], stairs [3] and landing [2], all on individual 2-way circuits, this morning, it was dark when I got up, noticed the 3 stairs lights were glowing ever so dimly, thinking faulty wiring, faulty switches etc I did a Google search, it is more common than I expected, many forums in the USA have this as a topic and the general conclusion is that the main cause is electro magnetic forces from nearby wiring to which the more sensitive LED is being influenced, whereas a tungsten or halogen would not be activated by such a miniscule current. So if this happens to you, done panic !

Edited December 19, 2013 by granpa

[Lancelot]

Brother in law changed from fluorescent lamps to LED.  As they are the same wattage surely there is no saving???

[gittos]

Maybe not Lance, but probably a significant improvement in the quality of the light.

[granpa]

Brother in law changed from fluorescent lamps to LED.  As they are the same wattage surely there is no saving???

 

Assume you're not referring to tubes here Lance, the mini fluorescent bulbs quite possibly are rated the same or very close but the advantage of LED is instant start-up at full output

[granpa]

Had some feedback from my daughter who has been trying LEDs in her kitchen, she has had to refit Halogens, she was experiencing blurred vision and headaches when working under the LEDs, Light output, colour and spread of light was on a par with Halogen but there must be some sort of frequency flicker that some people are more susceptible to than others, must admit that when I am working in my cellar, which is now fully LED lit I too have noticed I am not as comfortable as I was with the Fluorescent strip lighting but am able to dismiss it.

Has anybody else noted strange effects under these lights ?

Edited January 10, 2014 by granpa

[Lancelot]

Check this out  www.tinyurl.com/ldcanju

[crickleymal]

White LEDs do emit UV light but have a fluorescing layer built in to provide the correct colour. I should imagine that the amount of UV coming out is pretty small. At the distances from the bulb that you will normally be at the chance of damage will be fairly small. Paintings get damaged because the LED bulb is pretty close to the artwork I guess.

 

We have CFLs thoughout our house and don't have any problem with them. Good quality ones light up pretty quickly and even if they didn't the light available is more than adequate to lift the toilet lid, have a pee and flush. The old lady that lived here before us had some hideous ceiling light in the lounge with three bulbs in it. She used 40W bulbs and the light output was abysmal. Changed them for 3 10W CFLs and the difference was astounding.

[granpa]

Gone overboard here, we have some garden lights on a 12v system burning 7w on ordinary car type bulbs, now fitted with 'cylinder' style led clusters rated at 3w, brightness is astounding, gone from a dim yellow to a really bright white, similar to the solar garden lights when fully charged

[granpa]

Update on the LED situation, since I did the changeover in December / January there have been no failures in any of the bulbs, strangely we have got used to the light difference and now regard it as the norm, same for the garden lighting which is on a combined daylight sensor and timer circuit which means it operates every evening from dusk to 11pm, well pleased, good result.

[stimulator]

OK further changes to house lights. The CFL down lights fitted by the builder have over the last 5 years slowly got dimmer. They never were that good with slow start to full bright times. These are 72mm long, 11W 3000K warm white.

 

Currently decorating the conservatory which is fitted with these and the kitchen so decided to change them. Now 72mm long LED units are in the region of £9 to £10 each and I need 20, so now way could I go down that route. Searched internet and on good old E-bay found 52mm long units daylight 6W 60SMD units for the sum of £22 for 10. SENWEIT 5500K to 6500K 6W 120 degree beam angle 450 lumen.

So with a little thought found that the original holders could be modified with a 20mm spacer fitted between the top of the holder and the case. These were cut from a surplus aluminium hanging rail, oval in shape and hollow. Purchased 50 M3.5 50mm screws and 100 M3.5x6 nuts. removed units and modified them and fitted the new LED bulbs.

 

Now have a bright kitchen, conservatory, en-suites (2) and the hall. Total of 20 units modified total cost £52.

 

SWMBO is over the moon with the light. I am over the moon as they are only half the wattage that the others were.

[granpa]

Been doing a lot of work in the cellar recently and sad to say LED has not been the total answer for this room, too many reflections & shadows, I have 2 rows of 3 LEDs but the row immediately over the workbench will have to be returned to a fluorescent tube

[stimulator]

These are the items I purchased

http://www.ebay.co.uk/mbf/PurchaseHistory?MyEbayBeta&CurrentPage=MyeBayNextWon&ssPageName=STRK%3AME%3ALNLK%3AMEWNX&_trksid=p2055359.m2034.l3391

 

Most GU10 halogen bulbs are warm white and have a beam angle of only 35 to 50 degrees. The compact fluorescent (CFC) that were in my holders were crap. These new LEDs are SMD (surface mounted devices and contain 60 small LEDs; are DAYLIGHT brightness and have a beam angle of 120 degrees. At 6W power consumption they are about half what the old CFC where.

 

You need to have 6W plus to get the lumens required. Most that are sold are 3W to 4.5W and give warm white.

[granpa]

Latest LED project was a replacement PIR security floodlight in the back garden, when it arrived from Ebay it was surprising how much bigger the casing was compared to the standard halogen unit, the more I inspected it the more its size was illogical, I didn't open it up to have a nosey at its innards but the location of the led cluster would never have its light output enhanced by the reflector, it was bordering on being flush / slightly recessed, and so it proved on installation, every bit of light was from the forward throw of the LEDs , zilch from the reflector, still the output is very good for 30w instead of 500w, now I can wind up the duration to its max and still save brass

[granpa]

Mid june 2015 pdate, since starting the swap-over to LED's in december 2013, only 1 has had to be replaced, plus I have had to refit one 4ft fluorescent over my workbench as the shadows caste by the LED's were not comfortable to work with. January the old timber conservatory died from rot after 40 years, the plastic replacement has now, with the use of adaptors, also been lit by LED's. 5w instead of 40w per light

[stimulator]

have had two of my 6W LEDs fail on me. The first refused to light and was replaced by the supplier. The second one failed in such a way that when it is ON it just barely glows and when the lights are switched off it flashes at full brightness for a Nano second. I have ordered 4 new ones.

 

I have to say though that even with the one missing the others do a brilliant (excuse pun) job illuminating the kitchen.