The definitive low-energy GU10 lighting thread

[MrChips]

I had emailed Guy and the sales address at Ecoled about getting some more Zep1s, but no reply so i ended up changing to some 3000k led units in the kitchen like these:
https://www.toolstation.com/shop/p75693

The glare is quite a lot to take, even though the light levels are great. Anyone put some frosted film over the lens of similar led's with good effect?

[petemurphy]

Hi all,

New to this and from reading a few pages seems a mare.

basically i have 4 bed house and about 42 gu10 downlights. most are prob 50w as I like things bright.

my elec bill is huge and im guessing this doesnt help!

I want to just replace the bulbs with more energy efficient ones without rewiring the house.

my only experience of low energy bulbs is waiting 3 days for my dads ones to light up and then being a feeble light.

so need to be:

instant on.
some dimmable.
bright.
worth the investment.
safe.

happy to pay a bit more upfront if it saves my elec bill ( how much do they tend to save? )

any advice etc appreciated thanks

[thebraketester]

The gargler tells me that led gu10 are 90% more efficient than halogen gu10.

So yes, there is a massive long term saving to be made.

[petemurphy]

thebraketester said:

The gargler tells me that led gu10 are 90% more efficient than halogen gu10.

So yes, there is a massive long term saving to be made.

any idea how much 1 halogen costs a year on average? thanks

[thebraketester]

No.... but im sure google would tell you

[Mr Pointy]

petemurphy said:

any idea how much 1 halogen costs a year on average? thanks

If you left one 50W halogen on for 1 hour a day every day for a year it's about £2.50 a year (at 13.5p per kWh). Multiply the hours as you see fit.

[C0ffin D0dger]

petemurphy said:

Hi all,

New to this and from reading a few pages seems a mare.

basically i have 4 bed house and about 42 gu10 downlights. most are prob 50w as I like things bright.

my elec bill is huge and im guessing this doesnt help!

I want to just replace the bulbs with more energy efficient ones without rewiring the house.

my only experience of low energy bulbs is waiting 3 days for my dads ones to light up and then being a feeble light.

so need to be:

instant on.
some dimmable.
bright.
worth the investment.
safe.

happy to pay a bit more upfront if it saves my elec bill ( how much do they tend to save? )

any advice etc appreciated thanks

Screwfix LAP LED bulbs ~£2 each, sometimes less: https://www.screwfix.com/p/lap-gu10-led-light-bulb...

Varilight V-Pro dimmers (where you have dimmers), normal ones don't work with LED: https://www.varilight.co.uk/dimmers/v-pro.php

[E36GUY]

C0ffin D0dger said:

Screwfix LAP LED bulbs ~£2 each, sometimes less: https://www.screwfix.com/p/lap-gu10-led-light-bulb...

Varilight V-Pro dimmers (where you have dimmers), normal ones don't work with LED: https://www.varilight.co.uk/dimmers/v-pro.php

These are 35W equivalent tops. for 50W replacements you need to be looking for lamps around the 500 lumen mark.

[juggsy]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Just waiting for the moment people start panic buying GU10 bulbs...

[louiebaby]

Hopefully there will be someone who can guide me a little here.

I need to replace 6 GU10 bulbs in two bathrooms, both which get a bit steamy. Ideally I'd like to put in colour changing Alexa compatible smart bulbs, but I'm struggling to find any that are IP65 rated, to deal with the steaminess of having a shower in there.

I also need to get another 6 for the lounge, but they are "long neck" GU10. Ideally these would also be Alexa colour change jobbies.

Finally, for the kitchen I need 7, again, Alexa colour change. I mention these because I would love if these are all on the same companion App as the two lots above.

I know that colour change is a bit of a fad, but it does mean we can tune the warmness and dim to suit by room. This will even change within rooms too, as a we can brighten up the dark corners during the day, whilst the brighter parts of the room can benefit from the natural light.

Anyone got any ideas?

[dmsims]

You can get tunable "white" bulbs that go from cold white to warm that are dimmable as well

[anonymous-user]

louiebaby said:

Hopefully there will be someone who can guide me a little here.

