Hi all, in the bathroom i`ve currently got 5 downlights, each a 50w bulb, and i`m looking to reduce the amount of power drawn since the g/f spends so long in there :-) Are the LED bulbs currently on sale any good for real world use, and if so does anyone have any suggestiosn for good places to buy?
Thanks in advance for your help!
Replace the 50W bulbs with 20W bulbs?
It's only about 3p an hour if that !
Fit a PIR so they don't get left on. 250W isn't a huge amount.
On Thu, 26 Jun 2008 18:01:59 GMT someone who may be mick wrote this:-
I don't know whether CFL wattages include gear losses. Let's assume they don't and a modern 15W CFL, which will light a bathroom for general lighting, actually consumes 20W. So the 250W is at best 12.5 times that of a 15W energy saving lamp, perhaps 16.6 times as much.
As the old saying goes, look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves.
But when the bulbs need replacing anyway, surely it makes sense to go for a more efficient option. Plus it might only be 3p an hour now, but with prices going up all the time it won`t be long before it`s 10 pence an hour, and it will soon add up.
As it stands I only want replacement bulbs to drop into the system that is in there now, so a normal CFL isn`t appropriate. But the lower I can get the normal energy use of the house the easier it will be to find a renewable energy source that will meet the majroity of the houses needs. As it stands we`ve got a very old fridge/freezer that could do with being replaced, and it will be replaced eventually with a more efficient model, but at the moment we`re only able to afford the small changes. But getting an energy efficient PC etc means that the bills go down now, and if there are decent subsidies on solar panels and the like in my area then that would make it well worth getting them fitted, and saving money that way. :-)
which is much cheaper than shopping!
12V Halogen MR16s are pretty efficient anyway, GU10`s not so much but still a world away from a 60W GLS `bulb` which are a legitimate target for CFLs.
LED is not a good look on skin tones even in warm white colours, great for a bit of ambient light but wouldn`t reccomnd it round a make up mirror for instance.
Do you need a 1/4Kw running in bathroom, could lighting be arranged to allow lower load appropriate to use, mirror lights, LED kick panel lighting etc rather than center spot at Hampden all the time?
Adam
The cold cathode GU10's are a good choice for a bathroom as they come up to full brightness quite slowly - so don't sear your eyeballs out if you go to the loo in the middle of the night. Colour balance is far better than that of LED for bathrooms.
Examples at
I'll second that. One of my sons has a couple in his bedroom. Light output seems slightly less than the so-called equivalent incandescent and the beam width is wider, but the light "quality" is very good. Yes, it's a rather slow start, but it isn't too bad as you get a usable light very quickly. The ones he has look like the 9W version on that web page.
I stick by my original suggestion of a PIR if possible though. It's surprising how much energy is wasted lighting empty rooms. There isn't a replacement cost for a PIR, replacement costs for incandescents are low now and for high efficiency lamps they are high. You'll get a much faster payback using a PIR with incandescents.
Also, bear in mind the type of fitting. Incandescents project the heat forward, requiring less cooling space behind them, whereas high efficiency lamps always require good ventilation around the body of the lamp and cannot be reliably used in closed-back fittings as their life is severely affected.
To keep the energy usage to an absolute minimum it would be a sensible idea to rearrange the lighting so that it is only used where it is needed. Spots look good but are very inefficient for giving general light to a room. Where the absolute minimum power must be used LEDs may indeed be the answer, but they will only work in this sort of a setup. e.g. LED strips each side of a mirror and, possibly, bounced off a ceiling to give a dim general light level.
So, you have five (large holes?) in your bathroom ceiling?
Fire hazard here, maybe?
All the replies are probably helping you to make a decision but there's another solution: get the gf to spend less time in there. Does she really NEED it?
Mary
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The LED bulbs will be expensive and will in all likely hood make her skin look terrible with a bluish tone.
So my advice would be to put them in as you may save in the long run. Hopefully she won't want to be in there for a long time anymore due to the crap colour rendering of the bulbs.
cheers
David
Nice idea!
Mary
Bear in mind that most of these bulbs are physically larger than the Halogens and may not fit.
It`s 5 50 w bulbs. There`s 3 in the ceiling in a diagonal line - one above the shower, one in the middle of the room and 1 over the toilet. Then 2 more over the mirror at the sink. Reducing the number of bulbs will means either holes in the ceiling, light fittings that done produce light or some other weird looking effect, hence my desire to simply replace the bulbs with something more efficient :-)
Well, being perfectly honest, it`s not entirely her fault - I do enjoy the usual passtime of sitting on the throne and reading ;-)
I`ve lived in this house for 29 years now on and off, so I`m perfectly fine getting around the house with the lights off :-) I`ll have a good look at those though, thanks for the tip!
LOL! I suspected it might not all be her fault, just like a man, eh!
Mary
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