These are very popular, and I have some myself around the house. I am about to reburbish a bedroom and plan to install some more.
Up to now I have used 250V versions, but some electricians install 12V transformed ones. What are the pros and cons ? And are there any viable high-efficiency (e.g. led) lamps of similar size and light output available?
The 12v ones are called "MR16". The main plus point is that they have a much longer life than the mains ones, I also think the light quality is more "sparkly". The only problem is that you have to have a transformer for them. However I still prefer the 12V ones. You can get LED MR16's but the commonly available ones are not bright enough for lighting things up - they are ok if you are going for pretty effects eg step lighting or wall washing. If you spend a lot of money and go to architectural lighting suppliers you can get LED MR16's with a bit more poke, but they are too expensive for normal use at the moment. You can get compact fluorescent versions of the GU10 mains lamp, but like all compact fluorescents the light quality is awful. The light beam is very uncontrolled too.
-- Tim Mitchell
Chris - the 12v ones have a significantly longer life in my experience. It may be the heavier filament viz car headlight bulbs, or more likely being electronic transformer driven, they are not subject to a massive voltage shock on switch on - the electronics bringing the filament up on some sort of voltage ramp.
Rob
LV wins every time:
In article , snipped-for-privacy@congoblue.co.uk writes: |>
|> You can get LED MR16's but the commonly available ones are not bright |> enough for lighting things up - they are ok if you are going for |> pretty effects eg step lighting or wall washing. If you spend a lot of |> money and go to architectural lighting suppliers you can get LED |> MR16's with a bit more poke, but they are too expensive for normal use |> at the moment.
Not so, but you need quite a lot. I redid my bathroom with 25 LEDs (30 in a unit, totalling 1W) and the illumination is fine. Yes, it cost.
Regards, Nick Maclaren.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.