The definitive low-energy GU10 lighting thread

[RadoVR6]

What are peoples thoughts on these?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/ChiChinLighting-10PCS-Spot...

I need to replace 23 gu10's in our rental!

[JimM169]

I've had a read through this thread and there's lots of opinions on which light units to use if you want a fresh install but not much on what to go for if you just want to replace the bulbs themselves. As I want to replace the 11 standard 50w GU10 bulbs in my kitchen with LEDs, any suggestions on what bulbs currently offer the best bang for buck re price/longevity.

Thanks

[E36GUY]

RadoVR6 said:

What are peoples thoughts on these?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/ChiChinLighting-10PCS-Spot...

I need to replace 23 gu10's in our rental!

Not a lot. At 240 lumen they are less than 50% of the output you would expect from a 50W halogen which would typically be around 500 depending on the lamp quality.

[Trustmeimadoctor]

http://www.ledhut.co.uk/spot-lights/gu10-led-bulbs...
i have 6 of those in the kitchen they are bright enough for me in cool white

[E36GUY]

Trustmeimadoctor said:

http://www.ledhut.co.uk/spot-lights/gu10-led-bulbs...
i have 6 of those in the kitchen they are bright enough for me in cool white

I'm glad to hear you are happy with these but I will point out that at 360 lumen these are a 35W equivalent, not 50.

[Trustmeimadoctor]

oh i know wasnt saying they were giving off the same lumen as a 50w halogen. im not too sure id really want 3000 lumen in our kitchen its only small at 4.5mx4.5m

[E36GUY]

Trustmeimadoctor said:

oh i know wasnt saying they were giving off the same lumen as a 50w halogen. im not too sure id really want 3000 lumen in our kitchen its only small at 4.5mx4.5m

I wasn't saying that for a second and you are probably quite right. There are just an awful lot of recommendations for different GU10s in this forum where the user says 'these are easily as bright as my halogens' when it's simply not possible! I seek nothing more than making sure our friends in this forum are fully informed and make the right choice.

[-Pete-]

E36GUY said:

I seek nothing more than making sure our friends in this forum are fully informed and make the right choice.

I'm assuming that means buying ZEP1s?

[E36GUY]

-Pete- said:

I'm assuming that means buying ZEP1s?

Well that's obviously very nice of course but there are plenty of other manufacturers out there of very high quality. I like to think if anyone comes to us it's because of all the very strong recommendations they have read about. If you were to look back at my original posts on the subject I only got involved in these forums to explain to PHers the things to look out for when selecting LED technology. Items like heat sinking, LED binning, lumen figures, not to rely on wattage as a guide to output etc. "I got these bulbs off amazon for £3 and they are easily as good as my 50W GU10," is both incorrect and unhelpful.

[Paul Drawmer]

I have been pleasantly surprised by the LEDs I have bought from LEDhut. Their prices are competitive, and there's enough information to work out what you are buying.

A couple(?) of years ago I bought some Zep1s from Guy, and yesterday I eventually got round to fitting them in the kitchen. Bloody hell, they're nice units. Well made, and well thought out. They are simply a much better product than putting an LED lamp into a convectional downlighter. Not only is the output great, but the appearance is much better due to the frosted glass face.

Once you store them for a couple of years, then the joy of quality outlasts the pain of the price! I've joined the Zep1 fanboys.

Edited by Paul Drawmer on Saturday 16th August 08:43

[E36GUY]

Cheers Paul. Never get bored of positive reactions!

[DuraAce]

12v vs 240v, why should I choose one over the other?

Zep1 vs gu10 with led bulbs, can someone outline the benefits of each for a simpleton like me please? How the costs vary between the two?

I am replacing a 4' strip light with 6/7 down lights.

[Spare tyre]

DuraAce said:

12v vs 240v, why should I choose one over the other?

Zep1 vs gu10 with led bulbs, can someone outline the benefits of each for a simpleton like me please? How the costs vary between the two?

I am replacing a 4' strip light with 6/7 down lights.

240 has less to fiddle with in the ceiling

[Pheo]

DuraAce said:

12v vs 240v, why should I choose one over the other?

