I've got a kitchen light fitting that takes 4 Halogen GU10 (50W, mains voltage) bulbs, I'd like to replace them 4 White LED GU10 (1.7w, 15 LEDs, mains voltage) bulbs. Does anybody know how bright LEDs are? Is there a rule of thumb for converting from "normal" bulbs to LEDs.
LED Lighting
- Thread starter AndyDavis
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According to the info on most of the sites a 1.7-1.8W led cluster will give approx the same output as a 20W GU10. Having said that GU10's give off a real yellowish light where as the LED equivalent is more on the blue side. If you get any, give us your feedback, as I too am looking to replace GU10's with LED clusters.
I've never seen the light from a 20W GU10, but I have recently replaced the 4 x 50W lamps in a luminaire in my son's bedroom with LEDs, and I'm tempted to say that a claim that the light from those is equivalent to 80W of halogen light is, to use a technical term, complete bo****ks.nstreet said:
There is no way that I'd consider the light anywhere near bright enough for a kitchen.
My son thinks they're cool, though, and claims they are bright enough, but I do wonder if there are now 2 things harming his eyesight...
On a serious note, I'd suggest trying it out, to see what you think. Buy a couple of LED lamps, swap them in, remove the remaining halogens, and try to judge what it'll be like. If they are no good you're not out of pocket by much, and you might find a use for them in the future for paving/decking lights, or feature lighting elsewhere that you'd not been able to contemplate before because of heat problems....
Been to a few shops but no one has any on display although Maplins suggested that they were at least as bright as my 50W halogen bulbs. But a 15 quid each I'm not sure I want to try them out for fun. There are cheaper ones around but they seem to have fewer leds in the cluster or don't last long. The Maplins ones has 21 leds in each cluster and last for 50000 hours.
I think I'll wait till my halogens go next time and replace the lot. They'll come down in price by then and might even be as bright as the 50W halogens.
I think I'll wait till my halogens go next time and replace the lot. They'll come down in price by then and might even be as bright as the 50W halogens.
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I don't believe they'd be anywhere near as bright.AndyDavis said:
It's almost worth going into Maplins with a GU10 luminaire wired to a flex & plug, and saying "OK, show me".
B
Big_Spark
GU10 LED replacement Lamps are, as has been noted, commonly emitting light toward the Bluer end of the spectrum, something that may or may not be a problem for different people.
However a 2W LED cluster will have the "apparent" brightness of around a 35W Halogen GU16 Capsule lamp or a 30W GU10 Lamp.
Anyone who claims they are brighter than this is talking rubbish.
The LED lamps are fine for under cupboard lighting in a kitchen, but they are not bright enough for Task lighing (main) in a kitchen as the light density is not sufficient for the human retina to process all of it properly.
This is a simple fact.
However a 2W LED cluster will have the "apparent" brightness of around a 35W Halogen GU16 Capsule lamp or a 30W GU10 Lamp.
Anyone who claims they are brighter than this is talking rubbish.
The LED lamps are fine for under cupboard lighting in a kitchen, but they are not bright enough for Task lighing (main) in a kitchen as the light density is not sufficient for the human retina to process all of it properly.
This is a simple fact.
There is also the problem of colour quality - the same reading on a light meter for two sources does not mean the same usefulness - to work well we are adapted to a thermal spectrum similar to sunlight where all colours are present with a slight yellow/orange bias.
Anything that does not provide this colour balance will require more light power for the same feel, and some people will find it more tiring, and certain tasks, like colour matching embroidery threads are very critical, and for these a compensated tungsten light (a bulb dipped in blue paint) is the best you can get.
I notice this particularly badly with high efficiency fluroesccent phosphors in CFLs, where the 'white' is not a uniform spectrum at all, but 3 lines at top middle and bottom of spectrum, and while looking "white" if you view the tube is very poor for resistor colour codes and the like.
I found far less eyestrain with suitably placed filament lamp, despite the light meter saying lower power level by a factor of 2 or 3, so for task lighting, be warned -its not just lux readings that matter.
Anything that does not provide this colour balance will require more light power for the same feel, and some people will find it more tiring, and certain tasks, like colour matching embroidery threads are very critical, and for these a compensated tungsten light (a bulb dipped in blue paint) is the best you can get.
I notice this particularly badly with high efficiency fluroesccent phosphors in CFLs, where the 'white' is not a uniform spectrum at all, but 3 lines at top middle and bottom of spectrum, and while looking "white" if you view the tube is very poor for resistor colour codes and the like.
I found far less eyestrain with suitably placed filament lamp, despite the light meter saying lower power level by a factor of 2 or 3, so for task lighting, be warned -its not just lux readings that matter.
The other reason for LED clusters not appearing to be as bright as other lamps is because of the light penetration. Light from a GU10 will illuminate a surface some 5m giving a visible ring of light on this surface. An LED cluster only has approx. 2m penetration . Therefore we perceive it as being not as bright.
is this more appealing?
http://www.ultraleds.co.uk/product_...d=618&osCsid=0e4ac2ee333df5ab11a4f24bf9f1e9fa
http://www.ultraleds.co.uk/product_...d=618&osCsid=0e4ac2ee333df5ab11a4f24bf9f1e9fa
Looks like someone has finally figured out how to tap zero-point energy
This probably doesn't help you, but I'm thinking: people often replace a couple of 60W bulbs from a couple of rose fittings with many 20W halogen lamps. It would be reasonable to think then, LEDs would give you better performance if you were to have even more of them, spread throughout the room. Thus producing a more diffuse light plus a greater total power than if you just had 5 of them.
So, it could be that with LEDs, you need to think of a new lighting strategy rather than just do a straight swap.
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