OP
OP
fatblokish
Guru
- Location
- In bath
Can 12v LEDs be used to replace halogens directly...someone mentioned drivers...are these the 240>12 v transformers?
Household LED bulbs
- Thread starter fatblokish
- Start date
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meenaghman
Guru
If you've got MR16s they are probably best converted to GU10 240v lights...
To do this you'll need to get GU10 fittings, and remove any MR16 fittings and transformers. In my case each ceiling MR16 bulb has its own transformer.. so it was a no brainer to remove the transformer and the fitting and replace with GU10.
I have some other strings of lights where multiple lights are strung from one transformer.. In my case some were electrical so needed to be replaced. Also the bulbs were mixture of MR11 and G4 fittings where there wasn't a direct 240V replacement so had to be a 12V replacement.
IF you go to MR16 12V directly its advisable that you use LED drivers which are geared to operate at lower wattages than a Halogen transformer. Its likely to result in blown bulbs otherwise. One way to get around this is to keep a Halogen light on the 12V string, however dependent on the string and placement this can look quite odd.. eg under cupboard lights prob not too bad as you can 'hide' the halogen in a corner, whereas on the ceiling its normally fairly noticeable...
Look at the Halogen transformer wattages -- and work out the new Wattage of the 12V string and see if you're still in range... but to be honest if you're doing that you may as well look at swapping out the transformers especially if accessible.
U
User482
Guest
Yep. However, I'm a cheapskate, so I left one halogen bulb in to present the transformer with sufficient load, as you suggested. Seems to work ok.
XmisterIS
Purveyor of fine nonsense
I have been permanently put OFF led lights - I bought some about 3 years ago to replace the halogen bulbs in my bedroom ceiling light.
The human eye works best in the yellow part of the spectrum (because of the sun, obviously!), but the led bulbs produce a light which is waaaaaay down towards the blue part of the spectrum.
The result is that you can't see a wretched thing with the led bulbs! Well, you can, but it makes looking at things very bizarre - you can't see any contrast really, it's very unnatural.
I have to use my bedside light to see anything, which has a normal long life bulb in it (yellow light!!!)
The human eye works best in the yellow part of the spectrum (because of the sun, obviously!), but the led bulbs produce a light which is waaaaaay down towards the blue part of the spectrum.
The result is that you can't see a wretched thing with the led bulbs! Well, you can, but it makes looking at things very bizarre - you can't see any contrast really, it's very unnatural.
I have to use my bedside light to see anything, which has a normal long life bulb in it (yellow light!!!)
Cheap LED lights again. Get some proper ones and the colour spectrum will be much better. Not all LED lights are the same. People think they are and go for the cheapest.
OP
OP
fatblokish
Guru
- Location
- In bath
Well, I bought four of these: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005OJTQRA
to replace 35 w halogens GU10.
They work a treat, if anything marginally brighter than the halogens, a light output ratio of 1:10 between LED and halogens seems about right for these bulbs.
As for swapping out the 12 v MR16 haogens..that will have to wait awhile. I guess that this sort of work will need to be carried out by a registered sparks, or at least inspected by one if I do the work myslef.
As and when other CFLs fail, then I will look at swapping these for equivalent LEDs, but probably not worth worth it until then.
Ta.
to replace 35 w halogens GU10.
They work a treat, if anything marginally brighter than the halogens, a light output ratio of 1:10 between LED and halogens seems about right for these bulbs.
As for swapping out the 12 v MR16 haogens..that will have to wait awhile. I guess that this sort of work will need to be carried out by a registered sparks, or at least inspected by one if I do the work myslef.
As and when other CFLs fail, then I will look at swapping these for equivalent LEDs, but probably not worth worth it until then.
Ta.
SavageHoutkop
Veteran
- Location
- South Manchester-ish
Some blue spectrum yes. Biobulbs (not LED!) are great for this, it really feels like it's daylight, and I recommend them wholeheartedly. As for LEDs, I've not had great experiences but again it was a few years back and there were few options in the GU10 fitting at the time. Oddly the 'perfect replacement' GU10's in flourescent were not perfect, there was a few mm too much depth so they didn't fit the fittings we had.
One thing to beware of, there are actually BLUE LEDs (not ones pretending to be white), I bought one of those by mistake first...
absolutely. Fit colour 860 fluorescents and marvel at the difference - in fact, if any of you work in offices lit by fluorescents then I suggest you absolutely insist on 860s. They should be no more expensive, and your productivity will probably rise
SavageHoutkop
Veteran
- Location
- South Manchester-ish
On the topic, just spotted these: http://www.greenlife.co.uk/greenlife-direct/product/led-giant-led-bayonet-lightbulb-60w/254823/
SavageHoutkop
Veteran
- Location
- South Manchester-ish
Hmmm it seems you may be right. Of course my approach with all of these is to try it and see what it looks like in practise, but that's a steep price for a try it and see...
