LED spotlight bulbs

[Lee Nowell]

Hi All

I am looking to replace all my MR16 bulbs with LED ones. Anyone know a cheap place to buy them online?

Thanks

Lee.

[ARW]

Do they have individual transformers?

[Lee Nowell]

Yes they do

[Brian Reay]

Screwfix do packs of 5 at a reasonable price.

Someone I know spoke highly of them.

[ARW]

Then you probably need to swap them for GU10 lamp holders and get LED GU10 lamps.

[Lee Nowell]

Why do you suggest changing the fittings?

[John]

Lee Nowell [e-mail]> wrote in news:7734db5d-e8d4-468a-b674- [e-mail]:

It will be so you can use GU10 mains bulbs to get rid of th inneficient transformers.

[ARW]

To save you money as you would need to buy a LED driver for every light, because the transformer will not cope with the LED lamp (it will say 20W or 20AV minimum on it)

This is based on what you might have but I am not bad at guessing,

In most cases the light fitting can be reused and it's just it's a simple case of swapping the transformer for a GU10 lamp holder and the MR16 for a GU10.

I have done swap overs using my suggestion thousands of times.

[Brian Gaff (Sofa)]

Really? Is there going to be that much loss at such a low current? One thing somebody I know found was the tremendous variability in brightness of different LED bulbs supposedly the same specs. Is that common? Brian

[Roger Hayter]

Transformers designed for halogen bulbs often won't work with lower powered LED bulbs. There is also the problem of whether the transformers produce AC or DC 12V, but that may not matter, I'm not sure. It is cheaper to replace the bulb holder than the transformer, and not much harder, while at the same time removing a possible point of failure.

[Steve Walker]

You may be lucky, but many drivers do not work properly unless there is a certain minimum load on them and LEDs provide too low a load.

I my own bathroom, seven LEDs on a single driver flash on and off twice a second (despite presenting more than the stated minimum load), but work perfectly as long as one 35W halogen is present in the setup.

SteveW

[Lee Nowell]

Aha as they say... You learn something new everyday :). Thanks for this was about to buy a whole load of MR 16's. Will check the transformer and revert back.

Out of interest, why did electricians fit the 12v ones instead of the 240v ones in the first place? Would have saved the expense of the transformer?

Thanks

Lee.

[Roger Hayter]

I think 12v halogens are more robiust and last longer, slightly more efficient and possibly cheaper. They were also available sooner and perhaps a little smaller, ISTR.

None of that really applies to LEDS, which are really optimised by having a reasonable quality mains supplied driver as part of the light fitting rather than part of a replaceable bulb. Maybe one day we will have modular replacement LED units, but I doubt it; cheaper, easily replaceable light fittings is probably the way to go.

[Lee Nowell]

I have just checked my transformers and they say 20 - 60 W/VA so looks like these won't work. Thanks for the tip everyone will know source a GU10 lead and hopefully the bulb diameter is the same and I can reuse the fitting.

[John Rumm]

+All of that. Also the light quality is typically "better" (whiter / brighter), and you can also use dichroic lamps that project less heat forward (while giving an attractive colour splash out of the back of the reflector).

[ARW]

Depending on your fittings the problem of making the GU holder fit is just down to pot look. Sometimes they are dome shaped, sometimes they are flat.I had to try a few wholesalers last time before I got one that fitted.

[Lee Nowell]

Thanks Adam. The fitting itself is one of these.

the front screws off and inside is an MR16 fitting (like this with the bulb itself clipped onto the ring I took off the front. My thinking was to replace the MR16 lamp holder with a GU10 one and wire it and the mains into the junction box at the top (may need a bigger junction box though as holes are small). Does this seem viable?

thanks

Lee.

[ARW]

It's the MR11's that are smaller-:)(small piss take)

I am sure that years ago some Auroa light fittings came with both lamp holders (MR16 and GU10).

I am going to have to say that not only were the MR16s cheaper and more robust there was a good chance a customer's cheque would clear before there were 4 GU10 failures. MR16's also had a 4000K lamp. GU 10 did not.

Start a protest for them then. I'll join you.

We can march down streets that are badly lit up with LEDs (not the one's I fitted of course) and call in for a pint in a badly lit pub on the way (a nice mix and match of warm white and cool white LED lamps in the same ceiling fixtures)

Greta has not thought of modular and she is supposed to be smart.

All the best.

[Steve Walker]

The commonest seem to be GU10s (mains) and MR16s (12V).

GU10s are typically 50mm diameter at the bulb face and MR16s are 51mm.

The fittings I have in our bathroom were supplied without lampholders, which were bought separately. The bulb is held by a spring clamp in the fitting, around the rim of the front face of the bulb and the connectors are simply loose and hold themselves onto the bulb. Changing between types would simply require swapping the connectors, removing the transformer and feeding mains directly.

SteveW

[Steve Walker]

I must nip into the Lass o' Gowrie soon and see if it is still gas lit :)

SteveW