GU10 LED replacements

Some folk I know have a house with no less than 40 GU10 lamps (kitchen, bathroom, hallways) all rated at 25W which makes for a staggering 1KW.

I suggested that replacing the whole lot *now* with LEDs would pay for itself within a few months and reduce the amount of work involved in replacing them - one of 'em blows every few weeks, not surprisingly with so many involved.

They asked their tame electrician who (apparently) replied that LEDs would not be suitable. NB there are no dimmer switches involved.

The electrician doesn't get involved in buying or fitting replacements, so I can't see a motive for bogus advice.

Is there any valid reason for not dropping in a drop-in replacement LED lamp?

Reply to
Fevric J. Glandules
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"Fevric J. Glandules" wrote in news:mdt5r3$nfv$1 @dont-email.me:

I thoughtthey were 35 Watt or 50 watt.

Reply to
DerbyBorn

Some LED downlighters I've seen in large kitchen/diner extensions seem to be horridly prone to 50Hz flicker, I'd want to try a couple before replacing that number of lamps ...

Reply to
Andy Burns

25w? Really? All the ones I've had have been 50w...

If they're the kind of fitting where the bulb is retained from the front by a spring around the rim, good luck finding LEDs that'll actually fit.

Reply to
Adrian

You need to get out more. 25W ones certainly used to be quite readily available. Big problem with them is the fragility of the filament though. Lifespan wasn't good.

Um, again not that hard to find.

I replaced about 20 in our kitchen/dining room about 5 years ago with some cheapies off ebay. We had an early failure of about 6 and the seller replaced them all. Since then, not a single failure.

Tim

Reply to
Tim+

Furry muff. I've clearly tried every single one that doesn't fit, then.

Reply to
Adrian

We went through this exercise recently. In the kitchen it took three attempts to find GU10 LEDs that were both bright enough and had the correct hue. The final satisfactory choice was on recommendation from a member of the mig welding forum - these in warm white:

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Excellent to start with, then we had 60% failures in the first two weeks !!!!! However the seller replaced them without a fuss and since then they've been fine - I assume that it was a bad batch as the other chap had had no problems. Also we always have a high voltage here - ranging from 242 to 250 in the last 24 hours according to my UPS monitor, which is over the upper

10% limit on 220 nominal.

Andrew

Reply to
Andrew Mawson

"Andrew Mawson" wrote in news:mdu73b$bso$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:

Oul local Walmart / Asda is doing a 6 pack for ?18 branded TCL (I think)

Reply to
DerbyBorn

Simple way is to try it out replacing a few as they fail in the most heavily used area of the house. There is a problem retrofitting all LEDs into an existing quartz halogen system in that the transformer(s) may have poor voltage regulation under the much reduced load.

The other problem is that fixtures designed for halogen lamps have to be very well insulated to protect the fabric of the house from catching fire. This tends to cook the control electronics of LED bulbs resulting in shorter life. Forget the makers optimistic lifetime claims.

ALDI/LIDL sometimes have offers on them and for a sacrificial test they or Amazon are reasonably priced.

He could well be right - at least in the sense that LED units will have a seriously reduced lifespan in the existing fittings. LEDs produce much less heat but they need a small airflow to allow it to escape.

Basically that the drop in replacement will not enjoy the thermal environment and die young but it might still save money on electricity even allowing for the more rapid failure. Only way to find out is put a couple in on test and see if they last long enough to be worthwhile.

You might well be able to use half and half without the transformer output voltage regulation becoming problematic.

Reply to
Martin Brown

wouldn't be applicable with the OP's mains GU10 lamps though...

you presumably refer to some "inset in the ceiling" downlighters with a substantial "fire rated" enclosure, other similar but "open back" fittings and other "exposed" applications (e.g. 4 spots on a bar) are fine IME.

got to be worth a try IMHO

But as they are most likely mains GU10s - no transformer..

Jim K

Reply to
JimK

Agreed. GU10 - twist to connect - mushroom headed contacts are mains voltage. (Usually 35 or 50 watt with a range of beam angles)

The ones with plain pins are MR16 and are 12 volt fed from a transformer.

Reply to
DerbyBorn

Sorry. I hadn't meant to mislead. In that case I suspect that the only problem will be whether or not the LED control electronics overheats in the fittings designed for a heat tolerant quartz halogen lamp.

Reply to
Martin Brown

Aldi currently have a range with most fittings, 2 for £6. Just bought a few, impressed. The 7W 470L/40W give a decent light, much better than the CFLs they've replaced.

I've had an LED desk lamp for some 5 years. Not terribly bright (maybe

20W equivalent), but must have clocked up 10,000 hours by now.

I suspect the OP's electrician advice was based on downlighters, and overheating.

Reply to
RJH

similar here.

it would be, if 220 was the nominal voltage, it just sneaks in under the

230 + 10% limit
Reply to
Andy Burns

If you do go down the LED route be aware that some of products out there may not be safe

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Just make sure that before ordering 40 off that you get one example to ensure that the front is insulated.

In my experience GU10 LEDs in my downlighters didn't last too long as they probably got too hot. I am a fan of LED bulbs and have quite a few around the house which have lasted 6 months+ so far without failures - but these are in fittings with more ventilation.

Reply to
alan_m

En el artículo , Adrian escribió:

20 and 25w ones are available, but you have to hunt for them. I got a couple off eBay for a desk lamp where 50w and 35w were simply too bright.
Reply to
Mike Tomlinson

Yes, mains GU10s, ceiling flush-fit, pretty sure they are 25W but they could be more.

Reply to
Fevric J. Glandules

Dimmable ones often have that issue. Don't buy dimmable ones unless you really are intending to use them on a dimmer.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

Switched-mode PSU's prefer higher voltage, because it makes them run cooler. It's running under voltage which risks overheating them, because of the higher primary current draw needed to transfer the same power across the HF transformer. The more expensive ones (such as separate electronic fluorescent tube ballasts) mostly include protection circuits to cut-off in under-voltage conditions, so as to not cook themselves. I learned this the hard way myself many years ago thinking that a SMPSU would compensate for undervoltage input (well, it did), and after the second one burned out, I realised what the problem was.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

In principle a SMPSU could be designed to accept any voltage from maybe

12V to 440V - but it would have to be designed with suitable margins to avoid burnout. 95 to 250V is common in order to enable use anywhere, and that range could be extended. (Maybe more recent designs perform more reliably?).
Reply to
Windmill

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