Zep1 vs gu10 with led bulbs, can someone outline the benefits of each for a simpleton like me please? How the costs vary between the two?

I am replacing a 4' strip light with 6/7 down lights.

The Zep has a reflector angle designed to suit an LED rather than a halogen bulb meaning a better light spread. Built in heat sink (huge one!) meaning longer life.

It's a bit like anything retrofit really, it's never going to perform as well as something designed from the ground up!

[Maxf]

Im trying to get my head around the whole LED light thing.

We moved into a new (old) flat last week which we are lightly refurbishing. It has 9 GU10 bulbs in a very small kitchen (total overkill), 15 in the lounge(about right) and 9 in the main bedroom (probably about right) - plus another bedroom, hall and bathroom all with GU10 spots - there are about 60 in total! All are recessed in a suspended ceiling. Currently our evening entertainment is putting all of the lights on and watching how fast the meter goes!

Do the Zep 1 lights, which seem to be the best option if starting from scratch(ish), throw off more or less light than the GU10s? The cost of like for like swapping them would be huge if I need the same number!

[Pheo]

More in my perception - they have a much wider angle of spread than an LED fitted into a GU10. Ask E36GUY to do you a deal if you need a lot, he's on here. Sure he'll be along in a minute.

Failing that, ikeas GU10 LEDs are OK. But you're never going to get as much brightness out of one compared to the Zep1.

[Scuffers]

Pheo said:

More in my perception - they have a much wider angle of spread than an LED fitted into a GU10.

that's a little unfair...

there are literally 100's of different GU10 LED's, some are 'spots' (narrow beam) some are SMD based (much wider angle), COB's (wider still).

then they go from bugger all power to 14W, 50 to 1,200+ LM (allegedly!)

[E36GUY]

Scuffers said:

there are literally 100's of different GU10 LED's, some are 'spots' (narrow beam) some are SMD based (much wider angle), COB's (wider still).

You're nearly right Scuffers. A narrow beam will require an optic and ideally, the smaller the light point (LED size) the better. Very difficult to get narrow beams without optics such as concave glass lenses for example.

SMD (a very cheap, inelegant solution as it uses the type of LED you find on things like LED tape) will actually typically be wider than COB because SMD chips are fitted in a big group on a printed circuit board and have no reflectors and no optics thus no discernable beam angle as the light output is not being directed and it's being blasted out all over the place. Angle of an SMD with no optic or reflector will be about 120 degrees

COB - typically a better, more professional beam angle as typically, these will be fitted behind a proper reflector thus cone out nicely.

Scuffers said:

then they go from bugger all power to 14W, 50 to 1,200+ LM (allegedly!)

Allegedly indeed. There is a big discrepancy in the cold lumens vs hot lumens. Hot lumens is the amount offered when the lamp is up to temperature. Not cooling LED efficiently means that as the LED warms up it loses light output. For a guide - I would question anyone peddling GU10s advertising more than 350 lumens.

I could tell you that our ZEP1 offers 2000lumens and it probably would if I shoved a 3000mA drive current up it but it wouldn't last very long. Does this mean however that I can advertise it as "up to 2000 lumens?" No. The point is that what the LED array is capable of can be markedly different to what is actually achieved on the platform it's fitted to taking into account heat sinking, drive current, quality of the chip itself.

I tested a lamp recommended earlier in this thread that was advertising a frankly laughable 580 lumens from 9W. We fitted it to a LUX metre and it came on at 1900 lux (at 50cm distance) which was a reasonably impressive start. One hour later however, the lamp was too hot to touch and the lux level had dropped to less than 600 so in an hour it had lost 70% of its initial light. That sort of bad heat management does not bode well for longevity.

[Scuffers]

Guy,

you are quite correct, I was just trying to illustrate the point that there's a massive range of GU10 LED's out there and they are not all narrow beam.

[Pheo]

Scuffers said:

Guy,

you are quite correct, I was just trying to illustrate the point that there's a massive range of GU10 LED's out there and they are not all narrow beam.

It's a fair point, just in my limited experience the gu10 led retrofit are always going to be a compromise of sorts. A happy Zep1 customer anyway