I need to replace 6 GU10 bulbs in two bathrooms, both which get a bit steamy. Ideally I'd like to put in colour changing Alexa compatible smart bulbs, but I'm struggling to find any that are IP65 rated, to deal with the steaminess of having a shower in there.

I also need to get another 6 for the lounge, but they are "long neck" GU10. Ideally these would also be Alexa colour change jobbies.

Finally, for the kitchen I need 7, again, Alexa colour change. I mention these because I would love if these are all on the same companion App as the two lots above.

I know that colour change is a bit of a fad, but it does mean we can tune the warmness and dim to suit by room. This will even change within rooms too, as a we can brighten up the dark corners during the day, whilst the brighter parts of the room can benefit from the natural light.

Anyone got any ideas?

It's usually the fitting that's rated, not the bulb. https://www.simplelighting.co.uk/ip65-shower-fixed...

[louiebaby]

wsurfa said:

It's usually the fitting that's rated, not the bulb.

https://www.simplelighting.co.uk/ip65-shower-fixed...

Oh, that does simplify things, and opens up a LOT of possibilities. Thank you.

Now, about the long necked jobbies... If they were smart white that can be tuned for brightness and warmth, that would be superb.

[anonymous-user]

louiebaby said:

Oh, that does simplify things, and opens up a LOT of possibilities. Thank you.

Now, about the long necked jobbies... If they were smart white that can be tuned for brightness and warmth, that would be superb.

I've not seen any long GU10 bulbs that are smart/tunable - is it possible to replace the housing for those as well?

[louiebaby]

wsurfa said:

I've not seen any long GU10 bulbs that are smart/tunable - is it possible to replace the housing for those as well?

I may suggest changing the light fittings completely, we've been meaning to do them and put new wall lamps up anyway.

[MJNewton]

louiebaby said:

Hopefully there will be someone who can guide me a little here.

I need to replace 6 GU10 bulbs in two bathrooms, both which get a bit steamy. Ideally I'd like to put in colour changing Alexa compatible smart bulbs, but I'm struggling to find any that are IP65 rated, to deal with the steaminess of having a shower in there.

I also need to get another 6 for the lounge, but they are "long neck" GU10. Ideally these would also be Alexa colour change jobbies.

Finally, for the kitchen I need 7, again, Alexa colour change. I mention these because I would love if these are all on the same companion App as the two lots above.

I know that colour change is a bit of a fad, but it does mean we can tune the warmness and dim to suit by room. This will even change within rooms too, as a we can brighten up the dark corners during the day, whilst the brighter parts of the room can benefit from the natural light.

Anyone got any ideas?

Ideas about fittings? If so, Integral Ecofire are IP65 rated - about £7 from Toolstation/Screwfix and their open back would allows any depth GU10 bulb to fit.



Edit: Rereading your post I see you were asking for ideas about colour changing bulb.s Sorry, not my area but I'll leave this response in case it is still of use.

[louiebaby]

Appreciate all the replies and guidance, thank you!

I got the first 4 of these in last night, which is two downlighters in the Dining room, and two of the 3 in the En Suite.

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B086D9L8XC/

They can be coloured, but they won't really be used for that very much, although having the En Suite come on low and red in the middle of the night might be a handy thing, I might try to set that up so I don't wake up too much when I go for a wee.

They only have one "white" which is a bit of a shame, but it's a warmer one, and at 50% brightness they are about right.

Unfortunately I've discovered I have 4 x GU5.3 (I think) with two pins instead. They are Halogens as well, so want changing soon for energy efficiency. (One has popped too.)

Anyway, thanks again all!

[Timothy Bucktu]

Can anyone recommend a GU10 that has a wide pattern? I need something that gives a wide even beam of light...so not a spot light as such.
Warm white and dimmable.
I was going to go for the Philips ones from Screwfix, but one review said about the light being more focussed

[dmsims]

Assuming 2.5m ceiling height the 36 degree bulbs (which most of them are) will give a spread of 1.62m on the floor

Timothy Bucktu said:

Can anyone recommend a GU10 that has a wide pattern? I need something that gives a wide even beam of light...so not a spot light as such.
Warm white and dimmable.
I was going to go for the Philips ones from Screwfix, but one review said about the light being more focussed

[Gazzab]

Ecoled zep 1 is 50 degree as I recall.