Low energy lamps with dimmer

[Andy Burns]

By that criteria we'd probably all assume you normally typed under the glare of a single fairy lamp :-)

[Andy Hall]

Therein lies the problem. The fluorescents are bad enough in terms of producing a rather dim and bilious light. Having something that makes cold and bilious is even worse.

[Pete C]

I wonder if MR16s that run from 12v could be better than GU10s that run from mains.

With mains I'd expect less conversion efficiency and greater heat losses, and the hotter the fitting the less light the LEDs will give out.

cheers, Pete.

[Andy Burns]

has it arrived? if so can I check does ours "hum" sligly at full brigtness? Just wondering if mine is normal or not.

[Aidan Karley]

I have brought several LED GU-10 units over the last year.

Some I have put in the bathroom - white tiled walls contrasting strongly with blue paint and tile ... well the blue-white of "white" LED is fine there, and the blue LEDs are good too. Others into the daughter's bedroom ... "white" is generally acceptable there too. Lastly (on the GU-10 front) the hallway ... has a dimmer on it to drop use to low levels at night without going to total darkness. Not suitable for LEDs.

General result : the coloured ones aren't a problem, but in both cases Their Ladyships insist on having an incandescent pointing at the mirror, so they can get their face paint correct. I don't see the problem, but I can see where a problem could arise, so I take the ~75% energy savings and wait for the next generation. LEDs are not a cure-all (I use colour at work, and I am very picky about the lamps for my microscope); but for regular use they're a 4-for-50 swap, in terms of power used.

[Aidan Karley]

To the extent that the lamp was failing to deliver it's effect? I ask as someone who is well acquainted with the effects of peculiar "colour", and consider it just another issue. But for someone else's decorative lighting, that's something I take pretty casually. If I want two things to match in colour, I bring them adjacent, or bring them adjacent to a colour standard. Under (of course) the same lighting. Having said that, I've almost lost a grand this month due to colour f*ck-ups, which has been a warning to me. Different topic - I'll describe in a separate message on ... "OT? Colour Specifying Furniture"

[John Rumm]

These were in a run of wall washers, so the effect remains ok, but there is growing variation in brightness now depending on how many LEDs each lamp has lost. It was just surprising how quickly LEDs began to fail.

There is also a concealed uplighting run of blue LED rope lights in a raised section of ceiling (these have performed better with no dropped LEDs yet).

[Si]

so, a heat effect (the up-facing ones being able to dissipate heat better)?

[John Rumm]

I think it is just a reflection of how hard they were being driven. The uplight rope has far more LEDs with each being less stressed. Shame that can't be said for the PSU that drives them though - that needed replacing within four months.

[Malcolm H]

Yes, it has now arrived and appears to work well. It is absolutely silent at all settings.

[marting]

I bought a couple of 12V led's to replace some 20W halogens. 6 months later half the led's have gone and one flickered so badly I had to take it out, making any money savings on energy use a moot point.

I'm generally in favour of energy-saving lighting but I've had trouble and failures with GU10 replacements, both CFL and LED, that i don't get with the standard 12W "replace your 60w bulb with this" CFL's.

[A.Clews]

Thus spake marting ( [e-mail]) unto the assembled multitudes:

Agreed - I have had several GU10 CFLs fail fairly quickly. One failed within 3 days, but at least I got a free replacement. I have two 240V GU10 LED lamps on the go, sharing with two CFLs in a four-lamp wall-mounted fitting (though it was sold as a ceiling unit). Taking bets now as to which lamp fails first :-)

[marting]

ho-hum another 9w GU10 CFL bites the dust. I'm going to try a couple of

5W cold cathodes and see how they go... if they bite the dust I'm waiting 5 years for the technology to improve :-(

[Colin Wilson]

In the meantime, the Tesco near us has 240V 50W GU10 lamps - two in a=20 blister pack - for =A31

[The Natural Philosopher]

So thats only a £1 a month for every 4 lights you have.,..;-)

I pay about that for 12v ones.

MOSTLY they last about 2-3 years.